The AI music generator market changed more in the past twelve months than in the three years before it. Record labels settled lawsuits and signed licensing deals, one of the best-known tools stopped allowing downloads, another capped them, and Google shipped a new music model. A comparison written in 2025 is already out of date.
This guide compares eight AI music generators on what matters when you actually want to use the music: song and vocal quality, creative control, whether you can download and export your tracks, and how clear the licensing is for commercial use.
A note on bias: we build SongUp, one of the tools below. We've tried to be fair, including about where other tools are the better choice. Facts about other companies come from their public announcements and reputable coverage available in September 2026. Plans and terms change often, so check each company's current terms before you commit.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Sung vocals | Downloads and export (September 2026) | Licensing to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suno | Full songs with vocals and a large community | Yes | Capped since 3 September 2026: 7 lifetime on Free, 20 a month on Pro, 60 a month on Premier | Commercial use requires a paid plan; licensing deals with Warner Music and BMG |
| Udio | Experimenting inside a licensed platform | Yes | Downloads disabled since October 2025 | Settled with Universal Music and Warner Music; creations stay on the platform |
| ElevenLabs Music | Creators and brands who want licensed training data | Yes | Yes | Film, TV and games need an Enterprise plan |
| Google Flow Music | Strong vocals and lyrics from Google's latest model | Yes | Check Google's terms | Every track carries a SynthID watermark |
| SongUp | Songs plus a full production toolkit in one account | Yes | Yes | Commercial rights on paid plans; the free plan gives library matches |
| Stable Audio | Instrumentals, sound design and self-hosting | No | Yes | Licensed training data; community licence for smaller businesses |
| AIVA | Orchestral, film and game scores | No | Yes, including MIDI | Copyright ownership only on the Pro plan |
| Soundraw | Customisable background music for video | No | Yes | Royalty-free licence tied to your subscription |
How we compared them
We looked at five things, in this order:
- Output quality: how natural the vocals sound, how coherent the song structure is, and how well the tool follows a prompt.
- Control: custom lyrics, song structure, length, language and the ability to edit after generating.
- Export: whether you can download your music, in what formats and with what limits.
- Licensing clarity: what you're allowed to do commercially, what the training data situation is, and what restrictions apply.
- Everything around the song: stems, mastering, editing and other tools that save you from switching services.
1. Suno
Suno is the most established name in AI song generation and the tool most people try first. Its v5 model, released in 2025, brought a clear jump in vocal realism and lyric coherence, and Suno Studio adds DAW-style editing on top of generation.
2026 brought big changes. Suno signed a licensing alliance with Warner Music Group in 2025 and a global licensing deal with BMG in August 2026, and it says it is developing next-generation models in partnership with the music industry. It has said its current models will be retired when those launch, while existing creations remain accessible.
The change most users will notice is downloads. Since 3 September 2026, Pro subscribers can download 20 songs a month, Premier subscribers 60, and free users get seven downloads in total. Premier users can still work without limits inside Suno Studio.
- Good for: the most polished vocals out of the box, fast iteration and a big community for inspiration.
- Watch out for: download caps if you produce a lot of music, and model changes as the licensed models roll out. Having a download doesn't by itself give you unrestricted commercial rights; check Suno's terms for your plan.
Compare the two directly in SongUp vs Suno.
2. Udio
Udio built its reputation on audio realism, especially vocals and dense arrangements. Its situation changed sharply in late 2025. After Universal Music Group settled its lawsuit with Udio on 29 October 2025 and announced a licensing partnership, Udio disabled downloads of audio, video and stems the next day, opening only a brief 48-hour window in November for users to save existing work. Warner Music has also settled with Udio.
Under the licensed model, Udio is moving towards a "walled garden": you create and play with music on the platform, but tracks can't be exported to streaming services or other sites. Udio has said it hopes to restore some form of downloading, without a firm date.
- Good for: experimenting, remixing and exploring styles inside the platform.
- Watch out for: you currently can't take your songs out, which rules Udio out for releases, videos and client work.
See SongUp vs Udio for a side-by-side comparison.
3. ElevenLabs Music
ElevenLabs, best known for AI voices, launched its music model in 2025 and released Music v2 in May 2026. Its main selling point is licensing: ElevenLabs says the model was trained exclusively on licensed data through agreements with Merlin and Kobalt, and that output is cleared for commercial use.
There is an important catch in the fine print. On self-serve plans, commercial clearance excludes film, TV and games; those uses need an Enterprise plan.
- Good for: creators, marketers and brands who want a clear story on training data and commercial use.
- Watch out for: the film, TV and games exclusion on self-serve plans, and credit-based pricing that adds up with long tracks.
4. Google Flow Music (Lyria 3.5)
Google launched Lyria 3.5 inside Flow Music on 29 July 2026 and brought it to the Gemini app and Gemini API on 4 September 2026. Google highlights more realistic, emotionally nuanced vocals, better lyrics that follow the prompt, richer melodies and more control over tempo and duration.
Every Lyria track carries SynthID, Google's inaudible watermark embedded in the audio itself, which identifies it as AI-generated. That matters more now that the EU AI Act requires AI-generated content to be machine-detectable. Flow Music has a free tier and paid plans.
- Good for: high-quality vocals and lyrics, and anyone already working in Google's ecosystem.
- Watch out for: it's a young product, so features and terms are still evolving. Read Google's terms for your intended use.
5. SongUp
This is our product, so weigh this section accordingly.
SongUp is an AI song generator built around a production toolkit. Songs on paid plans are composed from your prompt by Google's Lyria 3 Pro model, and you can write your own lyrics, pick one of eight song languages, or start from an image, a video or a hummed melody. The same account includes a browser-based stem separator, AI mastering, auto-tune, audio to MIDI and more than a dozen other audio tools.
We want to be clear about the free plan: it gives you about 16 instant songs matched to your idea from the SongUp library, not new songs composed from your prompt. Pro ($9.99 a month, or $7.99 billed yearly) composes about 40 brand-new songs a month and includes commercial rights.
- Good for: going from idea to a mixed, mastered, split-into-stems track without switching services; guided pages for specific songs like rap, lo-fi or birthday songs.
- Watch out for: the free plan doesn't compose new songs, and the community is much smaller than Suno's.
6. Stable Audio
Stability AI's Stable Audio focuses on instrumentals and sound design rather than songs. Stability says its latest model is trained on fully licensed data, including the AudioSparx catalogue, and it publishes open weights for its smaller models, so developers can run them on their own hardware. According to Stability, its community licence allows free commercial use for organisations under $1 million in annual revenue.
- Good for: instrumentals, loops, sound effects, and teams that need to self-host.
- Watch out for: no sung vocals or lyrics.
7. AIVA
AIVA is one of the longest-running AI composers, aimed at orchestral, cinematic, game and ambient music. It generates editable compositions you can download as audio or MIDI and refine.
Its licensing is unusually explicit. On AIVA's Pro plan you own the copyright to your compositions; on the Standard plan you can monetise on platforms like YouTube, but AIVA keeps the copyright; the free plan requires crediting AIVA and doesn't allow monetisation.
- Good for: film, game and classical-style scores, especially if you want to edit the MIDI.
- Watch out for: no vocals, and copyright ownership only on the top plan.
8. Soundraw
Soundraw targets video creators who need background music fast. You pick a genre, mood and length, then adjust the energy and instruments section by section, and download royalty-free tracks under your subscription licence.
- Good for: YouTube, podcast and ad background music you can shape to fit an edit.
- Watch out for: no vocal songs; it's built for background tracks, not releases.
Which AI music generator should you choose?
- You want a finished song with great vocals and don't mind download limits: Suno or Google Flow Music.
- You want to release music and need every step in one place: SongUp, which pairs song generation with stems, mixing and mastering.
- Licensing clarity is your top priority: ElevenLabs Music (mind the film, TV and games exclusion) or Stable Audio for instrumentals.
- You're scoring a film or game: AIVA.
- You need background music for videos: Soundraw, or SongUp's background music generator, which composes to fit a YouTube video.
- You just want to experiment: Udio's platform, as long as you don't need to take the music out.
Whichever you choose, test the same three prompts on your shortlist. Quality differences are much easier to hear side by side, and our AI song prompts guide has examples you can reuse.
What US and European creators should check before publishing
The tool you pick is only half the question. Before releasing AI music:
- Copyright: in the US, the Copyright Office says material generated purely from prompts isn't copyrightable, while your own lyrics, melodies and arrangement choices can be. EU courts require human creative choices as well.
- The EU AI Act: since 2 August 2026, providers must mark AI-generated audio so it's machine-detectable, and realistic deepfakes must be disclosed.
- Platforms: Spotify removes unauthorised voice impersonation and supports AI disclosures in credits; YouTube asks for disclosure of realistic synthetic content and doesn't monetise mass-produced, repetitive uploads.
Our full guide to using AI music commercially in the US and EU goes through each rule.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI music generator has the best vocals?
It depends on the genre and your taste. Suno, Udio, ElevenLabs Music and tools built on Google's Lyria models all produce convincing vocals in 2026. Run the same prompt through two or three of them and listen side by side.
Is there a free AI music generator you can use commercially?
Most free tiers are for personal use only. Exceptions exist, such as Stable Audio's community licence for smaller organisations, but they come with conditions. Read the licence for your exact plan before publishing anything.
Can you still download songs from Udio?
Not as of September 2026. Udio disabled downloads after its October 2025 settlement with Universal Music Group and is moving to a platform where creations stay inside Udio.
What's the best Suno alternative?
It depends on why you're leaving. If you need unlimited room to download and a production toolkit, SongUp covers generation through mastering. If licensed training data is the priority, look at ElevenLabs Music. For instrumentals only, Stable Audio or AIVA.
Are AI music generators legal to use?
Using them is legal, but what you can do with the output depends on the tool's licence and on copyright rules where you publish. Avoid imitating real artists' voices and check the terms before releasing music commercially.
Sources
- Suno's September 2026 download changes: RouteNote
- Udio and Universal Music: Rolling Stone and Billboard
- ElevenLabs Music v2: The AI Insider
- Google Lyria 3.5: Google blog
- Stable Audio licensing: Stability AI
- AIVA licence terms: AIVA Helpdesk