Soundraw Review 2026: Free to Try, $11.04/Mo to Download
Soundraw's free plan makes unlimited tracks but downloads nothing. What $11.04/mo buys, how the Mixer works, the new Grid app, and a real audio sample.
Read Article →
The best overall AI music generator in 2026 is ElevenLabs Music, producing studio-quality vocals and instrumentals with commercial use from $6 a month on the web or $9.99 a month in the ElevenMusic app. For vocal songs without paying, Suno’s free plan gives 50 daily credits (about 10 songs) to generate and listen, though as of September 2026 it no longer downloads and runs the older v4.5 model; v5.5 needs Pro at $10 a month. Two of these tools generate full songs with vocals and lyrics (ElevenLabs, Suno), while the other two are instrumental-only (Soundraw, AIVA). I tested all four targeting the same genre (pop) to compare output quality, features, and how they actually sound.
ElevenLabs Music and Suno generate full songs with vocals and lyrics. Soundraw and AIVA are instrumental-only tools. That distinction shapes what each tool is best at, and you will hear it in the samples below.
ElevenLabs Music and Suno both generate complete songs with singing, lyrics, and full production. I prompted both with the same text: upbeat electronic pop with female vocals. Default settings, no tweaking.
Soundraw and AIVA generate instrumental tracks without vocals. I selected the Pop genre/style in each tool. Both let you adjust tempo, mood, and instruments afterward.
Scroll down for detailed reviews, pricing, and feature breakdowns for each tool.
An AI music generator writes a usable track in under a minute from a text prompt or a few dropdown choices. All four tools here have a free tier, paid plans start at $6 a month, and commercial licensing covers monetized YouTube videos, ads, podcasts, and games.
AI music generators have improved faster than most people expected. Two years ago, the output sounded obviously synthetic. Now, several tools produce tracks that are hard to tell apart from human-made recordings. If you make videos, podcasts, or games and you are tired of paying for stock music or dealing with licensing, these tools will save you real money.
Generate complete tracks with vocals, instruments, and structure from a text prompt
Every tool has a free tier, and entry plans start at $6/month on the web
Use generated music in monetized YouTube videos, ads, podcasts, and games
Edit song structure, swap instruments, adjust tempo, and refine lyrics after generation
The four tools below cover everything from quick background tracks to full vocal songs. Here is how they compare.
ElevenLabs Music takes the top spot at 4.5/5 for studio-quality vocals and instrumentals. Suno scores 4.4/5 on vocal character and free generation, Soundraw 4.0/5 for copyright-safe background music, and AIVA 3.8/5 for orchestral and classical work. Entry prices run from $6 to €15 a month.
| Tool | Best For | Price | Rating | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editor's Pick ElevenLabs Music | YouTubers & Content Creators | $6/mo (web) / $9.99 app | Studio-quality vocals + instrumentals | |
| Best Value Suno | Songwriters & Hobbyists | Free / $10/mo | Best AI vocals, 50 free credits a day (no free downloads) | |
| Video Producers & Podcasters | $12.99/mo ($11.04 annual) | 100% copyright-safe background music | ||
| Film Composers & Game Developers | Free / €11/mo | Orchestral and classical specialization |
Studio-quality AI music with vocals. 10,000 free credits a month; commercial use from $6/mo on the web or $9.99/mo in the app.
Try ElevenLabs Music Free →ElevenLabs added music generation to its platform in 2025, shipped the ElevenMusic iOS app in April 2026, and moved to Music v2 in May 2026. Given their track record with AI voices (scored 4.7/5 in my voice generator comparison), I expected strong audio quality. The music output did not disappoint.
The vocals feel natural and sit well in the mix. Instrumentals have depth. Production quality is on par with what you would get from a mid-tier stock music library, but each track is unique and generated in under a minute.
Music Finetunes is the feature none of the other three tools have. You upload 1 to 50 of your own original tracks, and the AI picks up on your instrumentation, arrangement, tempo, and vocal style. After that, generated songs sound like they came from your project, not a generic template.
The Composition Plans API goes well beyond simple prompting. You define global styles, per-section styles, exact section durations in milliseconds, and lyrics placement within each section. If you are integrating AI music into a production pipeline, this is the tool that takes it seriously.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free (web) | Monthly $0 | Annual $0 |
| ||
| Recommended Starter (web) | Monthly $6/mo | Annual $5/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Creator (web) | Monthly $22/mo (first month $11) | Annual $18.33/mo billed annually |
| ||
| ElevenMusic app Pro | Monthly $9.99/mo | Annual $95.90/yr ($7.99/mo) |
| ||
I prompted ElevenLabs Music with: “An upbeat electronic pop song with catchy female vocals about chasing dreams. Warm synths, driving beat, catchy chorus. 120 BPM, 2 minutes.”
For more on the ElevenLabs ecosystem, see my Best AI Voice Generators comparison where their voice technology scored 4.7/5.
Music Finetunes learn from your own tracks, and Composition Plans set the length and lyric placement of every section.
Start Creating with ElevenLabs Music →Suno pulls in over 60 million monthly visitors, making it the most-used AI music tool by a wide margin. The v5.5 model (February 2026) is a big step up in vocal quality, and it is a paid-plan model; the free plan runs v4.5-all. In several genres, the output is hard to tell from a human recording.
Suno’s free tier is still the most generous for listening: 50 credits per day (5 generations, 2 song variations each) that reset daily and do not roll over. As of September 2026 it no longer downloads, it stays on v4.5-all, and free-tier songs are non-commercial.
Where Suno pulls ahead is vocal expressiveness. ElevenLabs produces cleaner, more polished audio overall, but Suno’s voices have more raw character. For genres where imperfection is part of the sound (indie rock, blues, soul), Suno nails that feeling in a way the other tools do not.
The 1,200+ genre library with mashup support has no real competitor. You can ask Suno for “gregorian chant meets trap” and get something surprisingly coherent. If you like experimenting with weird genre combinations, you will spend hours here.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Monthly $0 | Annual $0 |
| ||
| Recommended Pro | Monthly $10/mo | Annual $8/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Premier | Monthly $30/mo | Annual $24/mo billed annually |
| ||
Suno’s pricing page shows prices in your local currency; the dollar figures are Suno’s listed US prices.
I used the same text prompt as ElevenLabs Music to compare the output directly.
Suno grants full commercial rights on Pro ($10/mo) and Premier ($30/mo) plans. You own the songs you create and can distribute them on streaming platforms, use them in videos, ads, and games. Free-tier songs are for personal, non-commercial use only. Visit Suno →
Soundraw works differently from the other three tools. There are no text prompts. You pick genre, mood, instruments, and energy level from sliders and dropdowns. The AI generates tracks using samples created entirely by Soundraw’s in-house music producers, which is why copyright claims on YouTube or any other platform are not a concern.
I covered Soundraw in detail in my Soundraw Review, and the core strengths remain: this is the safest tool for creators who monetize their content and cannot afford a copyright strike.
The copyright story is what makes Soundraw different. Every note of training data comes from their own production team. Nothing is scraped from existing songs. If you run a YouTube channel and a single copyright claim would disrupt your income, that matters more than any feature comparison.
The Mixer tool gives you more post-generation control than Suno or AIVA. Mute the drums in the verse, boost the bass in the chorus, extend the outro. You do not need to regenerate the track to make these changes.
Soundraw remains instrumental only. The Grid app lets you record your own vocals into a beat but does not generate any. For venues, there is SpaceMusic AI (June 2026, from $15 a month per location), which replaced the older Store BGM product.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Monthly $0 | Annual $0 |
| ||
| Recommended Creator | Monthly $12.99/mo | Annual $11.04/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Artist Starter | Monthly $25.99/mo | Annual $19.49/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Artist Pro | Monthly $38.99/mo | Annual $23.39/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Artist Unlimited | Monthly $64.99/mo | Annual $32.50/mo billed annually |
| ||
Soundraw shows every plan as a discount from a higher list price (Creator is listed at $19.99 a month, or $16.99 on annual billing, before the cut to $12.99 and $11.04); the discounted rates have been in place since at least April 2026, so treat them as the working price.
SOUNDRAW Grid pricing from Soundraw's Grid page, September 2026; it is separate from the web plans.
Soundraw uses visual selection instead of text prompts. I selected Genre: Pop, then let the AI generate with default settings.
For a detailed look at how Soundraw compares to classical AI composers, see my Soundraw vs AIVA comparison.
Generate unlimited copyright-safe tracks. Preview free, download from $11.04/mo.
Start Creating with Soundraw →AIVA stands for Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist, and it was one of the first AI music composers to gain recognition. Trained on over 30,000 musical scores from composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, AIVA specializes in orchestral, cinematic, and classical compositions.
Where the other tools generate finished productions, AIVA creates compositions that feel more like sketches from a classically trained collaborator. The output is strongest in structured, layered pieces for film scores, game soundtracks, and trailer music.
AIVA’s Piano Roll Editor is the most hands-on editing tool in this comparison. You can delete instruments, change keys, shift tempo, move individual notes, and restructure entire sections. If you use AI as a starting point and then refine in a DAW, the MIDI export alone makes AIVA worth considering.
If you need orchestral or cinematic music specifically, AIVA is the obvious choice. The other tools handle these genres to some degree, but AIVA’s training on 30,000+ classical scores shows in the harmonic structure and arrangement quality.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Monthly €0 | Annual €0 |
| ||
| Standard | Monthly €15/mo | Annual €11/mo billed annually |
| ||
| Recommended Pro | Monthly €49/mo | Annual €33/mo billed annually |
| ||
AIVA prices exclude VAT.
AIVA is a Luxembourg-based company. All prices are in euros (€) plus applicable VAT. US creators pay the euro price at their card’s exchange rate.
AIVA uses a Styles Library with 250+ pre-defined styles sorted by popularity. I selected the Pop style to keep the genre consistent with the other tools.
AIVA offers 3 free downloads per month for non-commercial use. For composers who need MIDI export and full copyright ownership, the Pro plan unlocks everything. Visit AIVA →
Paid plans start at $6 a month for ElevenLabs Starter on the web, $10 a month for Suno Pro, $12.99 a month for Soundraw Creator, and €15 a month for AIVA Standard. Annual billing cuts those to $5, $8, $11.04 and €11. Every tool also generates for free.
Prices checked September 2026. None of the four free tiers downloads a finished song except AIVA's 3 non-commercial downloads a month.
| Tool | Free Tier | Entry Paid Plan | Pro/Premier Plan | Best Annual Deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ElevenLabs Music | 10k credits/mo on the web (personal use); app: 7 songs/day to listen | $6/mo (web Starter) | $22/mo (web Creator); app Pro $9.99/mo | $5/mo (Starter annual); app $95.90/yr |
| Suno | 50 credits/day (~10 songs), no downloads | $10/mo | $30/mo | $8/mo (annual) |
| Soundraw | Preview only | $12.99/mo | $38.99/mo (Artist Pro), $64.99/mo (Artist Unlimited) | $11.04/mo (annual) |
| AIVA | 3 downloads/mo | €15/mo | €49/mo | €11/mo (annual) |
ElevenLabs Music and Suno generate vocals; Soundraw and AIVA are instrumental only. AIVA is the only one with MIDI export, and its Piano Roll Editor allows note-level changes. Suno covers 1,200+ genres against Soundraw’s 30+ and AIVA’s 250+ styles. Stem export runs on Suno, Soundraw and AIVA, not ElevenLabs.
Feature availability checked September 2026.
| Feature | ElevenLabs Music | Suno | Soundraw | AIVA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vocals | Yes Multilingual | Yes Best quality | No No | No No |
| Text Prompts | Yes Yes | Yes Yes | No Sliders (prompts only in the Grid app) | No Style selection |
| Max Song Length | Custom | 8 minutes | 5+ minutes | Varies |
| Genres | Any (via Finetunes) | 1,200+ | 30+ | 250+ |
| Post-Generation Editing | Section editing | Suno Studio (Premier) | Advanced Mixer | Piano Roll + MIDI |
| Stem Export | No No | Yes Pro (2 types), Premier (3) | Yes Artist plans | Yes Pro plan |
| MIDI Export | No No | No No | No No | Yes Yes |
| Copyright Safety | Licensed | Licensed (paid) | 100% in-house | Licensed |
| Commercial Use | Yes Starter ($6/mo web) or app Pro ($9.99/mo) | Yes Pro ($10/mo) | Yes Creator ($12.99/mo) | Yes Standard (€11/mo) |
| Custom Sound Model | Yes Finetunes | Yes Custom Models | No No | Yes Style models |
| API Available | Yes Yes | Yes Third-party | Yes Yes | No No |
50 free credits a day to generate and listen; downloads and commercial use start at Pro ($10/mo)
Fast generation with studio-quality audio from $6/mo on the web or $9.99/mo in the app
Suno has the most generous free tier for listening: 50 credits a day, about 10 songs, on the v4.5-all model, but as of September 2026 it does not download songs and is non-commercial. ElevenLabs gives 10,000 free credits a month on the web (about 11 minutes of music, personal use) and the ElevenMusic app lets you generate 7 songs a day to listen; downloads need Starter ($6 a month) on the web or Pro ($9.99 a month) in the app. AIVA is the only one that downloads for free, 3 tracks a month for non-commercial use with credit.
Yes, but the tool and plan matter. Soundraw is the safest option because all training data comes from in-house productions, meaning zero Content ID match risk. ElevenLabs Music and Suno Pro/Premier also grant commercial licensing that covers YouTube use. Suno's free tier does not include commercial rights, so free-tier songs should not be used in monetized videos.
Suno v5.5 currently produces the most expressive AI vocals with natural vibrato, dynamic phrasing, and emotional range across 1,200+ genres. ElevenLabs Music offers cleaner, more polished vocal output with multilingual support. Soundraw and AIVA generate instrumental music only and do not include vocal capabilities.
It depends on the tool and plan. Soundraw provides a perpetual royalty-free license with no attribution on all paid plans. ElevenLabs includes commercial use from the $6 a month Starter plan on the web (not for release on streaming platforms) and from Pro at $9.99 a month in the ElevenMusic app. Suno grants commercial rights on Pro ($10/month) and Premier ($30/month) plans. AIVA requires the Pro plan (€33/month annual) for full copyright ownership.
Entry-level paid plans run from $6 a month to €15 a month. ElevenLabs Starter is $6 a month ($5 annual) on the web, or $9.99 a month ($95.90 a year) in the ElevenMusic app. Suno Pro costs $10 a month ($8 annual). Soundraw Creator is $12.99 a month ($11.04 annual). AIVA Standard is €15 a month (€11 annual) plus VAT. All four generate for free; none of the free tiers downloads except AIVA's 3 non-commercial tracks a month.
ElevenLabs Music and Suno both generate complete songs with AI-written or custom lyrics and vocals. Suno's ReMi model assists with lyric writing, and you can provide your own lyrics in Custom mode. ElevenLabs Music lets you define exact lyric placement within song sections. Soundraw and AIVA produce instrumental music only.
AIVA is the strongest choice for film and game scoring. Trained on 30,000+ classical scores, it specializes in orchestral, cinematic, and dramatic compositions. The Piano Roll Editor allows note-level editing, and MIDI export drops the composition straight into professional DAWs like Logic Pro and Ableton Live. No other tool on this list offers MIDI export.
Both tools excel in different areas. ElevenLabs Music produces cleaner overall audio quality and offers Music Finetunes for personalized sound profiles. Both free tiers are listen-only now, so the free-tier gap has closed; Suno keeps more expressive vocals, 1,200+ genres with mashup support, and a larger community. For professional production, ElevenLabs Music has the edge. For creative experimentation and budget-friendly use, Suno is the better pick.
Ownership varies by platform and plan. AIVA Pro (€33/month annual) grants full copyright ownership of compositions. Suno Pro and Premier grant commercial usage rights but Suno retains underlying model rights. ElevenLabs grants commercial usage rights on paid plans, from Starter at $6 a month on the web; its free tier is personal use only. Soundraw provides a perpetual license for use but does not transfer copyright. Always check the specific terms of service for the plan you are on.
Suno's Pro and Premier plans let you record, upload and create with your own voice. ElevenLabs Music Finetunes can incorporate vocal style from uploaded audio. AIVA and Soundraw do not support voice uploads as they are instrumental-only tools.
Studio-quality audio with multilingual vocals, Music Finetunes for personalized sound, and commercial licensing from the $6 Starter plan.
The most expressive AI vocals on the market with 50 free daily credits and 1,200+ genre support.
100% copyright-safe music trained on in-house compositions. The only tool that guarantees zero copyright claims.
Trained on 30,000+ classical scores. The only AI music tool with MIDI export and a Piano Roll Editor.