Tested and compiled by Vincent Wesley Couey and the Rinzara editorial team · 10 music platforms tested on their free tiers · methodology & sources · all limits read from vendor pages 2026-08-12.
What each free tier actually allows
Four platforms, four different definitions of free, and one shared constraint: none of them permits commercial use. Everything below was read from the vendors' own pricing pages on 12 August 2026.
| Platform | Free allowance | Downloads | Commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suno | 50 credits/day | Ends 3 Sept 2026 | No |
| Udio | 10 credits/day | Credit based | Check terms |
| Loudly | 0.5 min previews | 1 per day | No |
| Soundraw | No free tier | None | No |
| Free tier limits in detail | |||
| Suno free | Upload 8 min audio | No stem separation | Shared queue |
| Udio free | 100 credits/month | No rollovers | 4 songs at once |
| Loudly free | Basic quality MP3 | No distribution | Shared queue |
| Cheapest paid step | |||
| Suno Pro | 2,500 credits/mo | 20/mo from Sept | $8/mo annual |
| Udio Standard | Higher limits | Credit based | $8/mo annual |
| Loudly Personal | 2,500 credits/mo | 7 min max length | $8/mo annual |
| Soundraw Creator | Unlimited | Background use | $11.04/mo annual |
Suno's free downloads end on 3 September 2026
Suno's pricing page carries a dated change that has not taken effect yet. From 3 September 2026 the free tier includes no monthly song downloads. Pro is capped at 20 a month and Premier at 60 from the same date.
Today the free tier gives 50 credits renewing daily, which is the most generous free generation allowance in this comparison by a wide margin. After the September date you will still be able to generate on it, and you will not be able to take the results off the platform as monthly song downloads.
That converts the most generous free tier in AI music into a listening experience. If any part of your workflow depends on downloading free Suno output, that workflow has a known expiry date, and it is three weeks away at the time of writing.
What to do about it depends on what you were using it for. If you were evaluating, evaluate now while downloads still work. If you were producing, the paid step is $8 a month billed annually, which also carries commercial rights for new songs made. If you only ever listened back inside the app, nothing changes for you.
One caution: a dated policy on a pricing page is a statement of intent and intent can move in either direction. This page is scheduled for re-verification in September, and you should re-read the pricing page yourself before making a decision that depends on the date.
The three shapes of free, and what each is good for
Read side by side, the free tiers are not competing versions of one offer. They are three different products with three different purposes.
- Generous generation, restricted export. Suno's 50 credits a day lets you explore extensively. Udio's 10 credits a day and 100 a month with no rollovers is a smaller version of the same shape. Both are built so you can find out whether the tool suits you.
- Preview only. Loudly's free tier caps song previews at 0.5 minutes, allows one download per day, exports basic quality MP3 and offers no distribution. Thirty seconds is enough to judge a track and not enough to use one, which is precisely the intent.
- No free tier at all. Soundraw does not offer one; its cheapest paid plan is $11.04 a month billed annually. That is more honest than it looks, because Soundraw's Creator tier includes unlimited downloads and commercial background rights, so what you are buying is immediately usable rather than a sample.
The common thread is that no free tier here grants commercial use. Suno states no commercial use on free. Loudly states non-commercial use on free. Every free track you generate on these platforms is, by the platform's own terms, unpublishable. That makes all of them evaluation tools, and it makes the timing rule from licensing especially important: on a platform where rights attach at generation, a free-tier back catalogue does not become usable by upgrading later.
Three platforms, one price, and identical credit allowances
Something worth recording, because it changes how you should shop. Read on the same day with annual billing selected, three independent platforms land on the same numbers.
| Platform | Entry paid | Credits | Upper tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suno | $8/mo annual | 2,500/mo | $24/mo, 10,000 |
| Loudly | $8/mo annual | 2,500/mo | $24/mo, 10,000 |
| Udio | $8/mo annual | Higher limits | $24/mo, 6,000 |
Suno Pro and Loudly Personal are both $8 a month with 2,500 monthly credits. Suno Premier and Loudly Pro are both $24 a month with 10,000 monthly credits. Udio Standard and Pro sit at the same $8 and $24, billed annually at $96 and $288, which is also exactly what Loudly bills.
We are reporting what these pages said on 12 August 2026 and drawing no conclusion about why. Convergent pricing is common in young categories and has many ordinary explanations. What matters for a buyer is the practical consequence: price has stopped being a way to choose between these platforms.
So compare on the things that still differ. Maximum song length is 7 minutes on Loudly Personal and 30 minutes on Loudly Pro. Suno includes stem separation from Pro and a third separation mode on Premier. Udio Pro allows 10 simultaneous generations. Loudly bundles DistroPlus+ distribution with both paid tiers, including a public performance licence for DJ use. Those differences are real and they are what you are actually buying.
Which free tier to use, and when to stop
Evaluating the category for the first time: Suno, today. Fifty credits a day is the largest free allowance here and it lets you form a real opinion. Do it before 3 September 2026 if downloading the results matters to you.
Judging output quality quickly: Loudly. Thirty second previews and one download a day is restrictive by design, but it is enough to assess whether the music suits your material, and the free tier includes limited stem splitter minutes to test that workflow too.
Comparing two engines side by side: Udio alongside Suno. Ten credits a day and 100 a month with no rollovers is modest, and running the same prompt on both is the fastest way to learn which one suits your genre.
Stop using free the moment you intend to publish anything. Every free tier here is non-commercial, and on platforms where rights attach at generation the free catalogue never becomes licensed. The paid step is $8 a month on Suno, Udio and Loudly, and $11.04 on Soundraw, which is a small amount of money against the cost of regenerating a library or pulling a published video.
For what each paid tier permits see our AI music licensing guide, and for scoring video specifically see AI music for video creators. Other platforms with free or trial access worth testing: Beatoven, Stable Audio, AIVA, Boomy, Mubert and Flow Music, which is where riffusion.com now redirects.
Get the free AI music comparison sheet
Every free tier's real limits side by side, what changes on 3 September 2026, and the cheapest paid step on each platform when free stops being enough.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free AI music generator in 2026?
Suno has the most generous free allowance at 50 credits renewing daily, which is substantially more generation than Udio's 10 credits per day or Loudly's preview-only tier. The important caveat is dated: from 3 September 2026 Suno's free tier includes no monthly song downloads, so if taking files off the platform matters to you, evaluate before then. No free tier in this comparison permits commercial use.
Can I use free AI music commercially?
No, not on any platform compared here. Suno states no commercial use on its free plan and Loudly states non-commercial use on its. Every track generated on a free tier is unpublishable by the platform's own terms. This matters more than it first appears, because on platforms where rights attach at generation time a free-tier back catalogue does not become licensed when you upgrade later. Subscribe before generating anything you intend to release.
What changes for free Suno users in September 2026?
Suno's pricing page states that from 3 September 2026 the free tier includes no monthly song downloads, while Pro is capped at 20 per month and Premier at 60. Generation on the free tier continues; taking the results off the platform as monthly song downloads does not. Any workflow depending on downloading free Suno output has a known expiry date, and the paid step that restores it is $8 per month billed annually.
Does Soundraw have a free tier?
No. Soundraw's cheapest plan is Creator at $11.04 per month billed annually. That is less restrictive than it sounds, because the Creator tier includes unlimited monthly downloads plus commercial use and background music rights for video and podcasts, so what you buy is immediately usable rather than a sample. It is a different model from the free-tier platforms rather than a worse one.
Why do Suno, Udio and Loudly cost the same?
Read on 12 August 2026 with annual billing selected, all three price their entry paid tier at $8 per month and their upper tier at $24, with Udio and Loudly both billing $96 and $288 annually. Suno Pro and Loudly Personal both include 2,500 monthly credits, and Suno Premier and Loudly Pro both include 10,000. We report what the pages said and draw no conclusion about why. The practical consequence is that price cannot help you choose, so compare song length caps, stem separation, simultaneous generations and bundled distribution instead.