Marketers use it; doctors use it; even educated lawyers use it. So, let's use it.
We're talking about AI music tools, of course. Love them or hate them, one thing you definitely should not do is ignore them.
With apologies to Cole Porter, the team at De Novo decided to dive deep into the exploding realm of AI music tools. With new ones seemingly surfacing every other week, it can be hard to keep track of the dizzying array, and harder still to figure out which ones are actually worth your time.
We've reviewed the 20 best free and paid AI music tools out there right now. We'll keep updating this guide, so you can use it as a reference to stay on top of the AI tools you can use.
How We Ran This Study
The best way to figure out how well something works is to actually fit into your intended workflow and see how well it holds up.
Spoiler: The tool we ended up liking the most was AIVA. But like we said -- what suits one workflow may not suit another, so dive into the summary below to figure out the best tools for your specific use-case.
Of the tracks we made, here's the track we liked the most, and AIVA handled it entirely.
BTW, we are not affiliates for AIVA or any of the other tools on this list, and we have no other relationship with them. This is just our honest take on each of these tools.
Don't have time for the details? The table below gives you the high-level overview.
Top Free and Paid AI Music Generators
| AI TOOL | COMPOSITION QUALITY |
EASE OF USE | FREE TRIAL | LYRICS SUPPORT | VOCALS SUPPORT |
PRICE |
| Soundraw | High | Easy | Yes | No | No | $16 - 49 |
| Loudly | Moderate | Moderate | Yes | No | Yes (Import) | |
| Landr Studio | High | Easy | Yes | No | Yes (Import) | |
| Lalal.ai | Moderate | Easy | Yes | Yes | Yes (Generated) | $18 - 25 |
| Playbeat | Moderate | Moderate | No | No | No | |
| Magenta | High | Moderate | Yes | Yes | Yes (Generated) | |
| AIVA | High | Easy | Yes | No | No | €11 - €33 |
| Amadeus Code | High | Easy | Yes | Yes | No | $1.99 - 9.99 |
| Splash Pro | Moderate | Easy | Yes | No | No | $10 - $49 |
| Amper Music | High | Easy | Yes (Charge for downloads) | No | No | $5 - $499 |
Why We Liked AIVA
In our opinion, AIVA offers one of the most intuitive experiences, and has the easiest learning curve.
You start by selecting a Composition Type:
Aiva offers various composition types, such as orchestral, piano, or custom.
Choose the type of composition you want to create. I selected ‘From a Style’, and then 'Folk Rock'.
You can select the duration and the number of compositions you want. I selected 5 for more varied options. \
If you know your way around musical notation, you can select a key, or you can even just leave it on auto, as we did for this test.
It generated 5 compositions.
You can also open the composition in the Editor and play with the tools as per your requirement.
You can increase the tempo, experiment with the melody, chords, percussion etc.
Custom a layer and add effects. That’s it. Your composition is done!
AIVA offers many formats for downloads, which is always a good thing.
As you can see, AIVA created a whole bunch of decent, usable tracks in under five minutes. The free version packs a punch with its range of tools, letting me tweak the tracks to fit my vibe perfectly.
Just a heads-up though, the free version is strictly for personal use, so if you want to own your tunes outright, you have to opt for the paid version. Also, downloads are kind of limited in the free version too.
The Rest of Our Top 20 AI Music Tools for 2024
1. Soundraw
Best for: Quick generation
Limitations: Might struggle with creating complex compositions
Need royalty-free music for your next reel? Head to Soundraw to generate customizable royalty-free music by choosing mood, genre, and length. It’s quick, efficient with a user-friendly interface.
Soundraw provides a canvas of multiple genres, pre-made templates and sounds, making experimentation easy and fun. While perfect for beginners, professionals may seek greater control and flexibility in composition, which this platform lacks.
You can try this platform for free but to experience its full offerings you must subscribe.
2. Loudly
Best for: Professional-quality sound production
Limitation: Limited customization.
With Loudly, create unique tracks in moments. It boasts a collection of royalty-free music ready for easy licensing. The platform ensures transparency and compliance through accessible legal documentation.
Loudly smoothly syncs with top digital audio workstations (DAWs), speeding up the music-making process. Collabs are fun and easy with this platform as it allows users to share and co-produce music projects.
Loudly consistently refreshes its features and music collection, ensuring users stay ahead with the latest in AI music creations. It's subscription-based but comes with a free trial.
3. Landr Studio
Best for: User-friendly interface
Limitation: Doesn't seem to be much "AI" value addition
Landr Studio is packed with dope plugins for next-level mixing, presets, and sound boosting, plus it also has third-party plugins to check out or buy.
Whether you're crafting the intense rhythms of EDM or laying down the slick grooves of hip-hop, LANDR boasts a collection of over 2 million unique, royalty-free samples. Its 'Selector' feature helps you effortlessly find the ideal sound for your project.
Mess with EQ, widen your stereo with ease, and check your tracks glow-up with before-and-after comparisons. Landr’s here to amp up your music game.
Landr offers Basic, Advanced, and Pro plans. Each one gives you access to a bunch of cool tools for making music, mastering, distributing, and collaborating.
4. Lalal.ai
Best for: Quick voice extraction
Limitation: Limited accuracy
Lalal.ai is a game-changer for music lovers, DJs, karaoke enthusiasts and budding producers. With its AI-powered vocal separation and the ability to handle multiple tracks at once, it's the ultimate tool for remixing, sampling, and mastering tracks.
While you can't whip up tunes from scratch on Lalal.ai, it's killer for pulling vocals out of existing songs, perfect for adding your own flair or crafting remixes. Plus, its machine learning tech ensures you get top-notch stem extraction, so you can isolate vocals, drums, bass, piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer tracks with ease and zero loss in quality.
From Basic to Pro, each subscription plan unlocks dope vocal separation tools and more to level up your music game.
5. Playbeat
Best for: Seamless integration with DAWs
Limitation: Learning curve
One of Playbeat's most prominent features is its intuitive rhythm generation, which provides you with a user-friendly interface and seamless integration with popular DAWs while catering to various musical styles and preferences .
Whether you're into EDM bangers or laid-back vibes, Playbeat's got your back with real-time playback and regular updates to keep your beats fresh and on point. Playbeat does not operate on a subscription model. Instead, it's typically available for a one-time purchase.
While Playbeat's interface is intuitive, mastering all its features and functionalities may require some learning time. Sometimes Playbeat-generated patterns may become repetitive, potentially limiting their usefulness.
6. Google Magenta
Best for: Collaboration
Limitation: Technical complexity
Magenta stands out with its cutting-edge machine learning technology, offering cool music tools like melody generation, chord progression, and style transfer. Being open-source, Magenta is all about effortless collaboration.
With frequent updates, Magenta ensures users have access to the latest advancements in AI-generated music. However, some of Magenta's tools may have a steep learning curve, especially for users unfamiliar with machine learning concepts and techniques.
Magenta is an open-source project developed by Google Brain's Magenta Team, and most of its tools and resources are freely available to the public.
7. AIVA
Best for: Versatility
Limitation: Learning Curve
AIVA isn't just your typical AI music maker—it's a whole vibe. With its slick integrated editor that feels like a gaming setup, you can create AI-generated tracks and tweak them with cool effects, just like in a DAW.
Plus, it's got its own radio station filled with AI-made tunes, perfect for chilling out or exploring what AIVA can do. You can use it for free or can subscribe to experience the full gamut of tools it is offering.
8. JukeDeck
Best for: Time-Saving
Limitation: Learning Curve
JukeDeck gives you the opportunity to produce music for no cost while giving you full control over the creative process. For just $0.99, JukeDeck offers professionally written songs, providing access to top-notch musical creations at an affordable price.
Jukedeck uses neural networks (a method in artificial intelligence that teaches computers to process data in a way that is inspired by the human brain) to create music.
Users can easily customize music compositions by adjusting parameters such as tempo, mood, and instrumentation, providing flexibility for various projects and preferences.
9. Splash Pro
Best for: High-Quality Playback Limitation: Platform Dependency
Splash Pro is like having a musical genie at your fingertips! Just type in a text prompt, and boom—your song is born. You can tweak the key, mode, and tempo to match your vibe and even add your own vocals with the Text-to-Vocals generative AI. It's music-making made easy and super fun!
Splash Pro has four subscription options: a free plan for beginners, a $10/month 'Starter' plan for creators, a $49/month 'Max' plan, and a customizable 'Enterprise' plan.
10. Amper Music
Best for: Seamless integration with various platforms and software Limitation: Limited Originality
Real-time collaboration, user-friendly interface, a wide range of versatile musical styles and genres make Amper Music a chosen platform for musicians.
What sets it apart from its peers, is its advanced artificial intelligence technology to compose original music compositions quickly.
You can totally use Amper's tool for free. But once the track is ready, you pay per track or acquire a license for commercial use. The licensing fees are Personal License - $5, Professional License - $25, Commercial License -$99 and Online Ad License, $499.
11. Mubert
Best for: Mood Customization Limitation: Limited Control
Mubert's all about mixing music with cool AI tech, striking a rad balance for making music. Mubert has a gamut of tools to cater to all kinds of needs. The tools include Mubert Render, Mubert Extension, Mubert Studio, Mubert API, Mubert Play and Mubert Business.
You can generate music for your own personal use, blogging, vlogging, music production, YouTube channel, reels, video games - the possibilities with Mubert are endless.
Mubert boasts of easy-to-use interface, an extensive library of Royalty-free music, and continuous real-time generation of music, saving time and effort. Mubert is designed to help artists share and monetize their works.
You can use Mubert for free or opt for any of the subscription plans to enjoy all its offerings.
12. Boomy
Best for: User-friendly & Accessibility Limitation: Lack of Originality
Boomy is an AI-powered music creation platform with an intuitive interface for musicians, independent artists, songwriters, and creators. Whether you're looking to produce a pop hit, a hip-hop banger, or an electronic dance track, Boomy has you covered.
Another primary reason people opt for Boomy is its integration with popular social media and streaming platforms, allowing users to easily share their creations with the world.
Boomy offers a wide range of musical styles and genres empowering users to generate music based on their input, allowing for customization of various elements such as genre, mood, and instrumentation.
Boomy offers three membership options to democratize the music production process and empower users to unleash their creativity like never before.
13. Melodriv
Best for: Interactive Composition Limitation: Limited Output Variety
When it comes to music generation and mixing, Melodrive stands out from the crowd.
It seamlessly integrates with popular game engines and development environments, allowing game developers and content creators to easily incorporate dynamic music into their projects.
From small indie games to large-scale commercial productions, Melodriv is apt for creating interactive soundtracks that enhance the overall user experience.
Its wide range of musical styles, genres, and moods make it perfect for generating music for video games, virtual reality experiences, and interactive media in real time. While Melodrive may offer a free trial or demo version, accessing its full features may require subscription or licensing fee.
14. Voicify
Best for: Wide range of voice samples Limitation: No free trial
With Voicify, you can mix and match tons of famous voices and songs to create something totally new and unique.
Voicify AI is a cool online hub packed with tools like an AI music cover maker, a text-to-speech feature, and a bunch of vocal tools. The star of the show is the AI cover generator that whips up music covers in less than a minute.
Voicify got a huge collection of voice samples, featuring everyone from big-time musicians and politicians to your favorite cartoon and game characters. All you have to do is just pick a voice, drop the YouTube link of the song you want to cover, and it's done.
Besides the ready-to-use voice models, you can totally make your own and use it to whip up covers of your fave tracks in your voice. Plus, it's got this text-to-speech thing where you can have celeb voices vocalize your thoughts.
Voicify AI isn’t free and has no free trial. To use it, you have to get a subscription.
15. Synplant
Best for: Personalization
Limitation: Dependency on third-party platforms
The standout feature of Synplant is its seed-based synthesis model. You start with a simple seed, and by planting it, you can explore a wide array of sounds that grow out of it.
Adjusting the branches (parameters) that sprout from the seed modifies the sound, making the synthesis process visually intuitive and highly engaging. Users can mutate sounds, encouraging the discovery of new sonic territories.
It’s like a sonic adventure, where you can tweak the genetics of your sound-seeds to evolve them into lush, complex soundscapes.
Users accustomed to traditional synthesis might find Synplant's approach too abstract or limiting for certain precise sound design tasks. You can download a 3-week trial or purchase for $149.
16. Beatoven
Best for: AI-Driven composition
Limitation: Lack of originality
Beatoven.ai is well-suited for content creators, filmmakers, podcasters, and marketers looking for original, high-quality music for their projects without the hassle of licensing or the cost of hiring composers.
Beatoven's allure lies in its ability to generate numerous variations of any track, all available for you to select or modify as you please. You have the freedom to choose the instrumentation, genre, and tempo to whatever extent suits your preferences.
What really attracted me to Beatoven Ai was its generous track length of 15 minutes. Most competitors typically max out around the five-minute mark. It has a free trial version as well as subscription plans.
17. Ecrett Music
Best for: Variety of music
Limitation: Limited originality
Ecrett Music hooks you up with over 500,000 music patterns every month, so you can easily find the perfect track for your project. Plus, it enables music customization, including instrument and structure adjustments, and allows users to upload videos for review to ensure the music aligns perfectly with their needs.
Ecrett Music offers a user-friendly interface and a seamless music creation process, along with various subscription options to choose from. So, before buying the subscription, give the trial version a spin to see if it suits your style.
18. Amadeus Code
Best for: Lyrics support
Limitations: Difficult learning curve
Amadeus Code can turn a basic idea for a song into a full-fledged track.With its AI-powered composition capabilities, users can tap into a vast database of musical compositions to generate original melodies quickly.
The songwriting assistant introduces fresh content and chord progressions on a daily basis. Real-time feedback ensures that users can iterate and refine their compositions quickly, while seamless integration with popular digital audio workstations streamlines the workflow.
The platform's intuitive interface makes it accessible to users of all skill levels, while its customizable features allow for personalized creative expression. With Amadeus you can use all features for free and pay only when you need your files.
19. Humtap
Best for: Instant music creation
Limitations: Dependency on humming
Humtap is like your pocket music studio, letting you whip up tunes with just your voice! With its slick interface and cool tech, Humtap turns your hums and singing into full-on music tracks in no time.
You've got tons of musical styles to pick from, and you can jazz up your tracks with all sorts of instruments and cool effects. Once you're done, share your awesome creations with your crew! Humtap's all about making music for everyone, whether you're a pro or just starting out.
20. MuseNet
Best for: High-Quality compositions
Limitations: Complexity in understanding
Developed by OpenAI for generating music, MuseNet is popular for its ability to produce multi-instrumental compositions with complex arrangements, allowing for a diverse range of musical output.
MuseNet's all about pumping out top-notch tunes in every style imaginable, from classical jams to the latest hits. Plus, it can mix things up with multiple instruments, and you can feed it MIDI files or just drop in some text to get the creative juices flowing!
MuseNet, an AI model from OpenAI, isn't offered through a subscription. Instead, it's accessed via platforms or APIs and may need computational resources to operate.
While each tool has its pros and cons, Mubert, Boomy, Aiva, and Soundraw are particularly beneficial for those seeking to compose compelling tracks. These platforms provide extensive free trial options, boast user-friendly interfaces, and offer ample customization opportunities for adding innovation and flair to tracks.
AI Music Tools: Gold or Garbage?
Broadly speaking, the more skill you have as a musician, the less you are likely to be enthusiastic about tools that are essentially trying to de-skill music.
But in music, as in life, there are things you cannot control. As far as AI is concerned, Pandora's box has been opened, and whether or not we like it, the world is not going back to the pre-AI era -- at least, not anytime soon.
In a sense, AI tools may finally help achieve what music has always been about: pure self-expression. More people may now be able to express the musical concepts they have in their minds and hearts, which earlier were constrained by skill and so could never manifest in reality.
Personally, we believe that concerns that AI could replace real musicians down the line, are somewhat overblown. While it's true that music may become even more commoditized then ever, it's also true that the more something becomes undifferentiated, the more humans will seek contrast and creativity and connection.
And in case you haven't noticed, for the last two decades, making music has constantly been getting simpler than ever. Music is no longer the saleable product, and it hasn't been for decades now.
The most successful musicians understand that THEY are the product -- and that connection with them is what fans seek. So, the biggest challenge you need to solve as a musician is cracking the distribution challenge -- and we can help you with that.
