Stable Audio review
7.1/10★★★★★Stability AI's licensed instrumental and sound-effects generator, with a DAW plugin
- Best for
- Producers and video teams who need licensed instrumentals and sound effects
- Price
- Freemium · from $12/month
Free: 50 credits a month (about 12 full-mix generations), personal non-commercial use - Platforms
- Web, Desktop app, API
- Made by
- Stability AI, London, UK · since 2019
What it is
Stable Audio generates instrumental music and sound effects up to six minutes long from text or uploaded audio. Its Stable Audio 3.0 models are trained on licensed data, and every plan includes the web app and a plugin for DAWs such as Ableton, Logic and Pro Tools. Smaller versions are available as open weights.
Latest: Stability AI released the Stable Audio 3.0 model family in May 2026.
What the AI does
- Text-to-audio and audio-to-audio generation
- Tracks up to six minutes
- Multi-track generation
- Sound effects generation
- DAW plugin
- Open-weight models for self-hosting
Pros and cons
- Trained on licensed data, with Universal and Warner partnerships
- Fast, multi-minute generations
- DAW plugin fits into production workflows
- Open-weight models can run locally
- No vocals or lyrics
- Results usually need finishing in a DAW
- Top plan's price more than doubled in August 2026
How it scores
Strong, licensed instrumentals with a DAW plugin; quality capped at 7.5 because it can't make vocal songs.
Feature checklist · 4 of 9
- Songs with vocals and lyrics (no)
- Commercial use allowed on paid plans (yes)
- Download stems (no)
- Generate or remix from your own audio (yes)
- Edit or regenerate parts of a track (no)
- Direct tempo, key or mood controls (no)
- Release tracks on streaming services (no)
- Trained on licensed or consented music (yes)
- API for developers (yes)
Alternatives
See all Stable Audio alternatives, ranked →
- ElevenMusic 8.6/10Creators who want polished vocal songs with the clearest commercial licensing
- Suno 8.5/10Anyone who wants complete, radio-style songs with vocals from a simple prompt
- Google Flow Music 8.1/10People who want to shape a song through conversation, especially Google AI subscribers
- Loudly 7.4/10Content creators who want cheap, royalty-free tracks they can also release