Side by side
| Lyro | Udio | |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads | Not counted or capped | Downloading of audio, video and stems has been disabled Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026 |
| Music industry partnership | None. Lyro has no agreements with record labels | Partnership with Universal Music Group, announced 29 Oct 2025 Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026 |
| What subscribers received with the change | Not applicable. Downloads have never been limited | A one-time grant of 1,000 extra credits, and higher monthly limits: Standard went from 1,200 to 2,400 credits and Pro from 4,800 to 6,000 Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026 |
| Free plan | None. Plans start at $3 a month | Yes. 10 credits a day plus 100 credits a month, with at most 3 full-length songs (2 minutes 10 seconds) a day Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026 |
| Price | Starter: $3 a month for 45 credits. Creator: $19 to $99 a month for 300 to 1,560 credits | Standard: $10 a month, or $8 a month billed annually, for 2,400 credits. Pro: $30 a month, or $24 a month billed annually, for 6,000 credits. Extra credits: 100 for $3 or 1,000 for $25 Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026 |
| Cost per song | A Lyria 3 Pro song costs 4 credits: about $0.27 on Starter and $0.25 on Creator. ACE-Step 1.5 is priced by length: one credit per 30 seconds with the detailed pass, or one credit per minute with the fast pass | A song of 2 minutes 10 seconds costs 2 credits, so Standard’s 2,400 credits make 1,200 songs: about $0.008 each at $10 a month. None of them can be downloaded Udio help centre, 29 Oct 2025 |
| Models | Two third-party models, chosen by the job: Google Lyria 3 Pro for sung lyrics, ACE-Step 1.5 for vocal chops, tempo-locked beats and work on your own audio. The rule follows one small internal blind test (one rater, seven Turkish-language briefs, 21 Sep 2026) | The pricing page names the model behind its 2-minute songs, udio130. We have not verified more than that Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026 |
| Start from your own vocal or beat | Yes, on Creator: a beat written around your vocal, or a vocal added to your beat at its tempo and key | On paid plans. Standard can generate songs from uploaded audio files Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026 |
| Mixing and mastering | Multitrack mixer and mastering to a loudness target in the browser, on Creator, using no credits | Paid plans can edit music and lyrics, and every plan can extend and remix songs. We have not checked what Udio offers for mixing or mastering Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026 |
| Stems and file formats | MP3 and FLAC on every plan. WAV export and a four-way stem splitter on Creator | Stem downloads are disabled. See their current plans page for the rest Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026 |
| Commercial use | Commercial licence on every paid plan, subject to our terms and our model providers’ terms. No promise of copyright protection | No. The terms allow output to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes only, and say output may not be downloaded Udio Terms of Service, revised 12 Nov 2025 |
| AI labelling | AI-generated tag in every download. Lyria 3 Pro output carries Google’s SynthID watermark | See their current plans page |
Where Udio is stronger
Udio is ahead if a partnership with a major music company matters to you, on price per song, and on having a free tier. If those matter most, choose Udio.
- A deal with a major music company. Udio has a partnership with Universal Music Group, announced on 29 Oct 2025 (Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026). Lyro has no agreements with record labels. If you or your employer want to work inside a service that has that kind of agreement, that is a point for Udio.
- More generation for subscribers. When downloads were disabled, Udio gave subscribers a one-time grant of 1,000 extra credits and raised its monthly limits: Standard from 1,200 to 2,400 credits and Pro from 4,800 to 6,000 (Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026).
- A free tier. Udio’s free tier gives 10 credits a day plus 100 a month, with at most 3 full-length songs a day (Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026). Lyro has no free plan.
- Price per song. Udio is cheaper per song. Standard costs $10 a month for 2,400 credits (Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026), and a song of 2 minutes 10 seconds costs 2 credits (Udio help centre, 29 Oct 2025): about $0.008 a song. A Lyria 3 Pro song on Lyro costs about $0.27 on Starter and $0.25 on Creator. One reason is that Lyro pays outside model providers for every generation.
- One integrated product. Lyro rents its models from other companies. Udio’s pricing page names the model behind its 2-minute songs, udio130 (Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026), and we have not verified more than that. When one company builds the model and the app together, features can be designed around that model and the sound is consistent. Lyro’s results vary with the model a request is routed to.
- Time in the market. Udio was running before its October 2025 partnership. Lyro is new and publishes no user numbers.
Where Lyro is different
Lyro is built for music that leaves the product, and that is what its price per song pays for. Udio’s Standard plan also generates songs from uploaded audio files (Udio pricing page, checked 21 Sep 2026), so starting from your own audio is not the difference. Being able to take the result away is.
- You keep the files. Downloads are never counted or capped: MP3 and FLAC on every plan, WAV export and separated stems on Creator. Udio’s help centre says downloading of audio, video and stems has been disabled (Udio help centre, updated 17 Feb 2026), and its terms say output may not be downloaded (Udio Terms of Service, revised 12 Nov 2025).
- Made to be used elsewhere. You can put a track in a video, play it in a DJ set, send it to a distributor, or take the stems into a DAW, the software producers use to record and arrange music. Every paid plan includes a commercial licence, subject to our terms and our model providers’ terms. Udio’s terms allow output to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes only (Udio Terms of Service, revised 12 Nov 2025).
- What Lyro does with your audio. On Creator, Lyro detects the tempo and key of your upload in the browser. From a vocal it writes a beat around it. From a beat it returns a vocal at the beat’s tempo and key as an isolated stem. You can then mix, master and download the result, and mixing and mastering use no credits.
- Two models, chosen by the job. Sung lyrics go to Google Lyria 3 Pro, and vocal chops and tempo-locked beats go to ACE-Step 1.5. The routing comes from one small internal blind test (one rater, seven Turkish-language briefs, 21 Sep 2026) that did not include Udio. The method is on the how we test page.
- Labelled files. Every download carries an AI-generated tag, and Lyria 3 Pro output carries Google’s SynthID watermark.
We do not promise copyright protection for generated music. The details are on the music rights page.
Which should you pick
Pick by whether you need the audio file.
| If you want | Consider |
|---|---|
| An audio file for a release, a video, a DJ set or a client | Lyro. Udio’s help centre says downloads are disabled, and its terms allow personal, non-commercial use only. |
| To create and listen inside one service that has a Universal Music Group partnership | Udio |
| The lowest price per song, or a free tier | Udio, if you do not need the file: about $0.008 a song on Standard. A Lyro song costs about $0.25 to $0.27. |
| To start from your own vocal or your own beat | Either for making it: Udio’s Standard plan generates songs from uploaded audio files. Lyro if you need to download the result. |
| Sung Turkish lyrics | Lyro chose its model for sung lyrics with a small Turkish blind test. We have not tested Udio, so try your own lyrics in both. |
If making and hearing songs inside the app is all you want, Udio may suit you well, and it costs less. If the file has to go somewhere, Lyro starts at $3 a month, with the studio features on Creator from $19, and you can cancel in the app in two clicks. The free prompt generator writes prompts that work in either.
What this page does not claim
We make no claim about which product sounds better. Our blind test covered three models that Lyro can offer, and Udio was not one of them. Sound quality also depends on taste and genre, so listen to both.
We also make no claim that Udio lacks a feature. A cell in the table says “See their current plans page” where we could not verify a fact on Udio’s own site. The rest was read on Udio’s pricing page, help centre and Terms of Service on 21 Sep 2026, and Udio may change its policy again. If something here is out of date or unfair, tell us through the contact page and we will correct it.