{ "data": { "category": { "area": "content", "capabilities": [ "audio.music", "audio.stems", "audio.sfx", "audio.vocals" ], "description": "Models that write music and sound from a prompt, behind an API. Direct providers and model platforms are listed side by side and labelled by kind. Compared on price per minute of audio, track length, stems, vocals, and the licence the output comes with.", "indexed": [ { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/bizmuse.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "BizMuse AI Music Video", "slug": "bizmuse", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bizmuse" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/budgetpixel-mcp.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "budgetpixel.com MCP server", "slug": "budgetpixel-mcp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/budgetpixel-mcp" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/flarewatch.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "flarewatch", "slug": "flarewatch", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/flarewatch" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gradusmusic-notation.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "Gradus Notation", "slug": "gradusmusic-notation", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gradusmusic-notation" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lexu-mcp.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "Lexu", "slug": "lexu-mcp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lexu-mcp" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ludo-game-assets.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "Ludo AI Game Assets", "slug": "ludo-game-assets", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ludo-game-assets" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/playbykey-theory-mcp.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "PlayByKey Music Theory", "slug": "playbykey-theory-mcp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/playbykey-theory-mcp" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sapiensinteticos-sapiens.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "Sapiens Sintéticos", "slug": "sapiensinteticos-sapiens", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sapiensinteticos-sapiens" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/myspaice-spaces.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "spaces", "slug": "myspaice-spaces", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/myspaice-spaces" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/starsinger-mcp.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "starsinger-mcp", "slug": "starsinger-mcp", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/starsinger-mcp" }, { "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/thiri-chord-intelligence.json", "kind": "mcp", "name": "THIRI Chord Intelligence", "slug": "thiri-chord-intelligence", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/thiri-chord-intelligence" } ], "indexedCount": 11, "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/music-generation.json", "name": "Music generation", "slug": "music-generation", "test": "", "title": "Music generation for AI agents", "toolCount": 11, "tools": [ "fal-music", "elevenlabs-music", "replicate-musicgen", "stable-audio", "google-lyria", "musicgpt", "soundverse", "mubert", "loudly", "beatoven", "soundraw" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/music-generation" }, "faq": [ { "answer": "fal music models has the highest benchmark score of the 11 ranked music generation, 68.3 (B). ElevenLabs Music API is second with 66.9 (B).", "question": "What are the highest-rated music generation for AI agents?" }, { "answer": "0 of the 11 ranked here grade BB or better, the bar for agent-ready on the Anchor benchmark.", "question": "How many music generation are agent-ready?" }, { "answer": "None of the ranked listings here accepts x402 for its main call yet.", "question": "Which music generation accept x402 payments?" }, { "answer": "By published paid prices, MusicGPT API, at $0.028 per call, the lowest of the 6 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside). Plans, volume tiers and free allowances change the sum, so check the listing's price table.", "question": "Which of these music generation is cheapest?" }, { "answer": "By the Anchor benchmark score out of 100, a weighted mean of the scored categories minus deductions for negative events, from public evidence re-checked as vendors change. Listings cannot pay for a place. The latest assessment behind this page is from 9 October 2026.", "question": "How is this list ranked?" } ], "howToChoose": [ { "label": "Price per minute of audio", "detail": "Check the price per minute of generated audio and whether stems cost extra, because a track exported as stems can cost more than a single mix." }, { "label": "Maximum track length", "detail": "Check the longest track a single job returns and whether longer songs are built by extending, because an agent stitching sections must keep key and tempo consistent." }, { "label": "Stems and vocal control", "detail": "Check whether stems and separate vocal tracks can be exported, since an agent producing a backing track for a human singer needs the instrumental without the voice." }, { "label": "Output licence and training data", "detail": "Check the licence the output comes with and what training data the model used, because commercial reuse of a track depends on both." } ], "picks": [ { "also": { "name": "ElevenLabs Music API", "slug": "elevenlabs-music", "why": "B, 66.9/100" }, "name": "fal music models", "need": "Highest score overall", "slug": "fal-music", "why": "B, 68.3/100 on the benchmark" }, { "name": "MusicGen on Replicate", "need": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "slug": "replicate-musicgen", "why": "87/100 on schema \u0026 documentation, against 85 for the overall leader" }, { "name": "ElevenLabs Music API", "need": "Security \u0026 auth", "slug": "elevenlabs-music", "why": "77/100 on security \u0026 auth, against 62 for the overall leader" }, { "name": "ElevenLabs Music API", "need": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "slug": "elevenlabs-music", "why": "77/100 on transparency \u0026 trust, against 57 for the overall leader" }, { "also": { "name": "MusicGen on Replicate", "slug": "replicate-musicgen", "why": "$0.035 per call" }, "name": "MusicGPT API", "need": "Lowest paid price per call", "slug": "musicgpt", "why": "$0.028 per call, the lowest of the 6 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside)" }, { "name": "Mubert API", "need": "A hosted MCP endpoint", "slug": "mubert", "why": "remote MCP server, nothing to install" } ], "ranked": 11, "shortlist": [ { "bestFor": "An agent or team that wants to compare or switch music models without a contract per vendor, or needs a published price for vendors that don't publish one (Beatoven).", "grade": "B", "name": "fal music models", "position": 1, "price": "$0.04 / call", "score": 68.3, "slug": "fal-music", "strengths": [ "Lyria, ElevenLabs, MiniMax, Stable Audio, Beatoven and open-weights models behind one queue API", "Per-model prices published on each model page and through a pricing API", "Queue with webhooks, published concurrency limits and typed 429s that the clients retry" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fal-music", "verdict": "Lyria, ElevenLabs, MiniMax, Stable Audio, Beatoven and open-weights models behind one queue API. Billing units differ per model (per track, per second, per minute rounded up).", "weaknesses": [ "Billing units differ per model (per track, per second, per minute rounded up)", "Output licence and content rules vary by upstream model", "No free tier and no security.txt or disclosure policy" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Full songs with vocals and lyrics, or instrumentals where section-level control, inpainting or stems matter.", "grade": "B", "name": "ElevenLabs Music API", "position": 2, "price": "$6 / mo", "score": 66.9, "slug": "elevenlabs-music", "strengths": [ "Vocals and lyrics in several languages, or forced instrumental, with length set from 3 to 600 seconds", "Composition plans for section-by-section control, plus inpainting and a stem separation endpoint", "Public OpenAPI document, llms.txt and official Python and TypeScript SDKs released most weeks" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music", "verdict": "Vocals and lyrics in several languages, or forced instrumental, with length set from 3 to 600 seconds. Music API is disabled on the Free plan and pay-as-you-go needs a card.", "weaknesses": [ "Music API is disabled on the Free plan and pay-as-you-go needs a card", "Music Terms exclude customers in political, religious, adult, tobacco, weapons and prescription drug sectors, and prompts can't name artists or songs", "Zero Retention Mode doesn't cover Music yet" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Cheap prototypes, research and melody-conditioned experiments where non-commercial output is acceptable, and for teams already on Replicate who can switch to its commercial music models.", "grade": "C", "name": "MusicGen on Replicate", "position": 3, "price": "$0.035 / call", "score": 54.3, "slug": "replicate-musicgen", "strengths": [ "About $0.035 a run, billed by GPU second, with text or melody conditioning", "Published rate limits (600 creates a minute) and a 429 that says when to retry", "API inputs, outputs and logs deleted after an hour by default" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-musicgen", "verdict": "About $0.035 a run, billed by GPU second, with text or melody conditioning. MusicGen weights are CC-BY-NC 4.0, so no commercial use.", "weaknesses": [ "MusicGen weights are CC-BY-NC 4.0, so no commercial use", "Instrumental only, and the model version dates from 2024-03-28", "No API token scopes and no security.txt" ], "where": "both", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Instrumental beds, loops and sound effects billed per generation, with no subscription and a licensed-training story.", "grade": "D", "name": "Stable Audio API", "position": 4, "price": "$0.26 / call", "score": 50, "slug": "stable-audio", "strengths": [ "Pay-as-you-go credits, $0.26 a 3.0 generation and $0.20 on 2.5, failures free", "Public OpenAPI document with credit costs, limits and a 150-requests-per-10-seconds rate limit", "Raw audio bytes on request, so outputs stay out of an agent's context" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stable-audio", "verdict": "Pay-as-you-go credits, $0.26 a 3.0 generation and $0.20 on 2.5, failures free. Stable Audio 3.0 is async only, with polling and no webhook, and inpaint stays on 2 and 2.5.", "weaknesses": [ "Stable Audio 3.0 is async only, with polling and no webhook, and inpaint stays on 2 and 2.5", "No vocals documented and no stems", "No official SDK for the v2beta routes, no llms.txt, and the docs site and pricing page need JavaScript" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Quick, cheap full songs with vocals from an agent that already holds a Gemini key, and for 30-second clips.", "grade": "D", "name": "Google Lyria", "position": 5, "price": "$0.08 / call", "score": 48.5, "slug": "google-lyria", "strengths": [ "$0.08 a full song on `lyria-3.5` and $0.04 a 30-second clip, flat", "Vocals and timed lyrics in the prompt's language, or instrumental on request", "Section tags and timestamps in the prompt for structure" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-lyria", "verdict": "$0.08 a full song on `lyria-3.5` and $0.04 a 30-second clip, flat. No free tier for Lyria, so billing is needed before the first call.", "weaknesses": [ "No free tier for Lyria, so billing is needed before the first call", "No length parameter, no stems and no multi-turn editing", "No rate-limit numbers for Lyria in the docs, and no published contract for the Interactions endpoint" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Agents that need many audio jobs under one key, from songs with vocals to stems, covers and sound effects, at published per-request prices.", "grade": "E", "name": "MusicGPT API", "position": 6, "price": "$0.10 / call", "score": 45.9, "slug": "musicgpt", "strengths": [ "OpenAPI 3.1 file with 27 operations, plus llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page", "Per-request prices for every feature are published without a login, from $0.035 to $0.10 a song on the `v6` model", "Rate limits are published per plan, 1, 3 or 10 parallel requests and 20, 200 or 500 status calls a minute" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/musicgpt", "verdict": "A public OpenAPI 3.1 file with 27 operations, llms.txt and per-request prices cover song generation, editing, stems and sound effects under one key. No status page, SLA, security.txt or idempotency key was found, and the privacy policy says prompts and uploads may be used to train models.", "weaknesses": [ "No status page, SLA or incident history was found on the pages read", "No idempotency key is documented, and music requests bill two songs each by default", "The privacy policy says prompts and uploads may be used to train models, with no opt-out stated" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Agents that need several music jobs from one vendor (song, stems, SFX, remix, copyright check) and want to buy the exact rights for each file.", "grade": "E", "name": "Soundverse API", "position": 7, "price": "$0.12 / call", "score": 41.9, "slug": "soundverse", "strengths": [ "Songs with vocals, instrumentals, stems (2, 6 or 12), SFX and remix behind one endpoint", "`Idempotency-Key` on creates returns the original task without billing again", "Structured errors with a `retryable` flag, and SSE progress" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soundverse", "verdict": "Songs with vocals, instrumentals, stems (2, 6 or 12), SFX and remix behind one endpoint. No status page, changelog or security.txt.", "weaknesses": [ "No status page, changelog or security.txt", "Rate limits enforced hourly and daily per tool with no numbers and no headers", "Song length isn't a documented parameter, and outputs need a second download call" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Apps that hand background music to many end users, or need endless streams and fixed-cost quotas.", "grade": "E", "name": "Mubert API", "position": 8, "price": "$49 / mo", "score": 41, "slug": "mubert", "strengths": [ "Hosted MCP server with 21 tools and OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, in the official registry under `com.mubert`", "Tracks from 15 seconds to 25 minutes, with pre-rendered durations from 5 to 300 seconds returned in one request", "Per-customer access tokens with daily caps for multi-user apps" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mubert", "verdict": "Hosted MCP server with 21 tools and OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, in the official registry under `com.mubert`. Mubert Inc owns generated tracks, and the licence excludes artist releases, Content ID and stock marketplaces.", "weaknesses": [ "Mubert Inc owns generated tracks, and the licence excludes artist releases, Content ID and stock marketplaces", "No free API tier. Entry plan is $49 a month for 100 generations", "No status page, changelog, error codes or security.txt" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Apps that need instrumental tracks with stems, remix and mastering from one vendor under a royalty-free licence, and that can start on a free allowance.", "grade": "E", "name": "Loudly Music API", "position": 9, "price": "$0.15 / credit", "score": 38.1, "slug": "loudly", "strengths": [ "Public OpenAPI 3.0 spec with error schemas for 400, 402, 403, 404 and 500", "Free track allowance on a new key, and `test=true` returns a dummy song at no cost", "Stems, remix and mastering in the same API, with tracks from 30 to 420 seconds" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/loudly", "verdict": "Public OpenAPI 3.0 spec with error schemas for 400, 402, 403, 404 and 500. No status page, changelog, rate limits or 429 guidance.", "weaknesses": [ "No status page, changelog, rate limits or 429 guidance", "One unscoped key per account, and no security.txt or disclosure policy", "Vocals and 12-stem splits need Loudly to switch on account flags" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" }, { "bestFor": "Instrumental background beds where separate stems matter, from a model with a licensed-training story.", "grade": "F", "name": "Beatoven.ai API", "position": 10, "price": "Paid", "score": 22, "slug": "beatoven", "strengths": [ "Four stems (bass, chords, melody, percussion) returned with every track at no extra call", "Training data licensed from named partners, with 30 per cent of revenue shared with rights holders per Beatoven's launch coverage", "Two-call flow (compose, then poll the task) with only `prompt.text` required" ], "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beatoven", "verdict": "Four stems (bass, chords, melody, percussion) returned with every track at no extra call. No API price, free tier or rate limits published.", "weaknesses": [ "No API price, free tier or rate limits published", "Spec is a Markdown file on GitHub with no OpenAPI, error codes, SDK package or changelog", "No status page, security.txt or disclosure policy" ], "where": "hosted", "x402": "no" } ], "updated": "2026-10-09" }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/music-generation/", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/music-generation/index.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/music-generation/index.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/music-generation/index.min.md" }, "markdown": "The 10 highest-scoring of 11 music generation on the Anchor benchmark, with a pick for each need and where each one falls short. Scores come from public evidence, re-checked as vendors change.\n\n- Ranked: 11 · agent-ready (BB or better): 0 · accept x402: 0 · hosted endpoints: 10\n- Full ranked table: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/music-generation.md\n- Head-to-head comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/music-generation/index.md (55)\n- Methodology: https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/index.md\n\n## The shortlist\n\n| # | Tool | Grade | Score | Best for | Price | Where |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 1 | [fal music models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fal-music.md) | B | 68.3 | An agent or team that wants to compare or switch music models without a contract per vendor, or needs a published price for vendors that don't publish one (Beatoven). | $0.04 / call | hosted |\n| 2 | [ElevenLabs Music API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music.md) | B | 66.9 | Full songs with vocals and lyrics, or instrumentals where section-level control, inpainting or stems matter. | $6 / mo | hosted |\n| 3 | [MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-musicgen.md) | C | 54.3 | Cheap prototypes, research and melody-conditioned experiments where non-commercial output is acceptable, and for teams already on Replicate who can switch to its commercial music models. | $0.035 / call | hosted and local |\n| 4 | [Stable Audio API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stable-audio.md) | D | 50 | Instrumental beds, loops and sound effects billed per generation, with no subscription and a licensed-training story. | $0.26 / call | hosted |\n| 5 | [Google Lyria](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-lyria.md) | D | 48.5 | Quick, cheap full songs with vocals from an agent that already holds a Gemini key, and for 30-second clips. | $0.08 / call | hosted |\n| 6 | [MusicGPT API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/musicgpt.md) | E | 45.9 | Agents that need many audio jobs under one key, from songs with vocals to stems, covers and sound effects, at published per-request prices. | $0.10 / call | hosted |\n| 7 | [Soundverse API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soundverse.md) | E | 41.9 | Agents that need several music jobs from one vendor (song, stems, SFX, remix, copyright check) and want to buy the exact rights for each file. | $0.12 / call | hosted |\n| 8 | [Mubert API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mubert.md) | E | 41 | Apps that hand background music to many end users, or need endless streams and fixed-cost quotas. | $49 / mo | hosted |\n| 9 | [Loudly Music API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/loudly.md) | E | 38.1 | Apps that need instrumental tracks with stems, remix and mastering from one vendor under a royalty-free licence, and that can start on a free allowance. | $0.15 / credit | hosted |\n| 10 | [Beatoven.ai API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beatoven.md) | F | 22 | Instrumental background beds where separate stems matter, from a model with a licensed-training story. | Paid | hosted |\n\n## Picks by need\n\n- Highest score overall: [fal music models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fal-music.md), B, 68.3/100 on the benchmark. Also [ElevenLabs Music API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music.md), B, 66.9/100.\n- Schema \u0026 documentation: [MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-musicgen.md), 87/100 on schema \u0026 documentation, against 85 for the overall leader.\n- Security \u0026 auth: [ElevenLabs Music API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music.md), 77/100 on security \u0026 auth, against 62 for the overall leader.\n- Transparency \u0026 trust: [ElevenLabs Music API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music.md), 77/100 on transparency \u0026 trust, against 57 for the overall leader.\n- Lowest paid price per call: [MusicGPT API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/musicgpt.md), $0.028 per call, the lowest of the 6 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside). Also [MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-musicgen.md), $0.035 per call.\n- A hosted MCP endpoint: [Mubert API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mubert.md), remote MCP server, nothing to install.\n\n## How to choose\n\n- Price per minute of audio: Check the price per minute of generated audio and whether stems cost extra, because a track exported as stems can cost more than a single mix.\n- Maximum track length: Check the longest track a single job returns and whether longer songs are built by extending, because an agent stitching sections must keep key and tempo consistent.\n- Stems and vocal control: Check whether stems and separate vocal tracks can be exported, since an agent producing a backing track for a human singer needs the instrumental without the voice.\n- Output licence and training data: Check the licence the output comes with and what training data the model used, because commercial reuse of a track depends on both.\n\n## Each one in detail\n\n### 1. fal music models, B 68.3/100\n\nfal hosts third-party music models behind one queue API and one key.\n\n- Verdict: Lyria, ElevenLabs, MiniMax, Stable Audio, Beatoven and open-weights models behind one queue API. Billing units differ per model (per track, per second, per minute rounded up).\n- Choose it for: An agent or team that wants to compare or switch music models without a contract per vendor, or needs a published price for vendors that don't publish one (Beatoven).\n- Strength: Lyria, ElevenLabs, MiniMax, Stable Audio, Beatoven and open-weights models behind one queue API\n- Strength: Per-model prices published on each model page and through a pricing API\n- Strength: Queue with webhooks, published concurrency limits and typed 429s that the clients retry\n- Weakness: Billing units differ per model (per track, per second, per minute rounded up)\n- Weakness: Output licence and content rules vary by upstream model\n- Weakness: No free tier and no security.txt or disclosure policy\n- Price: $0.04 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fal-music.md\n\n### 2. ElevenLabs Music API, B 66.9/100\n\nEleven Music text-to-music API (`music_v1`, `music_v2`, `music_v2_5`).\n\n- Verdict: Vocals and lyrics in several languages, or forced instrumental, with length set from 3 to 600 seconds. Music API is disabled on the Free plan and pay-as-you-go needs a card.\n- Choose it for: Full songs with vocals and lyrics, or instrumentals where section-level control, inpainting or stems matter.\n- Strength: Vocals and lyrics in several languages, or forced instrumental, with length set from 3 to 600 seconds\n- Strength: Composition plans for section-by-section control, plus inpainting and a stem separation endpoint\n- Strength: Public OpenAPI document, llms.txt and official Python and TypeScript SDKs released most weeks\n- Weakness: Music API is disabled on the Free plan and pay-as-you-go needs a card\n- Weakness: Music Terms exclude customers in political, religious, adult, tobacco, weapons and prescription drug sectors, and prompts can't name artists or songs\n- Weakness: Zero Retention Mode doesn't cover Music yet\n- Price: $6 / mo · Auth: OAuth or key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/elevenlabs-music.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-music-vs-fal-music.md\n\n### 3. MusicGen on Replicate, C 54.3/100\n\nReplicate's hosted copy of Meta's open-weights MusicGen (stereo-melody-large, stereo-large, melody-large, large), prompted with text or a melody clip.\n\n- Verdict: About $0.035 a run, billed by GPU second, with text or melody conditioning. MusicGen weights are CC-BY-NC 4.0, so no commercial use.\n- Choose it for: Cheap prototypes, research and melody-conditioned experiments where non-commercial output is acceptable, and for teams already on Replicate who can switch to its commercial music models.\n- Strength: About $0.035 a run, billed by GPU second, with text or melody conditioning\n- Strength: Published rate limits (600 creates a minute) and a 429 that says when to retry\n- Strength: API inputs, outputs and logs deleted after an hour by default\n- Weakness: MusicGen weights are CC-BY-NC 4.0, so no commercial use\n- Weakness: Instrumental only, and the model version dates from 2024-03-28\n- Weakness: No API token scopes and no security.txt\n- Price: $0.035 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted and local\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/replicate-musicgen.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-replicate-musicgen.md\n\n### 4. Stable Audio API, D 50/100\n\nStability AI's hosted Stable Audio endpoints for music and sound effects.\n\n- Verdict: Pay-as-you-go credits, $0.26 a 3.0 generation and $0.20 on 2.5, failures free. Stable Audio 3.0 is async only, with polling and no webhook, and inpaint stays on 2 and 2.5.\n- Choose it for: Instrumental beds, loops and sound effects billed per generation, with no subscription and a licensed-training story.\n- Strength: Pay-as-you-go credits, $0.26 a 3.0 generation and $0.20 on 2.5, failures free\n- Strength: Public OpenAPI document with credit costs, limits and a 150-requests-per-10-seconds rate limit\n- Strength: Raw audio bytes on request, so outputs stay out of an agent's context\n- Weakness: Stable Audio 3.0 is async only, with polling and no webhook, and inpaint stays on 2 and 2.5\n- Weakness: No vocals documented and no stems\n- Weakness: No official SDK for the v2beta routes, no llms.txt, and the docs site and pricing page need JavaScript\n- Price: $0.26 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stable-audio.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-stable-audio.md\n\n### 5. Google Lyria, D 48.5/100\n\nGoogle's music generation models for full songs, short clips and streamed audio through the Gemini API.\n\n- Verdict: $0.08 a full song on `lyria-3.5` and $0.04 a 30-second clip, flat. No free tier for Lyria, so billing is needed before the first call.\n- Choose it for: Quick, cheap full songs with vocals from an agent that already holds a Gemini key, and for 30-second clips.\n- Strength: $0.08 a full song on `lyria-3.5` and $0.04 a 30-second clip, flat\n- Strength: Vocals and timed lyrics in the prompt's language, or instrumental on request\n- Strength: Section tags and timestamps in the prompt for structure\n- Weakness: No free tier for Lyria, so billing is needed before the first call\n- Weakness: No length parameter, no stems and no multi-turn editing\n- Weakness: No rate-limit numbers for Lyria in the docs, and no published contract for the Interactions endpoint\n- Price: $0.08 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-lyria.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-google-lyria.md\n\n### 6. MusicGPT API, E 45.9/100\n\nAPI from MusicGPT in Singapore for generating songs, vocals and sound effects from prompts, with remixing, extending, covers, voice conversion, text to speech, stem extraction and audio utilities. Jobs are asynchronous, with results by webhook or polling.\n\n- Verdict: A public OpenAPI 3.1 file with 27 operations, llms.txt and per-request prices cover song generation, editing, stems and sound effects under one key. No status page, SLA, security.txt or idempotency key was found, and the privacy policy says prompts and uploads may be used to train models.\n- Choose it for: Agents that need many audio jobs under one key, from songs with vocals to stems, covers and sound effects, at published per-request prices.\n- Strength: OpenAPI 3.1 file with 27 operations, plus llms.txt and a Markdown copy of every docs page\n- Strength: Per-request prices for every feature are published without a login, from $0.035 to $0.10 a song on the `v6` model\n- Strength: Rate limits are published per plan, 1, 3 or 10 parallel requests and 20, 200 or 500 status calls a minute\n- Weakness: No status page, SLA or incident history was found on the pages read\n- Weakness: No idempotency key is documented, and music requests bill two songs each by default\n- Weakness: The privacy policy says prompts and uploads may be used to train models, with no opt-out stated\n- Price: $0.10 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/musicgpt.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-musicgpt.md\n\n### 7. Soundverse API, E 41.9/100\n\nAPI for generating and editing music, vocals and sound effects, with stem separation and copyright checks.\n\n- Verdict: Songs with vocals, instrumentals, stems (2, 6 or 12), SFX and remix behind one endpoint. No status page, changelog or security.txt.\n- Choose it for: Agents that need several music jobs from one vendor (song, stems, SFX, remix, copyright check) and want to buy the exact rights for each file.\n- Strength: Songs with vocals, instrumentals, stems (2, 6 or 12), SFX and remix behind one endpoint\n- Strength: `Idempotency-Key` on creates returns the original task without billing again\n- Strength: Structured errors with a `retryable` flag, and SSE progress\n- Weakness: No status page, changelog or security.txt\n- Weakness: Rate limits enforced hourly and daily per tool with no numbers and no headers\n- Weakness: Song length isn't a documented parameter, and outputs need a second download call\n- Price: $0.12 / call · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/soundverse.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-soundverse.md\n\n### 8. Mubert API, E 41/100\n\nMubert's API for generating music.\n\n- Verdict: Hosted MCP server with 21 tools and OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, in the official registry under `com.mubert`. Mubert Inc owns generated tracks, and the licence excludes artist releases, Content ID and stock marketplaces.\n- Choose it for: Apps that hand background music to many end users, or need endless streams and fixed-cost quotas.\n- Strength: Hosted MCP server with 21 tools and OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, in the official registry under `com.mubert`\n- Strength: Tracks from 15 seconds to 25 minutes, with pre-rendered durations from 5 to 300 seconds returned in one request\n- Strength: Per-customer access tokens with daily caps for multi-user apps\n- Weakness: Mubert Inc owns generated tracks, and the licence excludes artist releases, Content ID and stock marketplaces\n- Weakness: No free API tier. Entry plan is $49 a month for 100 generations\n- Weakness: No status page, changelog, error codes or security.txt\n- Price: $49 / mo · Auth: OAuth or key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/mubert.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-mubert.md\n\n### 9. Loudly Music API, E 38.1/100\n\nLoudly's API for generating music for business applications.\n\n- Verdict: Public OpenAPI 3.0 spec with error schemas for 400, 402, 403, 404 and 500. No status page, changelog, rate limits or 429 guidance.\n- Choose it for: Apps that need instrumental tracks with stems, remix and mastering from one vendor under a royalty-free licence, and that can start on a free allowance.\n- Strength: Public OpenAPI 3.0 spec with error schemas for 400, 402, 403, 404 and 500\n- Strength: Free track allowance on a new key, and `test=true` returns a dummy song at no cost\n- Strength: Stems, remix and mastering in the same API, with tracks from 30 to 420 seconds\n- Weakness: No status page, changelog, rate limits or 429 guidance\n- Weakness: One unscoped key per account, and no security.txt or disclosure policy\n- Weakness: Vocals and 12-stem splits need Loudly to switch on account flags\n- Price: $0.15 / credit · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/loudly.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-loudly.md\n\n### 10. Beatoven.ai API, F 22/100\n\nComposition API for Beatoven's maestro model.\n\n- Verdict: Four stems (bass, chords, melody, percussion) returned with every track at no extra call. No API price, free tier or rate limits published.\n- Choose it for: Instrumental background beds where separate stems matter, from a model with a licensed-training story.\n- Strength: Four stems (bass, chords, melody, percussion) returned with every track at no extra call\n- Strength: Training data licensed from named partners, with 30 per cent of revenue shared with rights holders per Beatoven's launch coverage\n- Strength: Two-call flow (compose, then poll the task) with only `prompt.text` required\n- Weakness: No API price, free tier or rate limits published\n- Weakness: Spec is a Markdown file on GitHub with no OpenAPI, error codes, SDK package or changelog\n- Weakness: No status page, security.txt or disclosure policy\n- Price: Paid · Auth: API key · x402: no · Where: hosted\n- Full assessment: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beatoven.md\n- Against #1: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/beatoven-vs-fal-music.md\n\n1 more are ranked in the full table: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/music-generation.md\n\n## Head to head\n\n- [ElevenLabs Music API vs fal music models](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-music-vs-fal-music.md)\n- [fal music models vs MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-replicate-musicgen.md)\n- [fal music models vs Stable Audio API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-stable-audio.md)\n- [fal music models vs Google Lyria](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/fal-music-vs-google-lyria.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Music API vs MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-music-vs-replicate-musicgen.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Music API vs Stable Audio API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-music-vs-stable-audio.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Music API vs Google Lyria](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-music-vs-google-lyria.md)\n- [MusicGen on Replicate vs Stable Audio API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/replicate-musicgen-vs-stable-audio.md)\n- [Google Lyria vs MusicGen on Replicate](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-lyria-vs-replicate-musicgen.md)\n- [Google Lyria vs Stable Audio API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-lyria-vs-stable-audio.md)\n\n## Questions\n\n### What are the highest-rated music generation for AI agents?\n\nfal music models has the highest benchmark score of the 11 ranked music generation, 68.3 (B). ElevenLabs Music API is second with 66.9 (B).\n\n### How many music generation are agent-ready?\n\n0 of the 11 ranked here grade BB or better, the bar for agent-ready on the Anchor benchmark.\n\n### Which music generation accept x402 payments?\n\nNone of the ranked listings here accepts x402 for its main call yet.\n\n### Which of these music generation is cheapest?\n\nBy published paid prices, MusicGPT API, at $0.028 per call, the lowest of the 6 listings here with a paid price in this unit (free allowances aside). Plans, volume tiers and free allowances change the sum, so check the listing's price table.\n\n### How is this list ranked?\n\nBy the Anchor benchmark score out of 100, a weighted mean of the scored categories minus deductions for negative events, from public evidence re-checked as vendors change. Listings cannot pay for a place. The latest assessment behind this page is from 9 October 2026.\n\n## How this list is made\n\nThe order is the Anchor benchmark score, the same number as on each listing. Each listing is graded from public evidence against the benchmark checklist, and the picks are worked out from those grades, prices and facts. No listing pays for its place, and paid audits or listing help never change a score.\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Best of", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/" }, { "name": "Music generation", "url": "" } ], "description": "fal music models (B), ElevenLabs Music API (B) and MusicGen on Replicate (C) lead the 11 ranked music generation. Picks by need, strengths, weaknesses and prices from the Anchor benchmark.", "facts": [ "fal music models B", "ElevenLabs Music API B", "MusicGen on Replicate C" ], "h1": "Best music generation for AI agents", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/best-music-generation.png", "path": "/best/music-generation/", "published": "", "section": "tools", "title": "Best music generation for AI agents in 2026, ranked | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/music-generation/" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 5150, "slim": 1380 }, "version": 1 }