Top Free, Freemium, and Paid Tools for Splitting Stems in Music Production

With the rise of AI music generation, listeners are becoming more discerning about the quality of what they hear. It’s important to ensure that your track maintains high quality to avoid losing listeners to quick skips, which can harm your track's performance on digital streaming platforms (DSPs). AI music generation is relatively new, but it’s already producing thousands of tracks daily. Ensuring high-quality production is crucial to stand out.

Using myself as a case study, I upload pre-produced tracks on SoundCloud to test their viability, aiming for a minimum 1% play-to-like ratio. Listen to your track and compare it to another with a similar like ratio to gauge sound quality differences. Tools like Suno and Udio are not yet at the production quality needed to compete without additional refinement, and these tools will remain essential for the foreseeable future.

Purpose of Splitting Stems

Splitting stems involves separating a song into its individual audio tracks, such as vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments. This process allows music producers to:

• Remove or mute unwanted sections: Focus on the parts of the track you want to highlight.
• Increase or decrease the volumes of individual instruments: Achieve a balanced mix by adjusting volume levels.
• Add or remove different effects: Customize your sound by applying effects to specific stems.
• Remix tracks with greater control and creativity: Experiment with new arrangements and ideas.

Free Tools for Splitting Stems

Spleeter

• Features: Separates music into 2, 4, or 5 stems. Open-source tool. High-quality separation. Supports batch processing.
• Availability: Download only.

Demucs

• Features: Separates into 4 stems: vocals, drums, bass, and other. Deep learning-based approach. High-quality results.
• Availability: Download only.

UVR (Ultimate Vocal Remover)

• Features: Supports multiple stem separation models. User-friendly GUI. High-quality separation.
• Availability: Download only.

VocalRemover.org

• Features: Splits vocals and instrumentals. Simple, web-based interface. No need for downloads.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Melody ML

• Features: Splits music into multiple stems including vocals, bass, drums, and others. Easy-to-use web interface. Free to use with no downloads required.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Freemium Tools for Splitting Stems

Lalal.ai

• Features: Higher processing limits in premium version. Faster processing times. Premium audio quality.
• Pricing: Starting at $10 for 90 minutes of audio processing.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Moises.ai

• Features: Separate vocals and instruments. Adjust pitch and tempo. Export individual tracks.
• Pricing: Free with limitations, Premium at $3.99/month.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

X-Minus.pro

• Features: High-quality stem separation. Batch processing. Priority processing for premium users.
• Pricing: Pay-per-use, starting at $3 for a single track.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

PhonicMind

• Features: High-quality stem separation. Supports various audio formats. Advanced AI algorithms.
• Pricing: Pay-per-track pricing, starting at $4.99 per track.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Acapella Extractor

• Features: Extracts acapellas from any song. Simple and easy-to-use interface.
• Pricing: Free with limitations, Premium starting at $9.99/month.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Paid Tools for Splitting Stems

Izotope RX 8

• Features: Professional-grade audio repair and enhancement. Isolate vocals, bass, percussion, and more. Advanced noise reduction and audio restoration tools.
• Pricing: Free trial available, full version starting at $399.
• Availability: Download only.

RipX

• Features: High-quality stem separation. Deep audio manipulation and editing. Advanced audio enhancement tools.
• Pricing: Starting at $99.
• Availability: Download only.

AudioSourceRe

• Features: High-quality stem separation. Advanced AI algorithms. Supports various audio formats.
• Pricing: Starting at $5 per track.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Splitter

• Features: Professional-grade stem separation. Batch processing. Advanced audio manipulation tools.
• Pricing: Starting at $5 per track.
• Availability: Cloud-based.

Acon Digital Acoustica

• Features: Professional audio editor. High-quality stem separation. Advanced audio restoration tools.
• Pricing: Starting at $59.90.
• Availability: Download only.

For those not aware of the new stem options available with Suno, check out this page (opens in a new window).

If you're ready to get serious about your music creation, check out this comprehensive Suno AI tags and prompt guide.

These tools provide a range of options for both free and premium users, enabling beginners and experienced producers alike to split stems and manipulate their music with ease. Whether you choose a fully free option or invest in a freemium or paid tool, you can enhance your music production capabilities and creativity.