Mailbag: If I Pay for One Month of Suno AI, Can I Keep and Monetize My Songs?

November 2025 • by Jack Righteous

Every week, I get messages from creators using Suno AI who want to understand how licensing and ownership actually work. One recent question — sent in Spanish — caught my attention because it reflects what many are wondering right now:

“If I pay for just one month of Suno AI, can I monetize the songs I make during that month on Spotify and other platforms? And do I still own them after my subscription ends?”

Let’s unpack this carefully — because the answer depends on which plan you’re using, when you created the songs, and what Suno’s current Terms of Service allow.

1. Understanding Suno’s Plans

Suno offers several tiers: Free (Basic), Pro, and Premier. Each plan determines what you can legally do with the songs you generate.

Here’s the key distinction:

• Free / Basic Plan: Non-commercial use only. You can’t monetize these songs.
• Pro or Premier Plan: Commercial use allowed. You can distribute and monetize songs made while your plan is active.

This isn’t guesswork — it’s straight from Suno’s official Help Center:

“If you make songs while subscribed to the Pro or Premier plan, you own the songs and are granted a commercial-use license to monetize those songs.”
📄 Suno Help Center – Commercial Use Policy

2. What Happens After You Cancel?

Here’s the part most users miss: You don’t lose the rights to songs made while you were paying.

If you subscribe for one month of Pro or Premier and create songs during that time, you own those songs permanently. You can continue to use, upload, and monetize them — even after your plan expires.

However, once your subscription ends, any new songs you make revert to the Free Plan rules, meaning they are non-commercial.

3. You Don’t Get Retroactive Rights

Upgrading later doesn’t change the licensing status of older songs. If you created tracks on the free plan before subscribing, they remain non-commercial even after you upgrade.

Suno clarifies this directly in their help documentation:

“Subscribing to a Pro or Premier plan does not give you retroactive commercial-use licensing for songs made with a free plan by default.”
📄 Suno Help Center – Usage Rights

4. What You Still Can’t Do

Even on a paid plan, Suno requires you to respect copyright law. That means:

• No copyrighted lyrics or melodies in your prompts
• No voice cloning of real artists
• No commercial use of samples or material you don’t own

Violating those terms can still get your track removed or your account restricted — even if it was made on a Pro plan.

5. Summary Table

6. Example Scenario

Let’s say you sign up for one month of Suno Pro. During that month, you create six songs — all original prompts, no copyrighted lyrics.

• You cancel your subscription at the end of the month.
• You upload those six tracks to Spotify using DistroKid.
• You keep earning royalties from them, even though you’re no longer paying for Suno.

That’s perfectly within Suno’s Terms. You just can’t make new monetizable songs unless you re-subscribe.

7. Why This Policy Exists

Suno’s system is designed to protect both creators and the company. They give you full commercial rights for content made while you’re paying — but they also protect their AI models from misuse by limiting what free users can legally do.

It’s a fair balance: if you’re investing in the platform, you get lasting ownership of what you make.

8. Best Practices Before You Cancel

• Download your songs before your plan ends — some platforms limit re-access.
• Document your creations (titles, dates, screenshots) as proof of when you made them.
• Follow distribution rules if uploading to Spotify or Apple Music.
• Never use copyrighted lyrics in your prompts — Suno enforces this strictly.

*This article is based on Suno AI’s public documentation and Terms of Service. Always check the most recent version of their policies before monetizing your work.*