Getting Started with AI Music Generation: Suno vs Udio vs Custom Models

AI music generation has gotten incredibly good in 2026. Here’s my overview for anyone interested in getting started.

Suno: The easiest entry point. Type a description of what you want (“upbeat indie folk song about morning coffee”) and it generates a full song with vocals in under a minute. Quality is impressive for the ease of use. Free tier gives you about 5 songs per day.

Udio: Better for people who want more control. You can specify instruments, song structure, and style in more detail. The audio quality is slightly higher than Suno in most cases. Also has a free tier.

Custom models (for the technical): If you want full control, Stable Audio and Meta’s MusicGen are open-source options you can run locally. Requires technical setup but gives you unlimited generation and the ability to fine-tune on specific styles.

What you can realistically do with AI music:
– Create background music for videos and podcasts
– Generate demo tracks for songwriting ideas
– Create lo-fi/ambient playlists
– Produce custom jingles for business use

What you can’t really do yet:
– Generate music that sounds 100% professional and human (close but not quite)
– Replicate specific artist’s voices (and this is legally questionable)
– Create complex arrangements that match skilled human production

Anyone making music with AI? I’d love to hear what you’re creating.