Which AI music tools let you own your output? A desk review of Suno, ElevenLabs Music and Soundraw terms

This is a desk review, not a test. On 28 Oct 2026 we read the terms of service and pricing pages each maker publishes, linked every page, and gave no scores. Terms change often, so check the date we read each one. Nobody paid to be included and there are no affiliate links here. This is not legal advice; for the law underneath it, see our AI music copyright myth check.

How do they compare on paper?

"Not mentioned" means the pages we read don't say. Udio's terms page returned only a title when we tried to open it, so we left its row blank rather than repeat secondhand reports.

What does each one say?

Suno is the most explicit and the most hedged. On Pro and Premier it "assigns to you all of its right, title and interest in and to any Output owned by Suno", then adds that it "makes no representation or warranty to you that any copyright will vest in any Output". Commercial use is tied to downloading: you "may not commercially exploit Output that has not been downloaded by you through an approved channel", and that right is "perpetual" once you have the download. You also give Suno a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable licence to use your content, including output, to run, promote and improve its products. Remixes of someone else's track are joint works and can't be used commercially. On pricing, Pro is $8 a month and Premier $24; the free plan has "No commercial rights" and no song downloads.

ElevenLabs Music says that "as between you and ElevenLabs, you retain any and all rights in and to your Input and Output". The catch is the media-rights table. Even the free plan allows commercial use except film, TV, radio and games, but free users can't download, must credit Eleven Music, and can't distribute to streaming services. Streaming distribution opens on Creator; lossless WAV opens on Pro ($99 a month on the pricing page, which showed Starter and Creator at promotional prices when we looked).

Soundraw licenses rather than assigns. It grants a "non-exclusive, non-transferable" licence "to use the Generated Music in accordance with the plan selected", keeps the producer's neighbouring rights in its sound sources, and bars registering tracks with Content ID on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. Selling or sublicensing the music on its own needs consent; videos made with it are fine.

How we'll rank them

We follow our methodology and its scoring rubric. Desk reviews carry no scores. If we test these, rights and data will weigh heaviest: what you own, what the maker keeps, and what you can actually take out of the tool.

What we think

"You own it" is three different deals. Suno hands over its rights but tells you there may be no copyright to hand over. ElevenLabs lets you keep the output but rations where you can put it. Soundraw never says you own anything. For an artist releasing music, the question isn't the headline word "own"; it's whether you can download a lossless file, distribute it to streaming services, and register it without breaching the terms. On those practical tests the cheapest paid plans fall short at all three: Suno caps downloads, ElevenLabs withholds streaming until Creator and lossless until Pro, and Soundraw rules out Content ID.

The download is the right. Suno ties commercial use to a sanctioned download, and ElevenLabs gives free users no downloads at all. On our reading, the file you can export is now the unit of ownership, which means a tool switching off downloads changes your rights even if the ownership clause never changes. Keep your exports and save a copy of the terms the day you made the track.

Stems are still a pricing feature, not a right. Only Suno's pricing page mentions stem separation, and none of the terms we read promises stems at all. If you plan to mix or rework a generated track, assume you'll be splitting it yourself; our stem splitter desk review covers the options.

If a maker thinks we've misread its terms, tell us and we'll correct it here.