Udio AI Review: Pricing, Features & Polish Language Test (2026)

👁 118 reads

Udio is an AI song generator from Uncharted Labs: you describe a style and provide lyrics, and it creates a track with vocals in seconds. It has a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/month. Since October 29, 2025, following a settlement with Universal Music, Udio no longer allows you to download any tracks - you can only listen and share within the platform, not publish elsewhere.

What is Udio

Udio launched publicly in April 2024. It was founded by former Google DeepMind researchers, with initial funding from Andreessen Horowitz and musicians including will.i.am and Common. The company is called Uncharted Labs, the name under which it publishes its App Store application.

The principle is the same as Suno: you describe genre, mood, and instruments, optionally paste lyrics, and the model composes melody, arrangement, and vocals. Udio creates two variants each time for you to choose from. A track is generated in chunks of 32 or 130 seconds, and you can extend it until you’ve assembled a complete song. During its first year, Udio was valued for near-studio-quality sound and control over song sections.

Then came the record label lawsuits. In October 2025, Udio reached a settlement with Universal Music Group and disabled downloads; in November it settled with Warner Music, and in 2026 it signed licenses with Merlin, Kobalt, Believe, and US publishers. We covered the background of these disputes in our article How music lost the war with artificial intelligence.

Udio timeline

• April 2024 - public launch of Udio, model v1.
• July 2024 - model v1.5: better sound, better results in languages other than English, stem downloads.
• March 18, 2025 - v1.5 Allegro, faster variant of v1.5. March 31, Styles feature.
• May 21, 2025 - iOS app.
• June 26, 2025 - Sessions, timeline-based track editing.
• September 11, 2025 - Voices, last feature in official changelog.
• October 29, 2025 - settlement with Universal Music Group, downloads disabled, larger credit pools.
• November 19, 2025 - agreement with Warner Music Group. This is the last post on Udio’s blog.
• January-April 2026 - licenses with Merlin, Kobalt, and Believe.
• May 2026 - Starstruck app details revealed by trade press.
• June 10, 2026 - agreement with US music publishers (NMPA).
• July 2026 - BuyDRM selected to secure playback, and new Sony lawsuit covering over 30,000 recordings.

How to get started with Udio step by step

1. Go to udio.com and create an account (login via external account, e.g. Google). On iPhone, download the “Udio: AI Music Maker & Studio” app from Uncharted Labs. Do not install “Udio” apps from Google Play - Udio warns they are not official.
2. Click Create. In the description field, enter a style, e.g. “melancholic synth-pop, male vocal, warm analog synths, 108 BPM”.
3. Choose text type: custom, generated by Udio, or instrumental. Mark your own lyrics with sections like [Verse] and [Chorus].
4. Choose generation length: 32 seconds (2 credits per pair) or 130 seconds (4 credits per pair).
5. Listen to both variants. Extend the better one with the Extend function to add an intro, another verse, or an outro.
6. Fix weak sections with the Inpaint function instead of regenerating the whole track.
7. Share the finished track with a link. You cannot download it.

Models and features

• v1.5 Allegro (March 18, 2025) - faster, distilled variant of v1.5. Udio noted this was not a new generation model. According to Udio’s changelog, this is still the latest model.
• v1.5 (July 2024) - better sound quality and, as Udio stated, better results in languages other than English.
• Extend - adds a section before or after the track.
• Inpaint - regenerates a selected segment, e.g. one line with an error.
• Remix - reworks an existing track into a different style.
• Styles (March 2025) - use one track’s style as a template for others.
• Sessions (June 2025) - timeline editing, section by section.
• Voices (September 2025) - last feature in the official changelog.

Stems - separate vocal, drum, and bass tracks - are still generated by Udio, but you cannot download them either.

How much does Udio cost

Prices from Udio’s pricing page checked September 11, 2026. Subscription credits expire at month end; purchased credits (100 for $1.49, 1000 for $9.99) do not expire. A breakdown of how many songs each plan provides is in our article Udio pricing and free plan.

Downloads, rights, and Starstruck

This is the most important part of this guide, because it changes the meaning of paying for Udio. Since October 29, 2025, downloading audio, video, and stems has been disabled in every plan. In exchange, subscribers received a one-time 1000 credits, and credit pools increased: Standard from 1200 to 2400, Pro from 4800 to 6000.

The November 2025 terms limit outputs to personal and non-commercial use, with permission only to share links within the platform. Some blogs still write that paid plans grant commercial rights - that’s information from before the settlement. Without the ability to download, you cannot upload a track to Spotify or use it in a video anyway.

Udio is building a new, licensed app called Starstruck. According to Music Business Worldwide (May 25, 2026), it will have four modes:

• Cover - a version of a track in another artist’s style,
• Reimagine - same lyrics, new composition,
• Remix - genre change of an existing recording,
• Create - your own lyrics sung in a chosen artist’s voice.

Plans are expected to be called Standard and Pro. Tracks will remain in the app, and their owner will be the rights holder of the artist, not the user. In July, Udio selected BuyDRM to secure playback. Announcements mentioned a launch in the first half of 2026 - as of October 3, we have not found confirmation of the premiere, and the last post on Udio’s blog is from November 19, 2025.

The Sony Music lawsuit continues. In June, the court denied adding 30,000 recordings to the lawsuit, so in July Sony filed a separate lawsuit for them. We wrote about this in our article 30,000 songs and one surprising difference.

Udio in Polish

Udio’s interface is in English, both in browser and app. You can paste Polish lyrics without problems; Polish characters work. Udio does not publish a list of supported singing languages - with version 1.5 it only mentioned better results in languages other than English. We could not test Polish under the same conditions as other models because Udio has no API and tracks cannot be downloaded for measurement. How to prepare text so consonant clusters don’t fall apart in vocals is described in our article Udio in Polish.

Our test: Polish song in 7 models

Since Udio cannot be measured, we checked what the API-accessible competition offers. On October 3, 2026, we ran the same text (8 verses, 39 words) and the same style description through 7 models on fal.ai. We tested in Polish. We separated vocals with Demucs, transcribed with Whisper large-v3, and compared to the text. A second pronunciation assessment was provided by Gemini 3.8 Flash.

All 8 recordings, song lyrics, methodology, and error discussion are in our guide AI music generator.

Udio vs. competitors

A direct comparison with Suno, with differences in rights, is in our article Udio vs Suno. An older comparison focused on terms: Suno or Udio? Pricing, export and track rights.

Who is Udio for

• For you if you create music for yourself, enjoy refining a track section by section, and listen to results on the platform.
• For you if you’ve had an account for years and have a library of tracks you return to.
• Not for you if you need a file: for a YouTube video, ad, podcast, or release on streaming services. Choose Suno or Eleven Music.
• Not for you if you work on Android and want an app - only the browser remains.

Frequently asked questions

Udio AI - what is it?

Udio is an AI song generator from Uncharted Labs, founded by former Google DeepMind researchers. From a style description and lyrics, it creates a track with vocals. It works in browser and on iPhone.

Is Udio free?

Yes, the Free plan gives 10 credits daily (max 100 per month) and up to 3 long tracks daily. Paid Standard and Pro plans cost $8 and $24 per month with annual billing.

How to download a song from Udio?

You cannot. Since October 29, 2025, downloading audio, video, and stems has been disabled in all plans, including paid ones. You can only share a track with a link.

Does Udio sing in Polish?

You can enter Polish text and Udio attempts to sing it, but it does not publish a list of supported languages. We could not measure this because Udio has no API or downloads. Among models we could measure, Eleven Music sang best in Polish.

Can music from Udio be used commercially?

No. The November 2025 terms limit outputs to personal and non-commercial use, and without downloads there is nothing to publish.

Udio or Suno - which is better?

For publishing, Suno, because it allows downloads (20-60 tracks monthly) and commercial rights in paid plans. Choose Udio only for creating for yourself on the platform.

Does Udio have an Android app?

No. The official app is only on iOS (since May 2025). Udio warns that apps named Udio in Google Play are not theirs.

What is Udio Starstruck?

An announced licensed Udio app with Cover, Reimagine, Remix, and Create modes, where tracks remain in the app. As of October 3, 2026, we have not found confirmation of its launch.

Google · Your sourcesQuantslant higher in your Google - one clickAdd to preferred sources →

Sources and verification date

• App Store: “Udio: AI Music Maker & Studio”, in-app purchases, version 0.22.0 - checked October 3, 2026.
• Udio Help: credits, changes after UMG agreement, changelog, iOS app.
• Udio: Introducing v1.5.
• Music Business Worldwide on Starstruck (May 25, 2026), Digital Music News on BuyDRM (July 17, 2026).
• MBW on Sony lawsuit, MBW on NMPA agreement.
• Our own test October 3, 2026 via fal.ai - details in guide AI music generator.

Kinetyra

The link to ElevenLabs is a partner link: if you buy through it, QUANTSLANT earns a commission and you pay the same price. It has no influence on the content, including where the coverage is critical.