Correction, 2026-10-02: this page called MiniMax Music v2 (5 credits) the cheapest option for a beat or a bed. Its lyrics field is required (10 to 3,000 characters), so it makes sung tracks, not instrumentals. The cheapest instrumental take on 8frame is 9 credits for 30 seconds on MiniMax Music 3 with the [instrumental] tag, or 13 for Lyria 2's 30-second clip. We had also given Lyria 2 as "26 per minute": it is a flat 13 credits per generation, and each generation is one 30-second clip. The page suggested 20- and 22-second beds, but the shortest length in the 8frame canvas music menus is 30 seconds, so the examples now use 30. We removed claims we had not measured: that instrumentals are "the strongest thing AI audio currently does" and "the part AI audio does best", that a 30-second Lyria 2 piece is "indistinguishable" under dialogue, that most generated audio does not loop cleanly, that a melody in the speech range is "the single most common mistake", that naming instruments is "far more effective" than naming a genre, and that naming an artist "produces worse output" and is "a terms violation on most services". The page also described free tiers in general terms without naming one; it now lists the free terms of Suno, Udio, Stable Audio, Mubert, ElevenLabs and Treblo (formerly Sonauto), checked on 2026-10-02, with sources.
Correction, 2026-09-30: MiniMax Music 3 was listed at a flat 17 credits per generation; it bills per second (0.27 credits), so 17 is a 60-second track and a 3-minute track is 49.
A lot of video needs a bed rather than a song: instrumental music that sits under the picture and the voice and stays out of the way. A bed also leaves out a sung performance and lyrics, so the question is whether the groove and the texture work under your cut. We have not run a side-by-side quality test of any tool here, so this guide does not rank sound. It covers what each free tier lets you ship, what a loopable bed costs on 8frame, and how to brief one. Disclosure: 8frame is our product, it is not a free music tool (a new account starts with no credits), and commercial use is cleared on paid plans.
TL;DR
- Free tiers: daily or monthly caps, and personal or non-commercial use only on Suno, Udio, Stable Audio and Mubert; ElevenLabs keeps its commercial licence for paid plans. Only Treblo's archived pages say its free tier carries no usage restrictions
- Cheapest instrumental bed on 8frame: MiniMax Music 3 at 9 credits for 30 seconds with the
[instrumental]tag, or Lyria 2 at 13 per 30-second clip, about $0.09 to $0.13 - MiniMax Music v2 is 5 credits but needs lyrics, so it sings: it is not a bed
- Longer takes: MiniMax Music 3 bills 0.27 credits a second (60 seconds 17, 180 seconds 49, 300 seconds 81); ElevenLabs Music bills 81 per started minute, so 3 minutes is 243
- Generate short and loop it. A 30-second section that loops cleanly can carry a whole video for 9 or 13 credits, against 49 or 243 for three through-composed minutes
- The real skill is knowing what the bed should not do: no melody competing with speech, no transient hits under a voice
The free tiers, checked 2026-10-02
What each tool's own pages say about free use, watermarks and commercial rights:
- Suno: the free plan gives "50 credits per day", with "No monthly song downloads" and "No commercial rights". Its terms (effective 2026-09-03) limit free output to "lawful, personal and non-commercial purposes" and let Suno append a fingerprint, watermark or metadata that shows the tier. Commercial use starts on Pro, $8 a month billed yearly or $10 month to month, and covers only the songs you download within your allowance: 20 a month on Pro, 60 on Premier ($24 billed yearly, $30 month to month).
- Udio: 10 credits a day and 100 a month, with up to three full-length (2:10) songs a day. Its terms (last revised 2025-11-12) allow output "solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes" and bar downloading copies, with no exception for paid plans.
- Stable Audio: 50 credits a month, which Stability puts at "About 12 full-mix generations", for "Personal, non-commercial use". The commercial license starts on Solo at $12 a month.
- Mubert: the free Ambassador plan gives 25 generations and 5 MP3 downloads a month at a fixed length, with an audible watermark and attribution required, for non-commercial use. Monetized content needs Pro, listed at $39 a month or $32.49 a month billed annually. On every plan, Mubert bars publishing tracks to streaming services such as Spotify and registering them in Content ID.
- ElevenLabs: the free plan has 10k credits a month and includes Music, which ElevenLabs lists at about 900 credits a minute, so roughly 11 minutes a month. The Commercial License and "Music commercial use" start on Starter, $6 a month.
- Treblo (formerly Sonauto): its homepage, as archived on 2026-09-23, offered unlimited free songs with "No daily limits", and its FAQ said "We place no usage restrictions on songs you create", free tier included. The live site returned HTTP 403 to our check on 2026-10-02, so confirm on treblo.com before you rely on it. We have not tested its output, including whether it makes the instrumental you need.
These terms were read on 2026-10-02. Read the tier's own terms again on the day you sign up.
What it costs on 8frame
Canon 8frame prices; a credit is about $0.01 at pack rate:
| Route | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MiniMax Music 3 | 9 for 30 seconds | 0.27 credits a second of the length you request, rounded up: 60 seconds 17, 180 seconds 49, 300 seconds 81. 30 seconds is the shortest option in the canvas length menu, and the model may stop before the requested length. The lyrics field is required: use the [instrumental] tag |
| Lyria 2 | 13 per generation | Each generation is one 30-second clip. Prompt only, no lyrics field |
| MiniMax Music v2 | 5 per generation | Flat price, but the lyrics field is required (10 to 3,000 characters), so it makes sung tracks, not instrumental beds |
| ElevenLabs Music | 81 per started minute | 3 seconds to 10 minutes per generation; a 30-second track still bills 81. Say "instrumental" in the prompt for no vocals |
| ElevenLabs Sound Effects | 1 to 6 by length | 0.5 to 22 seconds; 22 seconds bills 6. A riser, a hit or a texture to layer over the bed |
The practical number: a 30-second bed is 9 credits on MiniMax Music 3 or 13 on Lyria 2, about nine to thirteen cents. Loop it under a 10-minute video and that is the whole music spend.
That is the whole argument for generating short. Three through-composed minutes cost 49 credits on MiniMax Music 3 and 243 on ElevenLabs Music, which bills whole minutes, so even a 30-second ElevenLabs track costs 81. Before you pay for length, loop the 30-second take under the voice and listen to whether the cut needs more.
What makes a bed work under video
No melody in the speech range. A bed with a tune in the mid-range competes with the voice for attention. Keep melodic content low or high, and leave the middle for speech.
No transients under words. A snare or a rim hit landing on a syllable can mask the word. For talking content, ask for soft attacks.
A loop point that actually loops. Test it: play the join ten times. If it clicks or jumps, try a short crossfade in the edit, or generate another take.
Consistent loudness. A take that builds and falls can work on its own and still compete with speech. Compress it, or ask for a flat, steady section in the prompt.
Ending, or not. Decide early whether you need a resolved ending. A fade costs nothing; a resolved ending has to be in the take, so if you need one, ask for it and listen for it before you cut to it. If you can fade, fade.
Prompting for instrumentals
What to put in the prompt:
- Tempo and feel. "90 bpm, laid back, behind the beat."
- Instrumentation, named. "Upright bass, brushed drums, Rhodes." Name the instruments rather than only the genre.
- Texture and era. "Warm tape saturation, slight wow and flutter, 1970s."
- Function. "Sparse, sits under narration, no lead melody." Say what job the music has to do.
- What to leave out. "No vocals, no lead line, no big transitions." On MiniMax Music 3, also put the
[instrumental]tag in the lyrics field; on ElevenLabs Music, say "instrumental" outright, as the tool's tips advise.
Describe the sound rather than naming an artist. What you want from a reference is its instruments, tempo and texture, so name those.
The licensing question
A monetised video, a sponsored podcast or a client ad is commercial use. Of the free tiers above, Suno, Udio, Stable Audio and Mubert limit free output to personal or non-commercial use, and ElevenLabs keeps its commercial licence for paid plans. Paying does not settle it everywhere: Udio's terms allow personal, non-commercial use on every plan, and Suno's commercial use covers only the songs you download within a paid plan's allowance. Read the tier's current terms before you build a channel on it.
Selling or releasing beats is a second question. Mubert bars publishing tracks to streaming services such as Spotify and registering them in Content ID on every plan. If the beat is the product, read the distribution clause, not just the commercial-use line.
On 8frame, output is watermark-free on every plan and commercial use is cleared on paid plans. For anything client-facing, keep a record of which tool and plan made each file. For the wider comparison of free music tiers, see best free AI music generators.
Where a library still wins
A library track comes with a written licence from the library and, depending on the library, stems or alternate edits of the same cue. None of the music tools in the table above has a stems option on 8frame. For a project where music carries emotional weight, a library or a composer may be the better spend.
Generation wins on specificity: you need a bed at 96 bpm with no lead line that gets out of the way, and you can brief exactly that and audition takes against the cut. That is a real need, and nine to thirteen cents a take is the price of it.
FAQ
Are AI beats royalty free? "Royalty-free" describes the licence a tool grants, not a property of AI music. Of the free tiers we checked on 2026-10-02, only Treblo's archived pages say the free tier carries no usage restrictions. Paid tiers usually grant more, but not always: Udio's terms allow personal, non-commercial use on every plan. Read the terms for your tier.
Can I sell AI-generated beats? Selling or releasing a beat is a different question from using it under your own video. Mubert bars streaming releases and Content ID registration on every plan, and Suno's commercial use covers only songs downloaded within a paid plan's allowance. Read the distribution clause for your tier before you list anything.
Which free AI beat generator allows commercial use? Of the free tiers we checked on 2026-10-02, Suno, Udio, Stable Audio and Mubert are personal or non-commercial only, and ElevenLabs' free plan has no commercial licence. Treblo's archived pages say its free tier carries no usage restrictions; confirm on its live site first.
How long should a bed be? As short as loops cleanly. On the 8frame canvas the shortest instrumental takes are 30 seconds: 9 credits on MiniMax Music 3, 13 for a Lyria 2 clip.
What is the cheapest instrumental option on 8frame?
MiniMax Music 3 at 9 credits for 30 seconds with the [instrumental] tag, then Lyria 2 at 13 per 30-second clip. MiniMax Music v2 costs 5, but its lyrics field is required, so it makes a sung track, not a beat.
Related
- Best free AI music generators: the same licensing trade across music tools
- Best free AI lofi generators: loop-based background music, with texture layers
- AI music and voice prices by model
- Best free AI sound effects generators
Sources
- Suno free plan "50 credits per day", "No monthly song downloads", "No commercial rights"; Pro $8/month billed yearly ($10 monthly) with 20 song downloads a month, Premier $24/month billed yearly ($30 monthly) with 60, both with commercial use rights: suno.com/pricing; free output "lawful, personal and non-commercial", permitted downloads and tier fingerprints, watermarks or metadata: suno.com/terms (effective 2026-09-03), both checked 2026-10-02
- Udio: free plan from udio.com/pricing; personal, non-commercial use only in the terms of service (last revised 2025-11-12), both checked 2026-10-02
- Stable Audio plans: stableaudio.com/pricing, checked 2026-10-02
- Mubert plans and licence table: mubert.com/render/pricing, checked 2026-10-02
- ElevenLabs plans and credit costs: elevenlabs.io/pricing, checked 2026-10-02
- Treblo (formerly Sonauto): rename in the Sonauto is now Treblo post (dated 2026-06-03); free plan and FAQ on the homepage, archived 2026-09-23. Archives checked 2026-10-02; the live site returned HTTP 403 to us on 2026-10-02
- 8frame prices: MiniMax Music 3 (calculateMinimaxMusic3Cost), MiniMax Music v2 (flat 5), Lyria 2 (flat 13 per 30-second generation), ElevenLabs Music (calculateElevenLabsMusicCost), ElevenLabs Sound Effects (length table); MiniMax's required lyrics field (10 to 3,000 characters), the canvas length menus, the inputs of each music tool and the
[instrumental]and "instrumental" tips: 8frame tool registry and front-end code, checked 2026-10-02 - New accounts start with no credits; watermark-free output on every plan; commercial use cleared on paid plans: 8frame content fact sheet, checked 2026-10-02
Generate thirty seconds, loop it, keep the middle clear.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.