What Suno is
Suno is an AI music maker. You describe a song in a sentence, or paste your own lyrics, and it writes and sings a finished track with vocals and instruments. Its v6 models also start from an image, a video or a voice memo, and let you change one part of a song you already made.
It runs in Suno's web app, not on your own computer. The free plan gives 50 credits a day on the v6-mini model, for non-commercial use. Pro and Premier are the paid plans. They add the main v6 and v6-wild models, more downloads and the right to use songs commercially.
What Suno is good for
- Full songs from a sentence: type a genre, a mood and a subject, and get a track with a sung vocal in seconds. It suits a birthday song, a jingle or a first draft of an idea.
- Songs from your own lyrics: paste a poem or a verse into Advanced mode and Suno sings it, with section names such as [Verse] and [Chorus] in brackets.
- Songs from a picture, a video or a voice memo: v6 turns an image, a clip or a hummed idea into a song.
- Edits to a song you like: v6 can change one line of a song you already made, so you keep the take instead of generating a new one.
- A voice over music in one go: Suno Speech, a beta open to everyone, makes the voice and the music as one track.
- Stems and remixes: the Library can split a song into separate parts such as vocals and instruments, and make Covers and Mashups from it.
When to use Suno, and when to pick another tool
| Your job | Use Suno? | Or try |
|---|---|---|
| A song with vocals to release | Yes, on Pro or Premier, where you own the songs | ElevenLabs, on Creator or Pro if you will stream it |
| Background music under a video | Possible, but the free plan carries no commercial rights | ElevenLabs Music, outside film and TV |
| A narrator that reads your script | Only with music under it, through Suno Speech in beta | ElevenLabs, for narration on its own |
| Private lyrics, or no internet | No. Suno runs only in the cloud | ACE-Step, which runs on your own computer |
| A quick free try | Yes, 50 credits a day on v6-mini, with few downloads | Gemini, whose Create music tool is open to all users |
How to use Suno, step by step
Suno's menus changed with v6, so these steps stay with the Create page and its two modes.
- Open Suno and sign in. Go to suno.com and create an account. The free plan starts you with 50 credits a day.
- Open the Create page. It has two modes, Simple and Advanced. Start in Simple.
- Describe the song in the one box. Write the genre, the mood, what the song is about and whether you want vocals. Simple mode takes up to 3,000 characters.
- Choose a model. The free plan uses v6-mini. Paid plans add v6, the standard model, and v6-wild, which takes more creative risks.
- Press Create and listen. Suno returns a finished song in seconds. Each try spends credits, so keep the ones you like and change one thing in the description before you try again.
- Switch to Advanced to use your own lyrics. Advanced splits the form into a lyrics box, a styles box of up to 1,000 characters and an exclude styles box. It adds vocal gender, duration, Max Mode and sliders for Weirdness and Style influence. Put section names in square brackets, such as [Verse] and [Chorus], because Suno reads anything in brackets as an instruction, not a lyric.
- Start from a picture, a clip or a recording. In Simple mode, press the plus icon at the bottom left to add lyrics, an image, a video or audio, and Suno builds the song around it.
- Edit, extend or split. Open a song in the Library to make a Cover or a Mashup, generate stems or extend the track. With v6 you can also change one line of a song you already made.
- Download. A free account gets only a handful of trial downloads, none for commercial use. Pro includes 20 downloads a month and Premier 60.
Open the Create page and use the switch at the top of the form to choose Simple or Advanced. Start in Simple.
Describe your song in the Song Description box. Name the genre, the mood, the subject and whether you want vocals.
Press Create at the bottom of the form. Your new songs appear in the Workspace list on the right, ready to play.
Switch to Advanced to have Suno sing your own words. Paste them in the Lyrics box and mark each part in square brackets, such as [Verse] and [Chorus].
![An illustration of Suno's Create page in Advanced mode with a gold ring around the Lyrics box, which holds [Verse] and [Chorus] marks.](/blog/screens/suno-4-advanced-lyrics.webp?v=ec09dd1a3887)
AI-made illustrations of Suno's screens, drawn on 6 November 2026 to match these steps. They are not screenshots, so the real app may look different: follow what you see.
The tutorials at the top of this page show these steps on screen. Suno's menus keep moving, so go by the newest video first.
An example to try
Open Simple mode on the Create page and paste this description. Then run it again with one change, such as a faster tempo or a different voice, and compare the two songs.
A warm acoustic folk song about the last bus home on a rainy night, slow tempo, soft female vocals, a little piano under the guitar, no drums- Vocals that match what you asked for and a mood you can name in one word. If the voice is wrong, name the voice type in the next try instead of adding more genres.
- A chorus that comes back. If the song wanders, switch to Advanced and mark [Verse] and [Chorus] yourself.
- Lyrics you would put your name to. Read them before you share the song.
Tips for better results
- Describe the tempo, the instruments and the mood in plain words, and leave artist names out.
- Change one thing per try. Two changes at once leave you guessing which one moved the result.
- The teacher ChillPanic keeps Style influence at about 50 percent while learning and Weirdness near 60. At 0, Weirdness plays it safe, and at the maximum it turns glitchy.
- Max Mode uses double the credits and, Suno says, keeps a whole song more consistent. Try ideas without it, then switch it on for the take you want to keep.
- Unreleased lyrics go to Suno's servers. For lyrics you must keep private, use a model that runs on your own computer, such as ACE-Step.
Who owns the song, and what the free plan allows
Owning a song and earning from it are separate questions, and Suno's free plan answers no to both. Songs made on the free plan belong to Suno and are for non-commercial use only. On Pro and Premier you own your songs, and the commercial rights stay after you cancel.
What counts is whether you were subscribed when you made the song. Upgrading later is not described as covering older free songs, so make the take you plan to release after you subscribe.
Downloads are limited too. Since 3 September 2026 a free account gets at most 7 trial downloads in its lifetime, and newer accounts may get them only now and then. Pro includes 20 downloads a month and Premier 60.
Learn more about Suno
Frequently asked questions
Is Suno free?
Yes, in a limited way. The free plan gives 50 credits a day on the v6-mini model for non-commercial use, with only a few trial downloads. Pro and Premier add the main models, more downloads and commercial rights.
Can I use Suno songs commercially?
Only if you made them on Pro or Premier. On those plans you own your songs and keep the commercial rights after you cancel, while free plan songs belong to Suno and are non-commercial only.
Who owns the songs I make on Suno?
On the free plan Suno owns them, and on Pro and Premier you do. The plan you were on when you made the song decides, so upgrading later does not change an older free song.
What is the difference between Simple and Advanced mode?
Simple mode is one description box for the whole song, while Advanced separates the lyrics, the styles and the styles to exclude. Advanced also adds vocal gender, duration and sliders. Simple takes 3,000 characters and the styles box in Advanced takes 1,000.
Which Suno model should I use?
Use v6 for most songs. v6-wild takes more creative risks, and v6-mini is a lighter version that the free plan uses.
Can Suno turn a picture or a voice memo into a song?
Yes. The v6 models turn images, videos and voice memos into songs, and in Simple mode the plus icon at the bottom left adds them.
What is a free alternative to Suno?
Google's Gemini app makes music for all users, and ACE-Step is a free model you run on your own computer. The music lesson compares them with Suno's free plan.
Sources
- Suno: Pricing https://suno.com/pricing
- Suno Help: Who owns the songs I make? https://help.suno.com/en/articles/2416769
- Suno: An update to our downloads policy and Terms of Service https://suno.com/blog/suno-updates-tos
- Suno: Introducing v6 https://suno.com/blog/introducing-v6
- Suno: Introducing Speech (beta) https://suno.com/blog/introducing-speech-beta
- Suno (@suno) on X: Suno v6 is here https://x.com/suno/status/2097846245540888664
- ElevenLabs: Eleven Music https://elevenlabs.io/music
- Google: Generate music with Gemini Apps https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/16901237?hl=en
- GitHub: ACE-Step 1.5 https://github.com/ace-step/ACE-Step-1.5
- Suno Music on YouTube: How to Use Suno, From Beginner to Pro Features Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfai49qhluA
- ChillPanic on YouTube: Suno AI Tutorial 2026 (For Complete Beginners) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OspaWz6NAo
- Suno Music on YouTube: Suno v6 Is Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lHvWn2SNC4
- Simon Crowe on YouTube: Suno AI Tutorial For Beginners (2026) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI6vwl_ZHN8