Best Free Stem Separation Tools
If you want free stem separation tools that split a song into its component parts — vocals, drums, bass, and more — the shortlist is bigger than it looks, and the differences that matter aren't the ones the marketing pages lead with. You can start right now with the free stem splitter, which runs a stem separation AI model entirely in your browser. It's worth understanding the whole field first, though, because the real dividing lines are cloud minute-caps versus unlimited local runs, and, more importantly, the fact that separation quality is set by the underlying model rather than by which website wraps it.
A stem is one isolated layer of a mix — just the vocal, just the drums — pulled out of a finished stereo track. If that idea is new, what a stem is covers it in more depth. This guide compares the main free options, tells you honestly where each one caps out, and helps you match a tool to what you're actually trying to do.
At a glance
| Tool | Stems | Free-tier limit | Cloud or local | Account |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vocal Cut (stem splitter) | 4 (vocals, drums, bass, other) | Unlimited; limited only by your device RAM | Local (in-browser) | No |
| LALAL.AI | Up to 8 (vocals, drums, bass, piano, guitar, synth, strings, wind) | 10 min processing, 200 MB/file, preview only — no downloads | Cloud | Yes |
| Moises.ai | Multi-stem (full set is paid) | 5 separations/month, ~5-min track cap | Cloud | Yes |
| Fadr | Multi-stem | Unlimited extractions, MP3 downloads only | Cloud | Yes |
| Gaudio Studio (GSEP) | Multi-stem | 20 min of audio total (trial), MP3 output only | Cloud | Yes |
| Ultimate Vocal Remover (UVR) | Model-dependent (2–6) | Unlimited; hardware-bound | Local (desktop app) | No |
| Demucs / HTDemucs (CLI) | 4 default (vocals, drums, bass, other) | Unlimited; hardware-bound | Local (command line) | No |
| Spleeter | 2 / 4 / 5 | Unlimited; hardware-bound | Local (command line) | No |
Vocal Cut's in-browser stem splitter
Vocal Cut's AI stem splitter runs an HTDemucs model — a Hybrid Transformer version of Meta's open-source Demucs — directly in your browser via onnxruntime-web. It produces four stems: vocals, drums, bass, and everything else ("other"). It's free, there's no account, and there's no server-side file-size cap; the practical ceiling is how much RAM your device can spare, since all the processing happens on your own machine.
The honest caveats: the first time you run an AI separation, the browser downloads the model (tens of megabytes) from Vocal Cut's own CDN, and each separation then takes real time on your CPU. This is not instant, and a long track on a modest laptop will make you wait. What doesn't happen is any upload of your song: your audio never leaves your device. That's the meaningful privacy difference from every cloud tool below, which all send your file to a server to process it.
Once separation finishes, a live mixer lets you solo, mute, and balance each stem, and download them individually. If you only need vocals-out or vocals-only rather than a full four-way split, the vocal remover tool is the faster two-stem path — see Stem Splitting vs Vocal Removal for which one fits your job.
LALAL.AI
LALAL.AI is a polished cloud service with one of the widest stem menus available — up to eight types, including piano, guitar, synth, strings, and wind that most tools don't isolate separately. That breadth is its real draw.
The free "Starter" tier is genuinely limited: 10 minutes of total processing, a 200 MB per-file cap, and — the important one — no downloads. The free tier gives you a preview of the separation, but exporting the stems requires a paid package. It uploads your file to LALAL's servers to process, so it's not an option if keeping your audio local matters to you. As a way to audition multi-stem quality before paying it's useful; as a free production tool, the preview-only limit is the wall you'll hit.
Moises.ai
Moises is built around musicians and practice, with strong mobile and web apps. Its free plan allows 5 AI separations per month with a track-length cap of roughly five minutes, and full access to the complete stem set is a paid feature. It's a cloud service, so your track is uploaded for processing.
If you separate the occasional song and value the surrounding practice features (chord detection, a metronome, speed and pitch tools), the monthly free allowance can be enough. For steady stem work, the five-per-month ceiling is restrictive.
Fadr
Fadr takes a different free-tier approach: its "Basic" plan offers unlimited extractions, which is unusual among cloud tools. The catch is on the output side — free downloads are limited to MP3, and WAV or other lossless formats are paid. It's cloud-based and needs a quick account.
For sketching, sampling, or any use where a lossy MP3 stem is fine, Fadr's unlimited free extractions are a strong deal. If you need lossless stems to drop into a project, the format restriction is the trade you're making.
Gaudio Studio
Gaudio Studio runs the GSEP separation engine and offers a free trial of 20 minutes of audio in total, with MP3-only output; WAV and additional minutes require paying. Like the others here, it's a cloud tool that uploads your file. The 20-minute total is a trial allotment rather than a recurring monthly grant, so it's best thought of as an evaluation window for GSEP's sound rather than an ongoing free tool.
Ultimate Vocal Remover (UVR)
Ultimate Vocal Remover is a free, open-source desktop application for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It runs Demucs and MDX-Net models entirely on your own machine — no cloud, no upload, and no caps beyond your hardware. It's model-swappable, so you can load different separation models and compare them, which makes it a favorite among people who care about squeezing out maximum quality.
The cost is setup: UVR is software you install, and it bundles a Python/PyTorch runtime. A GPU is strongly recommended — on a CPU-only machine, separation is slow. If you're comfortable installing an app and want the most control over which model runs, UVR is the most capable free option on this list. If you'd rather not install anything, that's exactly the friction an in-browser tool removes.
Demucs / HTDemucs and Spleeter (the command line)
Underneath much of this field are two open-source models you can also run yourself. Demucs — specifically HTDemucs, the v4 Hybrid Transformer version — is Meta's model, MIT-licensed for both code and weights, producing four stems by default. You can run it locally with pip install demucs or in a Google Colab notebook. It needs comfort with a command line, and a GPU for reasonable speed. This is the same model class Vocal Cut runs in your browser.
Spleeter, from Deezer, is the older (2019) open-source option, also MIT-licensed, CLI-only, offering 2-, 4-, and 5-stem modes. It's fast and historically important, but by today's standards its fidelity generally trails Demucs-class models — which brings us to the point the whole comparison turns on.
Why quality is model-bound, not vendor-bound
The quality of a separation is set almost entirely by the underlying AI model, not by which website or app wraps it. The field has moved through generations — Spleeter (2019), then MDX-Net, then HTDemucs — and each generation raised the fidelity bar for everyone.
Because the strongest models are open source, many different services and apps run the same Demucs or MDX-Net weights under the hood. A "premium" cloud tool and a free desktop app can produce comparable results because they're calling the same model. What you're often paying a cloud service for is convenience, extra stem types, batch processing, or a nicer interface, not inherently better separation.
The practical consequence: a free local run of HTDemucs can match or beat a paid cloud service, because it is the model that many of them run. HTDemucs is the current strong open-source baseline, and it's exactly what Vocal Cut runs in your browser. So you get that model-quality free, without the cloud upload and without the desktop install. If you want the deeper mechanics of how these models pull one layer out of a mix, how AI separation works walks through it.
Which should you use?
There's no single winner. It depends on your constraint.
- You want it free, private, unlimited, with no install and no account. Use an in-browser HTDemucs tool like Vocal Cut's song stem splitter. Your audio stays on your device, there's no per-file or per-month cap, and you're running the current-generation model. Trade-off: the first run downloads the model, and separation takes real CPU time.
- You need piano, guitar, or many separate stem types. A multi-stem cloud tool like LALAL.AI or Fadr isolates instruments the four-stem models fold into "other." Mind the free-tier walls — LALAL previews but won't let you download for free, and Fadr's free downloads are MP3-only.
- You have a GPU and command-line comfort and want batch or local control. Run the Demucs CLI or UVR desktop. You get maximum control, model-swapping, and no browser RAM ceiling, at the cost of setup.
If your actual goal is a karaoke track rather than raw stems, the karaoke maker is purpose-built for that. And for the step-by-step of getting stems out of one song, see How to Split a Song Into Stems for Free.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free stem separation tool?
There isn't one universal best — it depends on your constraint. For free, private, unlimited separation with no install or account, an in-browser HTDemucs tool like Vocal Cut's stem splitter is the simplest choice. For many separate stem types, a multi-stem cloud tool fits better despite its free-tier caps. For maximum local control with a GPU, UVR or the Demucs CLI wins. Match the tool to your priority.
Is a free stem splitter as good as a paid one?
Often, yes. Separation quality is set by the underlying AI model, and the strongest models — Demucs and MDX-Net — are open source, so free and paid tools frequently run the same weights. A free local run of HTDemucs can match or beat a paid cloud service because it is the same model. What paid tiers usually add is extra stem types, lossless output, batch processing, or convenience, not inherently better separation.
Does splitting a song into stems upload my audio to a server?
It depends on the tool. Every cloud service here — LALAL.AI, Moises, Fadr, Gaudio — uploads your file to their servers to process it. Local tools do not: Vocal Cut runs the model in your browser and your audio never leaves your device, and desktop apps like UVR process everything on your own machine. If keeping your audio private matters, choose a local or in-browser tool over a cloud one.
How many stems can I get from a song?
Four-stem models like HTDemucs split a track into vocals, drums, bass, and "other" (everything else combined). Some cloud tools go further, isolating piano, guitar, synth, strings, and wind as separate stems — LALAL.AI offers up to eight types. Spleeter can also do 2- or 5-stem modes. More stem types generally means a cloud tool, since the widest menus aren't in the free four-stem models.
Do I need to install anything to split a song into stems?
No — an in-browser stem splitter runs the AI model as a web page, so there's nothing to install; the only download is the model itself, fetched automatically on first use. Cloud tools also need no install but do upload your file. Desktop options like UVR and the Demucs CLI require installing software (they bundle a Python/PyTorch runtime), which buys you local control and no browser memory limits.