The cheapest AI mastering is free. BandLab Mastering and aimastering.com master your track for nothing, and if MP3 or a limited output is fine for the demo or the streaming single, that is the whole answer. The interesting question is the cheapest paid option, and here is the trap most roundups fall into: a per-track price and a monthly subscription are not comparable until you know how often you release. Pay LANDR $10 once for a single you drop twice a year and you have spent $20. Pay an eMastered subscription at $9 a month for the same two singles and you have spent $108, unless you release often, in which case the subscription's unlimited masters drive your cost per track toward zero and the per-track price is the expensive one. There is no cheapest tool, only a cheapest tool for your cadence. Below we show the pricing model behind each option, not just the sticker, and land on the right cheapest pick for occasional, frequent, high-volume, and own-forever releasers, from live pricing as of July 2026. This is general guidance from official sources, not measured audio testing.
Cheapest paid for occasional releases: LANDR at $10 a track, pay-per-track, no commitment.
Cheapest paid for frequent releases: an eMastered subscription from $9/mo (annual) or LANDR Studio from $8.25/mo, both unlimited, so about $0 per track past roughly one release a month.
Cheapest per track at volume: Waves Online Pro at $169.99/yr unlimited, about a dollar a track if you master a lot.
Cheapest to own forever: iZotope Ozone, a one-time purchase that amortizes to pennies a track over years.
The rule: match the model to your cadence, because a per-track price and a subscription are not comparable without it.
Why "cheapest" has no single answer: match the model to your cadence
The signature mistake in every cheap-mastering listicle is lining up a per-track price next to a monthly price as if they mean the same thing. They do not. LANDR sells a true pay-per-track master at $10 with no subscription, so your yearly cost is exactly ten dollars times the number of songs you release and nothing when you release nothing (LANDR mastering). eMastered is the opposite: it is subscription-only, with no per-track option at all, from $9 a month billed annually up to $39 month-to-month, and in return you get unlimited masters (eMastered). LANDR Studio subscriptions start around $8.25 a month billed yearly and also make masters unlimited, and distributor-partnered Masterchannel is another subscription-only service from around $15 a month (Masterchannel). So the cheapest choice pivots on one number you already know: how many songs you put out a year. Release two or three singles and the per-track model is far cheaper; release monthly or faster and the subscription's marginal cost per track collapses toward zero while the per-track bill keeps climbing. Fix your cadence first, then the cheapest option is obvious.
A $10 per-track master and a $9-a-month subscription are not two prices for the same thing. One is cheap when you release rarely, the other is cheap when you release all the time. Cadence decides, not the sticker.The pricing-model rule
The options, by pricing model and cost
Here is every viable path priced by its model, from free to own-forever, with the cadence each one is cheapest for. All figures are official-site pricing as of July 2026 and should be confirmed live before you buy.
| Option | Pricing model | Cost | Cheapest for | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BandLab Mastering | Free | $0, 4 presets | Hobbyists, quick masters, MP3 fine | whale |
| aimastering.com | Free | $0, adjustable target | Hands-on free masters, no watermark | indie |
| Bakuage | Free | $0, reference matching | Free loudness boost, WAV output | indie |
| DistroKid Mixea | First track free, then via DistroKid | 1 free, then account-tied | Existing DistroKid users | whale |
| LANDR | Pay-per-track | $10/track, no commitment | Occasional releasers (a few singles/yr) | whale |
| LANDR Studio | Subscription | from $8.25/mo (yearly), unlimited | Frequent releasers who want one brand | whale |
| eMastered | Subscription only | $9/mo (annual) to $39/mo, unlimited | Frequent releasers (about $0/track) | challenger |
| Waves Online | Credits or unlimited plan | Pro $169.99/yr unlimited (~$1/track) | High volume per year | whale |
| iZotope Ozone | One-time plugin | Advanced $499 (often on sale); Standard price, check current | Own it forever, pennies/track over time | whale |
Pricing compiled from each tool's official site as of July 2026. Ozone Advanced $499 is verified; the current Standard perpetual price should be checked live, since iZotope now foregrounds subscriptions. Confirm all figures before purchase.
Cheapest overall: free, if a limited output is fine
Nothing beats free, and two free tools are genuinely good. BandLab Mastering gives you four preset styles at no cost, tied to a free BandLab account, which is plenty for a demo or a quick streaming single (BandLab). aimastering.com is the more hands-on free option, with an adjustable target loudness and intensity plus spectrum and loudness analysis, and no watermark (AI Mastering). Bakuage, from the same Japanese operator, is a free loudness maximizer with reference matching and WAV output. And if you already distribute through DistroKid, Mixea masters your first track free (DistroKid Mixea). The honest catch with free tools is usually output: limited formats, preset-only control, or MP3 rather than high-resolution WAV. If that is acceptable for what you are releasing, stop here, you are done, and you have spent nothing. Our best free AI mastering roundup covers exactly what each free tier does and does not let you download.
The shortcut: MP3 or a preset master is fine, go free (BandLab, aimastering.com). A few paid singles a year, LANDR $10/track. Releasing monthly or faster, an eMastered $9/mo or LANDR Studio $8.25/mo subscription. Mastering a high volume, Waves Pro at about a dollar a track. Want to own it forever and learn, Ozone once.
The cheapest paid pick for your cadence
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest AI mastering? Free tools like BandLab and aimastering.com if MP3 or a limited output is acceptable. Among paid options it depends on cadence: LANDR at $10 a track for occasional releases, an eMastered subscription from $9 a month for frequent ones, and Waves Online Pro at about a dollar a track at high volume.
Is LANDR or eMastered cheaper? It depends on how often you release. LANDR's $10 pay-per-track is cheaper for a few singles a year; eMastered's subscription, which is the only way it sells (no per-track option), is cheaper once you release often because masters are unlimited. See LANDR vs eMastered.
Can I master for free? Yes. BandLab Mastering and aimastering.com are free, and Bakuage is a free loudness tool. The usual limit is output format or preset-only control. See best free AI mastering.
What is the cheapest way to master a lot of tracks? A flat unlimited plan. Waves Online Pro at $169.99 a year comes to roughly a dollar a track at volume, or own iZotope Ozone once and master unlimited tracks forever.
Bottom line
There is no single cheapest AI mastering tool, only a cheapest one for your release cadence, so count your yearly releases before you compare a single price. Free wins outright if BandLab or aimastering.com output is enough for what you are putting out. For paid, use LANDR's $10 pay-per-track for occasional singles, an eMastered or LANDR Studio subscription once you release monthly or faster, Waves Online for high volume at about a dollar a track, and iZotope Ozone if you would rather own the tool and master forever. The one rule that keeps you from overpaying is the pricing-model rule: never line up a per-track fee against a subscription without fixing how often you release, because that number, not the sticker, decides which is cheapest. Try the free previews on your own track first and trust your ears. This is general guidance from official sources as of July 2026, not measured audio testing.