🎬 Video, animation, audio and streaming · 🎵 Music · 🏫 Classroom tools
Soundtrap
By Soundtrap AB (Sweden). Visit Soundtrap
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
An online music and podcast studio that runs in a browser, sold mostly to schools. Students build songs from more than 20,000 loops, make beats, record voice and instruments, edit podcasts from a written transcript and score videos, and several students can work on one project at once. Teachers assign work through Google Classroom, Canvas or Schoology. Spotify owned it from 2017 until selling it back to its founders in 2023.
Our take: A good fit for schools teaching music or podcasting on Chromebooks; families at home may get more from free GarageBand or BandLab.
| Ages it suits | grades K-12 through school; 13+ for personal accounts |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | Personal accounts: 18+, or 13 to 17 with a parent's or guardian's consent. Under-13s use it only through school accounts, where the school is responsible for getting parent consent. (terms) |
| Price | Free, with paid extras. Free personal plan plus paid personal plans that renew automatically; schools get a 30-day free trial. The pricing page did not show prices to our tools, so check soundtrap.com/pricing (Oct 2026). |
| Works on | Web |
| Account | A school account |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | Yes |
| The AI in it | The maker's school pages describe no AI features; podcast editing works from an automatic transcript. |
What's good
- Works on Chromebooks with nothing to install
- Real-time group projects
- Music and podcasts in one tool
- No ads or selling of student data
Watch for
- Needs a steady internet connection
- Prices not easy to find
- Personal accounts can collaborate with strangers
- Consumer policy allows ad partners
Data and privacy
For school accounts it collects name, email, password, usage logs, uploads and messages; it says it does not sell student data or market to students based on their use. The education policy does not name COPPA or FERPA or mention AI, and students can be connected to users outside their group with the school's permission. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
A 2025 Spanish survey of 289 future early-childhood and primary teachers rated Soundtrap well for learning and teamwork; a 2023 study in Research Studies in Music Education used Soundtrap data to track pandemic-era music making. No studies of children's learning outcomes found.
In the Big Index
- On the list 12 AI music tools kids can use
Alternatives to Soundtrap
Desk researchFreeNo ads
AI Duet
Yotam Mann with Google Magenta and Creative Lab · ages about 5 and up
Worth a few minutes in a music or AI lesson; not a tool for learning piano.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Audacity
Muse Group and contributors (open source) · ages about 10+
The standard free tool for a child recording a podcast or voice-over on a computer; tablet users should use GarageBand instead.
Desk researchFree, with paid extras
BandLab (SongStarter, BandLab for Education)
BandLab Technologies (BandLab Singapore Pte Ltd) · ages 13+ on the public app; younger students only through BandLab for Education
BandLab for Education is a strong free pick for school music classes; teens can use the main app with a parent's okay, but younger kids should stay in the classroom version.
Desk researchPaidNo ads
Blipblox
Playtime Engineering · ages 3+ (safety-certified; built for all ages)
A lasting music-making toy for families who will use it across ages; parents wanting a cheap first instrument can start smaller.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Blob Opera
David Li with Google Arts & Culture · ages about 4 and up
A delightful five-minute music toy for any age; not a music course.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Chrome Music Lab
Google · ages about 4 and up
A safe, free first stop for music play at any age; look elsewhere if you specifically want AI music tools.
Where these facts come from
- https://www.soundtrap.com/edu/
- https://www.soundtrap.com/legal/terms
- https://www.soundtrap.com/legal/terms/creator/us
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRCkbokf9U0twzGO_SsqBtXIWsLeh067ir2NUXdqpzrzG9_7w0m2UrEYo950eLyBA/pub?embedded=true
- https://www.soundtrap.com/legal/privacy/edu
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSBa3JKzXOaloJGmsqgA9rZvJyS7IBxcFzxe6lk3oDpm2r5OYXYUOYPM28ftsyjQY4YqbqInL8WnIeg/pub?embedded=true
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQxnbDC8-5EEb3N4SvnyVmzldTmGER6dWSbE0fTkr_oV5Ub8ZSknqnha9hKrUbmpT9NldTy6F3yo_6K/pub?embedded=true
- https://www.soundtrap.com/pricing
- https://musicbusinessworldwide.com/after-acquiring-soundtrap-in-2017-spotify-sells-the-music-making-platform-back-to-its-founders
- https://news.syr.edu/blog/2023/03/01/the-barriers-have-been-removed-new-research-explores-the-rise-of-digital-music-making-in-schools-during-covid-19/
- Reviews on G2: https://www.g2.com/products/soundtrap/reviews
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.