Distributor comparison
ONCE vs DistroKid
for AI music
DistroKid is cheap on year one and expensive on year ten. ONCE is $2 once for an AI release ($1 for human) - and the track stays live forever.
Disclosure: We're ONCE. We built one of the two distributors in this comparison. Every number on this page comes from DistroKid's own pricing page as of May 2026. If anything's stale, email us and we'll fix it.
| ONCE | DistroKid | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $2 per AI song / $1 per human song, paid once | $22.99/year+ subscription |
| Tracks live if you stop paying | Forever | Removed |
| Royalty split | 100% to artist | 100% to artist (while subscribed) |
| AI music policy | Explicit support, auto-disclosure to DSPs | Allowed, artist must flag manually |
| AI provenance scanning | Built in (Vobile partnership) | None |
| Multi-artist support | Included | Higher tier required |
| MCP / AI agent support | Public MCP server at /mcp | None |
| Built in Nashville | Yes | No |
Where ONCE wins
- Pay once ($2 AI / $1 human), not $22.99 every year. The break-even hits within a couple of years for almost any catalog.
- Stop paying ONCE? Your tracks stay live. Stop paying DistroKid? Your tracks come down.
- ONCE is the ethical AI distributor: the extra dollar on every AI release routes to the Artist Compensation Fund. DistroKid takes the same fee for AI and human tracks and routes none of it to working musicians.
- AI provenance scanning and AI disclosure metadata happen automatically on ONCE. No checkboxes to forget.
- ONCE's MCP server lets AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) distribute tracks on your behalf. DistroKid has no agent API.
- Multi-artist support is in the base tier on ONCE.
When DistroKid is still the right call
- You release 50+ tracks every single year and are certain you'll never stop paying.
- You're already deeply embedded in DistroKid's split-payouts ecosystem and don't want to migrate.
- You specifically need DistroKid-only features like their Mixer service.
Verdict
For AI music in 2026, ONCE wins on cost, on AI policy, on agent support, and on the simple fact that your tracks don't disappear if you stop paying. DistroKid is a fine product for the artist releasing a high-volume catalog who plans to subscribe forever. Most artists are not that artist.
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Common questions
Will my DistroKid catalog stay live if I move to ONCE?
Your DistroKid releases stay live as long as your DistroKid subscription stays active. To move a catalog over, you'd re-release the tracks through ONCE (preserving ISRCs where possible) and let the old ones lapse on DistroKid. ONCE-distributed tracks never come down for non-payment.
Is DistroKid actually cheaper than ONCE for a big catalog?
Only if you're certain you'll keep paying the annual fee forever. 50 AI tracks on ONCE = $100, paid once (the AI flat rate; the extra dollar on each release funds the Artist Compensation Fund). 50 human tracks on ONCE = $50, paid once. 50 tracks on DistroKid Musician = $22.99/year forever. ONCE breaks even within a few years and the tracks stay live regardless. The day you stop paying DistroKid, your tracks come down.
Does DistroKid support AI music?
Yes, with caveats. AI tracks are allowed but the artist is responsible for flagging them. DistroKid has removed AI tracks from accounts when DSPs flagged them. ONCE scans for AI provenance and attaches disclosure automatically, so you don't have to remember.
What about features like Spotify verification or YouTube Content ID?
DistroKid bundles some of these into higher tiers ($39.99–$89.99/year). ONCE handles Spotify pre-save links, ISRC/UPC generation, and standard delivery features at the base release fee ($1 human / $2 AI). If you need physical CD/vinyl distribution, neither ONCE nor DistroKid is the right pick - go to CD Baby.