DistroKid vs TuneCore vs CD Baby vs CREWPORT: An Honest 2026 Comparison
Most distributor comparisons are affiliate pages dressed as advice. This one is a cost model. We'll show you the four numbers that actually decide which distributor is cheapest for you — because the sticker price is almost never the real one.
The short answer — if you don't have time to read the whole thing
Every major distributor delivers your files to the same stores. The audio arrives the same way whether it went through DistroKid or CD Baby — the algorithm doesn't care who delivered it. So the comparison isn't about "who gets you more streams." It's about total cost of ownership, which has four layers most artists never add up: upfront fees, recurring fees, revenue share, and takedown risk.
Quick version: DistroKid is cheapest at high release volume but pulls your catalogue when you stop paying. CD Baby never takes your music down but skims 9% forever. TuneCore keeps 100% of streaming royalties on paid plans but charges to renew. CREWPORT is built for teams and labels running multiple artists, with add-on features (Content ID, custom dates) included rather than sold separately.
First, the thing no distributor wants you to internalize
Distribution is delivery. That's the whole product. A distributor takes your finished files and pushes them to Spotify, Apple Music, and 150+ other stores. The choice of distributor rarely affects how many streams you get — playlists, promotion, and the algorithm do that, and those are your job regardless of who delivered the track.
So if the product is basically identical, what are you actually paying for? Three things: the pricing model, the feature set, and what happens to your catalogue when you stop paying. Get those wrong and you either overpay for years or lose your links at the worst possible moment.
Here's the framework that cuts through every marketing page.
The four costs that actually matter
Any honest comparison tracks four layers at once. A distributor can win on one and quietly lose on another.
- Upfront cost — what you pay to get a release live. Flat fee, per release, or subscription.
- Recurring cost — what you pay every year to keep it live, plus any per-release annual add-ons.
- Revenue share — the percentage they take from your royalties, forever or per service.
- Takedown risk — what happens to your catalogue if you cancel or a payment slips. This is the one artists ignore, and it's the one that hurts most.
The rest of this article is just these four numbers applied to each distributor.
The 2026 comparison
| DistroKid | CD Baby | TuneCore | CREWPORT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Subscription | One-time fee per release | Subscription (paid tiers) | Subscription + commission option |
| Entry price | $24.99/yr (Musician, 1 name) | $9.99 single / $14.99 album | ~$24.99/yr (Rising)* | Tiered by artist, team pricing |
| Streaming commission | 0% | 9% forever, per release | 0% on paid plans | 0% on subscription tiers |
| Custom release date | Paid tier only (Musician Plus $44.99) | Included | Included | Included |
| YouTube Content ID | Add-on: $4.95/single/yr + 20% cut | Included, ~30% cut | Add-on / paid tiers | Included |
| Catalogue if you cancel | Removed unless you buy Leave a Legacy | Stays up permanently | Removed on non-renewal | Preserved (365-day grace) |
| Team / multi-artist | Ultimate tier ($89.99, up to 100 names) | Per release | Per account | Built for it (role-based access) |
| Publishing collection | Not included | Discontinued 2023 | Add-on: 20% commission | Separate (see note) |
*TuneCore has been shifting its pricing model, and sources disagree on the current exact figures. Some list subscription tiers (Rising ~$24.99, Breakout ~$34.99, Professional ~$49.99 per year); others still show per-release pricing. Verify current rates on TuneCore's site before deciding — this is exactly the kind of number that changes.
Now the detail behind each column.
DistroKid: cheapest to release, most expensive to leave
DistroKid's pitch is simple and mostly honest: pay one annual fee, upload unlimited music, keep 100% of streaming royalties. For an artist releasing five or more tracks a year, that flat model is hard to beat on raw distribution cost.
The catch is the add-on stack, and it's where the $24.99 headline stops being the real price:
- Custom release dates aren't on the base plan. You need Musician Plus ($44.99/yr) to schedule a Friday drop or run a dated pre-save — which, for anyone running a real release strategy, isn't optional. So the practical entry price is $44.99, not $24.99.
- YouTube Content ID is an add-on at $4.95 per single (or $14.95 per album) per year, and DistroKid keeps 20% of the Content ID revenue it collects.
- Store Maximizer is $7.95 per release per year to auto-deliver to new stores.
- Leave a Legacy — $29 per single or $49 per album, one-time — is the one that matters most. Without it, if you stop paying, your music comes off every store. Your streams, playlist placements, and every link you've ever shared go dead.
That last point is the hidden structural cost. Once you buy add-ons to make releases permanent and monetized, DistroKid stops being a $25/year decision and becomes a per-release pricing model. A moderately active artist typically spends $150–$300+ in year one, not the advertised figure. We break the full math down in the real cost of DistroKid.
CD Baby: permanent catalogue, permanent commission
CD Baby is the opposite trade. You pay once per release — $9.99 for a single, $14.99 for an album — and the music stays up forever. No annual renewal, no takedown risk, no "buy permanence" upsell. If you might step away from actively managing your career someday, that permanence is genuinely valuable.
The price is a 9% commission on all streaming and download royalties, for the life of the release. It sounds small. It compounds. On a release that earns $10,000 over five years, that's $900 gone — versus roughly $200 in subscription fees on a competitor keeping 100%. The commission on some ancillary services runs higher still.
There's also a gap to know about: CD Baby discontinued its publishing service in 2023. You now have to register separately with a PRO for performance royalties — CD Baby won't do it for you. (If that sentence didn't fully land, read how streaming royalties actually work first — the publishing gap is where most artists quietly lose money.)
The rule of thumb: CD Baby's math favours you only if a release stays a low earner. The moment a track performs, that lifetime 9% becomes a permanent haircut on an asset you paid to make.
TuneCore: 100% royalties, if you keep renewing
TuneCore's paid plans keep you at 0% streaming commission — you keep everything the platforms pay — in exchange for an annual subscription. Its analytics and royalty reporting are generally considered stronger than DistroKid's, and it offers publishing administration (at a 20% commission on what it collects) for artists who'd otherwise leave that money on the table.
Two things to weigh:
- Takedown risk is the same as DistroKid's. Stop renewing and the release comes down, taking its streams and placements with it. The 100%-royalty benefit only holds as long as you keep paying.
- Its pricing model is in flux. As noted above, TuneCore has been moving between per-release and subscription structures, and different sources report different current prices. Treat any figure — including ours — as something to confirm on their site today.
TuneCore is owned by Believe, a publicly traded music company. That's not a knock; it's context. Your distributor holds your catalogue, your revenue, and your fan data — knowing who controls the platform is part of an informed decision.
The "free" distributors: read the commission line
Free tiers (UnitedMasters, Amuse's base plan, and others) look appealing until you find the revenue share. UnitedMasters takes around 10%; free tiers frequently take a cut on the very collaborator splits you need. "Free" almost always means "commission instead of subscription" — and at scale, a percentage of a growing catalogue costs far more than a flat fee ever would. We cover this in why free distribution actually costs more.
Where CREWPORT fits
CREWPORT isn't trying to be the cheapest way for a bedroom artist to push one single. It's built for the case the others treat as an afterthought: teams and labels running multiple artists at once. A few structural differences that follow from that focus:
- Add-on features are included, not sold à la carte. YouTube Content ID, TikTok, and Meta come standard, and custom release-date selection is free — not gated behind a higher tier the way custom dates are on DistroKid's base plan.
- Your catalogue is preserved if you stop paying. Rather than pulling your music the moment a subscription lapses, CREWPORT keeps the catalogue intact through a 365-day grace period — no "buy permanence per release" mechanic.
- Multi-profile management with role-based access, so a manager or label can run a roster without juggling separate accounts or paying per name.
- Royalties broken down store by store, not delivered as one opaque lump sum — so you can see which platform and territory is actually earning.
- A hybrid model: subscription tiers for growing artists, and a commission option for larger labels that want API access and a professional workspace.
The honest positioning: if you're a solo artist releasing occasionally, DistroKid or CD Baby may cost you less. If you're managing several artists, timing releases, and want the monetization features without the add-on tax, that's the gap CREWPORT is built for.
There is no universally "best" distributor — there's the one whose cost model matches how you actually release. The mistake is choosing on the sticker price and paying for it in year three.
How to actually decide
Run your own numbers against the four costs. Concretely:
- Releasing often, low catalogue, tight budget? A flat subscription (DistroKid) usually wins — just budget for the add-ons you'll really use.
- One or two releases you'll keep forever, low expected streams? CD Baby's one-time fee and permanence make sense.
- Expecting real streaming income and willing to renew? A 0%-commission subscription protects your margin as the catalogue grows.
- Managing multiple artists or a label roster? Look for team management, included monetization, and catalogue protection — the per-name and per-add-on costs are what quietly break the budget at scale.
Whatever you pick: remember distribution is delivery. You still need PRO and MLC registration to collect publishing, and you still have to do your own promotion. No distributor does that for you.
Frequently asked questions
Which music distributor is cheapest in 2026?
It depends entirely on how you release. For frequent releases, DistroKid's flat subscription is usually cheapest on distribution — but add-ons push the real cost to $150–$300+ a year. For a single release you'll keep forever with low streams, CD Baby's one-time $9.99–$14.99 fee is cheapest. There's no single answer; it comes down to your release volume and expected income.
What happens to my music if I stop paying my distributor?
On DistroKid and TuneCore, your releases are removed from all stores unless you've bought a permanence add-on (DistroKid's Leave a Legacy). You lose streams, playlist placements, and any links you shared. CD Baby leaves your music up permanently. CREWPORT preserves your catalogue through a 365-day grace period rather than pulling it immediately.
Does DistroKid really take 0% commission?
On standard streaming royalties, yes — you keep 100%. The exception is monetization add-ons like YouTube Content ID, where DistroKid keeps 20% of the revenue it collects. And the flat fee plus add-ons still adds up well beyond the headline price.
Is CD Baby's 9% commission a big deal?
It's small on a track that barely earns and large on one that succeeds. Because it's charged for the life of the release, a hit becomes a permanent 9% deduction on an asset you financed yourself. It favours low-earning, set-and-forget releases and works against anything that scales.
Do any distributors collect my publishing royalties?
Not automatically. CD Baby discontinued its publishing service in 2023; TuneCore offers publishing admin as a paid add-on (20% commission). By default you must register with a PRO and, in the US, The MLC yourself. This is separate from distribution entirely.
Can I switch distributors without losing my streams?
Yes, if you re-upload with the same ISRC codes. Upload to the new distributor first, confirm the release is live, then take it down from the old one — so there's no gap in availability.
Next step
Stop comparing sticker prices and compare total cost. If you're running more than one artist — or you're tired of paying extra for features that should be standard — CREWPORT includes monetization, protects your catalogue, and shows your royalties store by store. Built for teams and labels, not one-single hobbyists.