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Music · head to head

LANDR vs Studio One

LANDR logo

LANDR

Music

AI mastering and music distribution, sold as separate mastering, distribution and bundled Studio subscriptions

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Studio One logo

Studio One

Music

Single-window workstation with album mastering built into the same project, now owned by Fender

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: LANDR mastering and distribution are separate subscription lines, so a producer wanting both is typically paying for two products, not one, unless they specifically choose the bundled Studio plan.; Studio One the bundled Melodyne is the Essential tier, which corrects monophonic pitch only; polyphonic editing and the tools most people actually want are a paid upgrade from Celemony on top of the workstation licence.
  • They diverge on capability: LANDR covers AI mastering, Studio One covers Project page.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LANDR and Studio One actually diverge.

Attributes where LANDR and Studio One differ
AttributeLANDRStudio One
Pricing modelPer user per month, separate mastering and distribution subscriptionsquote
PlatformsWebWindows, macOS

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Music).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in LANDR

  • AI mastering
  • Digital distribution
  • 100 percent royalty retention
  • Pay-per-track mastering
  • Sample packs and plugins
  • Collaboration tools

Only in Studio One

  • Project page
  • Single window drag and drop
  • ARA2 with Melodyne
  • Scratch Pad
  • Chord Track
  • Show page
  • Impact XT and Sample One
  • Faderport integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

LANDR

  • An independent producer wanting fast, low-cost mastering for demos or lower-stakes releasesnot Studio One
  • A self-releasing artist who wants distribution to Spotify and Apple Music without a label or aggregator contractnot Studio One
  • A producer wanting to pay for a single mastered track without committing to a subscriptionnot Studio One
  • An artist who wants sample packs, mastering and distribution bundled together under one Studio plannot Studio One

Studio One

  • Delivering an album or EP where mastering must stay linked to the mixes, so a late vocal fix does not mean rebuilding the masternot LANDR
  • Project studios already on PreSonus interfaces and Faderport surfaces, where the control mapping is done for younot LANDR
  • Songwriters who want pitch editing in the timeline without buying Melodyne separatelynot LANDR
  • Running the same session live from the Show page rather than rebuilding the set in a separate performance toolnot LANDR

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

LANDR

  • Mastering and distribution are separate subscription lines, so a producer wanting both is typically paying for two products, not one, unless they specifically choose the bundled Studio plan.
  • AI mastering is generally regarded by working audio engineers as producing a less considered, more generic result than a human mastering engineer for a release meant to matter to an artist career.
  • The lowest mastering tier caps output at lower-resolution MP3, so getting WAV and HD WAV masters requires the more expensive Pro tier.
  • Distribution plans are billed annually, which is a less flexible commitment than platforms offering month-to-month or per-release distribution pricing.
  • Frequent promotional discounting on LANDR pricing makes the real ongoing renewal price harder to predict from marketing pages alone.

Studio One

  • The bundled Melodyne is the Essential tier, which corrects monophonic pitch only; polyphonic editing and the tools most people actually want are a paid upgrade from Celemony on top of the workstation licence.
  • PreSonus now sells a subscription alongside the perpetual licence and the two are easy to confuse at checkout; the subscription stops working when payment stops, which is a very different asset for a studio planning in decades.
  • Fender acquired PreSonus in 2022, so the roadmap sits inside a guitar hardware company, and long-term investment in the workstation is now a bet on that parent rather than on the original software team.
  • There is no Linux build, and the MIDI editing tool set is shallower than Cubase, so composers doing rule based MIDI transformation or serious notation work will hit limits quickly.
  • The plugin scanner has a long history of struggling with large third-party plugin collections, producing slow startup and occasional missing plugins when sessions move between machines.

Pricing, plan by plan

LANDR

On request
  • Mastering Basic$4/month
    • Unlimited lower-resolution MP3 masters
    • Digital distribution not included
  • Mastering Pro$25/month
    • Unlimited WAV and HD WAV masters
    • Highest mastering resolution tier
  • Distribution Basic$24/year
    • Distribution to major streaming platforms
    • Billed separately from mastering plans
  • Distribution Pro$45/year
    • Higher-tier distribution features
    • 100 percent royalty retention

Studio One

On request
  • Studio One Pro (perpetual licence)$undefined/one-time
    • Bought outright and keeps working indefinitely
    • Next major version is a separate paid upgrade
    • Melodyne Essential included
  • Studio One Pro+ (subscription)$undefined/month
    • Workstation plus sound content and cloud storage
    • Stops working when the subscription lapses
    • Billed monthly or annually

Which should you pick?

Choose LANDR if

  • You need ai mastering.
  • You also want digital distribution.
LANDR review

Choose Studio One if

  • You need project page.
  • You work on Windows, macOS.
  • You also want single window drag and drop.
Studio One review

Questions people ask

Is LANDR or Studio One better?
Neither clearly leads. LANDR starts at On request and Studio One at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LANDR or Studio One?
LANDR starts at On request and Studio One at On request.
Does LANDR or Studio One run on more platforms?
LANDR runs on Web. Studio One runs on Windows, macOS.
What is LANDR best used for?
LANDR is most often used for an independent producer wanting fast, low-cost mastering for demos or lower-stakes releases, a self-releasing artist who wants distribution to spotify and apple music without a label or aggregator contract, a producer wanting to pay for a single mastered track without committing to a subscription, an artist who wants sample packs, mastering and distribution bundled together under one studio plan. Of those, an independent producer wanting fast, low-cost mastering for demos or lower-stakes releases and a self-releasing artist who wants distribution to spotify and apple music without a label or aggregator contract are not what Studio One is typically brought in for.
What can LANDR do that Studio One cannot?
LANDR covers AI mastering, Digital distribution, 100 percent royalty retention, Pay-per-track mastering. Studio One covers Project page, Single window drag and drop, ARA2 with Melodyne, Scratch Pad.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LANDR: Do mastering and distribution cost the same subscription?

No, they are billed as separate plans; a bundled Studio plan combines them along with sample packs and plugins.

Studio One: Who owns PreSonus?

Fender acquired PreSonus in 2022. Development continues, but the roadmap now sits inside a guitar hardware company rather than an independent software vendor.

LANDR: Do I keep 100 percent of royalties through LANDR distribution?

Yes, artists retain full royalties from tracks distributed through LANDR.

Studio One: Is Studio One a subscription?

Both are sold. Studio One Pro is a perpetual licence you keep; Studio One Pro+ is a subscription bundling sound content and cloud storage that stops working when you stop paying.

LANDR: Can I master a single track without a subscription?

Yes, a pay-per-track option is available for around 9.99 USD per master.

Studio One: Why is no price listed here?

PreSonus publishes current pricing, but the tier structure has been restructured across recent versions, so this entry points at the vendor page rather than quoting a figure that may already be wrong.

Studio One: What does the Project page actually do?

It sequences and masters a whole album inside the same file as the songs and stays linked to them, so changing a mix updates the master without a manual export and reimport.

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