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Best apps for remote songwriting collaboration in 2026

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Zoom, Audiomovers, BandLab, Soundtrap, Zoundroom and Google Drive or Dropbox for writing songs at a distance: free plans, prices, platforms and limits.

A singer at home wearing headphones records a voice note on a phone next to an open lyric notebook, while the laptop beside them shows abstract waveform shapes of a bandmate's take, in daylight

Remote songwriting works best with two or three tools, one for each moment of the co-write. For the live session, Zoom with its Original sound for musicians mode, plus Audiomovers LISTENTO when one of you streams a DAW session at studio quality. To build the same track together, BandLab (a free studio where you invite collaborators) or Soundtrap (a browser studio with text and video chat). For the song between sessions, Zoundroom keeps the lyrics, takes, notes, files and timestamped feedback of each song in one project. For stems, session files and signed split sheets, Google Drive (15 GB free) or Dropbox (2 GB free).

No single app covers all of it. The studios don’t hold the conversation, the video call doesn’t keep the song, and a cloud folder stores files without the decisions behind them. The table shows what each tool does; the sections after it give each pick’s best use and one honest limit.

Remote songwriting apps compared

ToolWhat it doesBest forFree planPaid fromPlatforms
ZoundroomOne project per song with recordings, lyrics, notes and files, shared with your co-writers, plus comments at the exact secondThe shared song between sessionsYes: 2 projects, each shared with up to 2 peoplePro: €7.99 a month or €59.99 a year; Band: €19.99 a month for up to 7 peopleiOS, Android, web
ZoomVideo calls with an Original sound for musicians audio modeThe live writing sessionBasic: meetings up to 40 minutes, up to 100 participantsPro: $16.99 per user a month billed monthly, or $14.16 billed annuallyWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, web app
Audiomovers LISTENTOStreams a DAW or browser session in real time, up to lossless 32-bit / 384 kHzHearing the producer’s session at full qualityNo free plan to send (7-day free trial); listening is freeBasic: $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year, up to 10 listenersPlugin in the DAW or Web Transmitter in the browser; listeners use a link, the free iOS app or a Receiver plugin
BandLabFree online studio where collaborators work on the same projectProducing one track together at no costYes: free studio with invited collaboratorsMembership: $14.99 a month (US App Store)Web, iOS, Android
SoundtrapBrowser studio with invites, text chat and video chatA studio with the conversation built inYesIn-app purchases from $4.99 (US App Store)Browser, iPhone, iPad
Google DriveCloud storage and sharingSession files and paperwork for groups already on Google15 GB, shared with Gmail and Google PhotosGoogle One 100 GB: €1.99 a month (price shown in Europe)Web, desktop and mobile apps
DropboxCloud storage, large transfers and Replay reviewsHeavy stems and big transfersBasic: 2 GBPlus: 2 TB for €9.99 a month (price shown in Europe)Web, desktop and mobile apps

How we compared them

Every fact in the table comes from official pages: pricing pages, help centers, product pages and App Store listings, checked on September 30, 2026, with links in the sources at the end. The criteria follow what a remote co-write needs: which moment of the process the tool covers, whether your co-writer can join without paying, what the free plan allows, what the first paid plan costs, which devices it runs on, and what is left once the call ends. Prices appear in the currency the official page showed: Dropbox and Google One displayed euro prices from our location, and App Store prices come from the US store. Soundtrap’s pricing page showed no figures that day, so its prices come from its App Store listing. We did not run hands-on tests; this compares what each company documents, and prices change, so treat them as a snapshot of that date.

The three moments of a remote co-write

Writing with someone in another city is less about one perfect app and more about not losing anything between the moments.

  1. The live session. You talk, sing ideas, play the chords and react to each other. You need a call with decent musical audio and, if one of you works in a DAW, a way to hear that session properly. Our guide on how to prepare and run a co-writing session covers the agenda; for a remote one, send the chords beforehand with the chord sheet maker and agree the tempo with the tap tempo metronome.
  2. The song between sessions. The lyric changes on Tuesday, someone records a new chorus melody on Thursday, and the other writer comments on it on Saturday. You need one place per song where the words, the takes and the feedback stay together, plus a studio if you are producing as you go.
  3. Files and splits. Stems, session files, rough mixes, and the answer to “who wrote what”. You need storage that handles big files and a signed split sheet.

Most pairs of writers end up with one tool per moment. That is normal; the mistake is letting each tool become a separate version of the song. The picks below start with the song’s home between sessions, the moment remote co-writes lose most often, then the live session, the studios and the files.

Zoundroom: best for the shared song between sessions

Remote co-writes stall between calls, when the lyric changed on Tuesday and the new chorus melody sits in someone’s phone, and Zoundroom keeps that stretch in one project per song, so the version you both work on is always the same one. Each project holds the recordings, lyrics, notes and files: you record inside a note and the take is inserted at the cursor, right next to the line you were singing, and the rough mix your co-writer exported from their DAW is imported into the same project. You invite your co-writer with a code, you both edit the lyric and the changes appear for both of you right away, and in the full player «Leave a comment» pins feedback to the exact second of a take, with «Reply» to answer it there. In the multitrack editor («Edit audio»), each co-writer can record a take over the other’s audio and save it as their own version, so the original always stays as it was. The same account works on iOS, Android and the web. A concrete next step: after tonight’s call, create a project with the song’s working title, paste the lyric as it stood, record the new chorus melody inside the note, invite your co-writer and ask them to comment on the exact second they would change. Our guide on giving music feedback helps turn those comments into a better version, and the music collaboration page shows how sharing works.

Pro is what turns sharing into feedback: comments at the exact second need Pro or Band, and the plan that counts is the commenter’s, so each co-writer who comments needs one. Pro shares each project with up to 4 people (Free: 2) and holds up to 1,000 projects and 10,000 items; for a band spread across cities, Band puts up to 7 people under one subscription, and every member can comment in the band’s projects. Pro is 7 days free on iPhone and on the web; the plans are on the pricing page.

Choose it if: your co-writes stall between sessions because the lyric, the latest take and the comments are scattered across chats and folders.

Its limit: for the live session itself, use Zoom and Audiomovers, below.

Zoom: best for the live writing session

Any video call app works for talking, and many writers stay with the one they already use. Zoom is on this list because it documents an audio mode for musicians. In the audio settings, under Audio Profile, choose Original sound for musicians. It offers three options: high-fidelity music mode, which disables echo cancellation and post-processing and raises the codec quality to 48 kHz, 96 kbps mono or 192 kbps stereo (Zoom lists a professional audio interface, microphone and headphones as requirements); switching off echo cancellation, advised only when you use headphones or play instruments; and stereo audio, which needs a stereo-capable microphone or interface. During the meeting, turn the Original Sound for Musicians button on. The feature is documented for the desktop app on Windows, macOS and Linux, the Android and iOS apps and the web app.

Run the session in turns: one person plays or sings while the other listens, then you swap. Video calls are built for conversation, and Zoom doesn’t present this mode as a way to play in sync.

Choose it if: you write with a voice and one instrument, and seeing each other’s reactions matters.

Its limit: Basic meetings stop at 40 minutes, which cuts a writing session in half; Pro ($16.99 per user a month billed monthly, or $14.16 billed annually) allows meetings of up to 30 hours. And the call doesn’t keep the song: when it ends, the ideas are only wherever someone recorded them.

Audiomovers LISTENTO: best for hearing the session at studio quality

When one of you is producing in a DAW, call audio isn’t enough to judge a vocal or an arrangement. LISTENTO is a plugin that streams your DAW’s audio in real time, either as lossless PCM up to 32-bit / 384 kHz and multichannel, or with AAC and Opus codecs, with adjustable latency and bitrate. The co-writer opens the link in a web browser or on a phone, in the free iOS app, or in their own DAW through a Receiver plugin, and can even record the stream there. Receiving is free. Web Transmitter, included with the subscription, sends the same kind of stream from a browser.

The plans are Basic at $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year for up to 10 listeners, and Pro at $24.99 a month or $199.99 a year for up to 150, with a 7-day free trial.

Choose it if: you are a producer and a topliner shaping a vocal or an arrangement, and the listener needs to hear exactly what the DAW plays.

Its limit: it is a stream, not a workspace. You still need a call to talk, the person sending pays, and nothing stays in a shared place for next week unless someone records it.

BandLab: best for producing one track together for free

BandLab is a free studio on the web and on mobile, built for collaboration. On the web, open Library, click the three-dot icon beside the project and choose Invite Collaborators; enter usernames or email addresses and a message, then click Send Invite. On mobile, open Library, tap the three-dot icon beside the project, then Collaborators, and tap Invite on iOS or the invite icon on Android. You can also send a project invitation from BandLab Chat. Membership adds extra tools and effects; on the US App Store it costs $14.99 a month.

Choose it if: your group wants to build the arrangement together in the same multitrack and nobody wants to pay.

Its limit: everyone has to work inside BandLab with an account. If one writer lives in another DAW, you are back to exporting files. If you are weighing other options, see our BandLab alternatives.

Soundtrap: best for a studio with the conversation built in

Soundtrap was founded in Stockholm, bought by Spotify in 2017 and bought back by two of its founders in 2023, so it is independent again. It is a browser studio: you share a project with a link from the Studio and collaborate in real time through text or video chat, which puts the conversation next to the tracks. You invite people from the menu next to the project, from the Collaborators tab or with the Invite button in the Studio, and each person can record on separate tracks. The iPhone and iPad app needs iOS 16.6 or later, and projects sync between desktop and mobile.

Pricing is less transparent: the pricing page showed no figures when we checked. On the US App Store, in-app purchases range from $4.99 to $20.99 and include plans named Sound Starter, Music Production, Vocals & Songwriting and Production & Vocals.

Choose it if: you want the studio and the video chat in one browser tab, for example when your group uses different computers.

Its limit: check the price in your country before you commit, and remember that a cloud studio is only as steady as everyone’s connection.

Google Drive or Dropbox: best for stems, sessions and signed paperwork

A remote co-write produces heavy files: stems, DAW sessions, bounces and PDFs. Google Drive gives every Google account 15 GB free, shared with Gmail and Google Photos; Google One’s 100 GB plan was €1.99 a month on the page we checked. Dropbox Basic gives 2 GB free; Plus offers 2 TB for €9.99 a month, transfers of up to 50 GB and Replay, a review tool with versions and live review, limited to 4 file uploads on that plan.

Set up one folder per song, not one per person, and name files so they say what they are; our guide to Google Drive for bands shows a structure, and the song file name generator gives you consistent names. Before you share an unreleased song outside the group, read how to share unreleased music privately.

Choose Google Drive if everyone already has a Google account; choose Dropbox if your files are large and you send them to people outside the group.

Their limit: a folder knows files, not decisions. It won’t tell you which take is the keeper, which line changed, or what your co-writer said about the second chorus.

Files and splits: close every co-write on paper

The easiest day to agree who wrote what is the day you write it. A split sheet lists the song’s writers and their percentages; it covers the composition (lyrics and music), not the recording. Our guide what is a split sheet explains how to decide the percentages, with examples.

For a remote session, fill in the split sheet template in the last five minutes, while everyone is still on the call. Each writer signs, the PDF goes into the shared folder, and, with Pro, a copy goes into the song’s project so it travels with the demo. This is common practice, not legal advice; for a publishing contract, ask a music lawyer.

Which setup to choose

  • Two writers, voice and guitar, different cities: Zoom for the session and Zoundroom for the song: Free shares each project with up to 2 people, and Pro adds comments at the exact second. If your sessions run past 40 minutes, Zoom Pro or two shorter calls.
  • A topliner and a producer: Audiomovers for the DAW audio, a call to talk, Dropbox for stems, and the lyric with its takes in one song project.
  • A band spread across cities: BandLab or Soundtrap for the arrangement, Zoundroom Band for up to 7 members, and Google Drive for session files.
  • Your first co-write with someone new: keep it simple. A call, one shared place for the song and a split sheet at the end.
  • Zero budget: Zoom Basic, BandLab, Zoundroom Free and 15 GB of Google Drive cover the three moments.

A 15-minute test before your next remote session

  1. Audio (5 minutes). Put on headphones, turn on Original sound for musicians and ask your co-writer whether the guitar sounds natural.
  2. Material (3 minutes). Send the chord sheet and the tempo so nobody spends the first ten minutes transcribing.
  3. The song’s home (4 minutes). Create the song’s project or folder, invite your co-writer and check they can open a recording before the session, not during it.
  4. Paperwork (3 minutes). Open the split sheet template and fill in the title and both names, ready for the end of the call.

If any step fails, fix it before the session, when it costs a message instead of half an hour of creative time.

Frequently asked questions

What apps do musicians use to write songs together remotely?

Usually a combination: a video call (Zoom has a mode for musicians), a way to hear the producer’s DAW if there is one (Audiomovers LISTENTO), a shared studio for the arrangement (BandLab or Soundtrap), a place for the song between sessions (Zoundroom) and cloud storage for files (Google Drive or Dropbox).

Can you play music together live over Zoom?

You can play for each other, and Original sound for musicians makes instruments sound more natural, but video calls are built for conversation, and Zoom doesn’t present the mode as a way to play in sync. For co-writing, take turns: one plays, the other listens and answers.

Is there a free way to collaborate on music online?

Yes. Zoom Basic allows 40-minute meetings, BandLab’s studio is free and lets you invite collaborators, Zoundroom Free shares each of its 2 projects with up to 2 people (commenting needs Pro or Band), and Google Drive gives you 15 GB. Audiomovers has a 7-day trial, and listening to a stream is free.

Is BandLab or Soundtrap better for remote collaboration?

BandLab if you want it free and your collaborators are on mobile. Soundtrap if you want text and video chat inside the studio; check its price in your country first, since its pricing page showed no figures when we checked.

How do you split songwriting credits when co-writing online?

Fill in a split sheet at the end of each session while everyone is on the call, have every writer sign it, and store it with the song’s files. Our split sheet guide explains how to agree the percentages.

Sources

Official pages checked on September 30, 2026: