HookSounds vs Soundstripe Comparison 2026
HookSounds and Soundstripe both start at $9.99 a month, but the coverage is different. HookSounds' entry tier is for personal projects only, with client work needing the $19.99 freelancer plan. Soundstripe's entry tier already covers personal or commercial use by one person. The axis is not price, since the two tie there, but catalogue size and clearance: Soundstripe runs to 58,000 tracks with automatic YouTube clearance, while HookSounds writes its own smaller catalogue and clears a track for as long as it stays in the video.
At a glance
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
HookSounds | Soundstripe | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $9.99 | From $9.99 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated |
HookSounds
Royalty-free music written in house
HookSounds writes its own catalogue rather than aggregating other people's, which keeps it smaller than the big libraries and makes the licensing simpler to reason about. Music, sound effects and intros are covered by one subscription, cleared for as long as the track stays in the video. The cheapest tier is for personal work and does not cover clients. Anybody who needs a specific genre in depth will find the size a limit.
Our note
Read the licence scope before the price, because the cheapest tier excludes client work and that is the line most freelancers cross without noticing. Against Epidemic Sound or Artlist this is smaller and cheaper, and the trade is exactly that.
Soundstripe
Music and effects, cleared for YouTube
Soundstripe licenses music and sound effects on a subscription and clears them against YouTube automatically, so a video does not come back with a claim on it a week after going up. The catalogue runs to 58,000 tracks and nearly 100,000 effects. Single-track licences are sold separately, for anybody who needs one song rather than a habit.
Why people weigh these two
- Soundstripe instead of HookSounds
- Soundstripe starts at the same $9.99 as HookSounds but backs it with clearance built for YouTube specifically, plus sound effects on the same plan.
- HookSounds instead of Soundstripe
- HookSounds writes its whole catalogue in house rather than licensing from outside artists, starting at $9.99, a smaller, hand-picked library next to Soundstripe's tens of thousands of tracks.
Which one should you pick
Choose HookSounds if a smaller, in-house catalogue with simple, self-explained licensing suits the work better than searching a huge library, and the work is personal rather than client-facing at the $9.99 tier. Move to the $19.99 freelancer tier the moment a client's name is on the invoice.
Choose Soundstripe if commercial use needs to be covered from the cheapest plan, since $9.99 a month already includes personal or commercial use by one person with unlimited downloads. Automatic YouTube clearance through Content ID means a video does not come back with a claim a week after publishing, and the catalogue runs to 58,000 tracks and nearly 100,000 effects.
Common questions
- Do HookSounds and Soundstripe cost the same?
- At entry, yes: both start at $9.99 a month. What differs is coverage. HookSounds' cheapest tier excludes client work, while Soundstripe's equivalent tier already covers commercial use by one person.
- Which one has the bigger catalogue?
- Soundstripe, by a wide margin: 58,000 tracks and nearly 100,000 sound effects. HookSounds writes its own catalogue in house, which is smaller by design and is the trade for simpler licensing terms.
- Can I use HookSounds' cheapest plan for a client project?
- No. The $9.99 Creator tier is for personal projects only, and client or multi-channel work needs the $19.99 freelancer tier. Soundstripe's $9.99 plan already covers commercial use by one person.
- Does either one clear tracks against YouTube automatically?
- Soundstripe does, clearing tracks against Content ID so a claim does not arrive after publishing. HookSounds clears a track for as long as it remains in the video it was downloaded for, without describing an automatic Content ID process.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.