TuneCore is one of the oldest names in independent distribution — launched in 2006, now owned by the French music company Believe, and used by hundreds of thousands of artists. Audora is the opposite in almost every structural way: young, small, curated, and built around the whole release rather than the upload. Depending on who you are, each of those is either a pro or a con. This comparison lays the differences out honestly.
Who writes this: this guide is published by Audora, a music distribution and promotion platform — so yes, we're one of the options discussed below. Prices and terms of other services were checked against their public pricing pages on the date above and can change at any time; always confirm on the provider's own site before you commit.
Key takeaways
- TuneCore's tiered plans ($24.99–$54.99/yr as of July 2026) keep 0% of store royalties — but TuneCore takes 20% of earnings from social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Audora is one credit plan (free to start) covering distribution through Sony Music's channel plus cover art, bios, and a promotion studio that auto-posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
- The irony worth noticing: TuneCore charges you 20% where short-form video pays out; Audora is built to actively grow you there.
- TuneCore fits self-managers who want tier flexibility and splits. Audora fits artists who want the release work — not just the delivery — handled in one place.
Audora vs TuneCore at a glance
Prices checked July 2026 against TuneCore's public pricing page — both services can change terms at any time.
| TuneCore | Audora | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Self-serve, tiered annual plans | Curated, waitlist-gated, human-reviewed |
| Pricing | Rising Artist $24.99/yr, Breakout $44.99/yr, Professional $54.99/yr | Monthly credit plan, free to start — a release costs 10 credits; see pricing |
| Store royalties | 0% commission on annual plans | 0% — you keep ownership and royalties |
| Social-platform royalties | 20% fee on TikTok / Instagram / YouTube earnings | No social-royalty fee |
| Distribution route | Self-serve delivery (Believe infrastructure) | Through Sony Music's channel |
| Promotion tools | Store pitching and marketing tools; no automatic social posting | AI campaign planning with auto-posting to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram |
| Collaborator splits | Built-in royalty splits | Credits and metadata managed per release |
| Best for | Self-managers who want tier flexibility | Artists who want each release done properly |
Where TuneCore genuinely wins
- Track record and scale. Nearly two decades of paying artists, backed by Believe's global infrastructure. That history counts for something when you're trusting someone with your royalties.
- Tier flexibility. Start on Rising Artist at $24.99/yr and move up as you need more features — a plan shape for most budgets.
- Built-in splits. Automatic royalty splitting with collaborators is mature and genuinely useful for bands and co-writes.
- Instant access. No waitlist, no curation — sign up and upload today.
Where Audora wins
- The whole release in one plan. Cover art, press-ready bios, campaign planning, and rendered promo videos come from the same credits that pay for distribution. TuneCore distributes; the rest is on you.
- Promotion that posts itself. TuneCore's current tooling centers on distribution and store features; Audora auto-publishes approved posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram — as of July 2026, no self-serve distributor does this.
- No social-royalty haircut. The money your music earns on short-form platforms is yours.
- Humans on the other end. Curated access, human review of every release and fraud flag, and a support commitment of a human reply in about one business day.
- A label-channel route. Distribution through Sony Music's channel, with a path for standout artists to be promoted further by our team.
Keep 100% where music actually grows
No social-royalty fees, Sony-channel distribution, and a promotion studio that auto-posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram — one plan, free to start.
Already on TuneCore? Switching keeps your streams
Your stream counts and playlists follow your ISRC codes, not your distributor. Deliver the same recordings with the same ISRCs through the new distributor, wait for them to go live, then take down the old versions — never the other way around. The full step-by-step, including the overlap window, is in our switching guide.
Which should you pick?
- Pick TuneCore if: you self-manage, want tier options or pay-per-release pricing, need built-in collaborator splits, and your royalties come mostly from stores rather than social platforms.
- Pick Audora if: your growth plan runs through short-form video, you want the release work bundled instead of DIY, and curation plus human support matter more to you than instant signup.