Ditto vs DistroKid (Which Is Better?) – What We Learned From Using Both

Checked on 30 October 2026 on dittomusic.com/en/pricing, Ditto’s support article on Release Protection and distrokid.com/pricing. Ditto may show prices in your local currency. Plans change, so confirm before you sign up.

DistroKid or Ditto Music? Or another distributor? Almost every independent artist asks this before the first release. Both work on a flat yearly fee with unlimited releases, so on paper they look the same. Below is where they actually differ, what each costs today, and the alternatives worth a look if neither fits.

Why do I need a music distributor at all?

Spotify, Apple Music and most other stores only accept music from distributors and labels. Unless you run a label with direct deals, you need a middleman.

A distributor delivers each release to the stores you choose, handles the legal and technical side, shows you statistics, and collects and pays out your royalties. We cover the wider market in our guide to the best music distribution services.

Ditto vs DistroKid prices

Both bill once a year with unlimited releases. The plans are close in price but differ in how many artists they cover and what’s included.

Ditto Music plans

• Starter, $19 a year: 1 artist, 150+ platforms, smart links, royalty splits, playlist submissions.
• Pro, $59 a year: 2 artists, plus publishing royalties, YouTube Content ID, sync pitching, exact release times and Release Protection.
• Label, $109 a year: everything in Pro for 3 or more artists.

You can also pay the renewal from your royalty balance.

DistroKid plans

• Musician, $24.99 a year: 1 artist, unlimited songs, royalty splits, Spotify artist profile.
• Musician Plus, $44.99 a year: 2 artists, plus custom release and pre-order dates, custom label name, daily streaming stats, synced lyrics in Apple Music.
• Ultimate, from $89.99 a year: from 1 up to 100 artists, plus Spotify and Apple Music monitoring, advanced analytics and replacing song audio.

Is there a Ditto Music free trial?

Ditto’s site says “Try before you pay” and offers to put out your first release free, but on 30 October 2026 neither the pricing page nor the free-trial page said how long the trial lasts. One of Ditto’s support articles says you can build a release for free but need a plan before it goes to stores. Check the terms at sign-up before you count on it.

What happens if you stop paying?

This is the difference that matters most over the years.

• Ditto Pro and Label: Release Protection is included on every release, and Ditto says releases stay in stores if you miss a payment or cancel.
• Ditto Starter: releases are protected only if you added Release Protection to them. You also need an active subscription to withdraw royalties or put out new music.
• DistroKid: when the subscription ends, releases are taken down unless you paid the one-time Leave a Legacy fee for that release. Ditto’s comparison table lists it at $29. DistroKid’s help pages didn’t open for us on 30 October, so check the current fee in your account.

If you have a big catalogue, keeping the subscription is usually cheaper than buying Leave a Legacy release by release.

Is Ditto a good distributor?

Yes. Ditto is a long-running UK distributor, and Ed Sheeran put out early releases through it. Customer service complaints from its early years are what you’ll mostly find in old reviews.

Ditto’s strengths are the extras bundled into Pro: publishing administration, Content ID, sync pitching and Release Protection for one yearly price. If you’d otherwise pay for those separately, Pro is good value. If you only need distribution for one artist, Starter is the cheapest plan of the two services.

Is Ditto better than DistroKid?

It depends on how you release.

• Pick DistroKid if you’re one artist releasing often, want a simple upload flow and don’t need publishing administration. Note that a custom release date needs Musician Plus.
• Pick Ditto Pro if you write your own songs and want publishing royalties and Content ID collected in the same account, or if you want releases to stay live after you stop paying.
• Pick Ditto Starter if price is the only thing that matters and you’ll keep paying every year.

A flat yearly fee pays off when you release a lot. Here’s the maths for two singles a year over five years:

• Ditto Starter: 5 × $19 = $95, and you keep paying for the releases to stay up.
• DistroKid Musician: 5 × $24.99 = $124.95, same condition.
• CD Baby: 10 singles × $9.99 = $99.90 one-time, releases stay up, but CD Baby keeps a share of your royalties.

If you release once or twice in total, a pay-per-release distributor is often cheaper. If you release every month, the flat fee wins easily.

Where your music appears

Both deliver to all the major stores: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal, plus TikTok, Instagram and the other social platforms. Ditto lists 150+ platforms on its pricing page. Both let you pick which stores get a release.

For release planning, give yourself at least two to three weeks between upload and release day. That leaves time for delivery and for pitching the song to Spotify’s editors in Spotify for Artists, which needs at least 7 days before release regardless of distributor. Our guide on how to release music on every streaming service walks through the steps.

How you get paid

Both pass on 100% of streaming royalties. The differences are in the extras.

Publishing royalties

Publishing royalties are what you earn as the songwriter, separate from the recording. Ditto Pro and Label collect them for you and keep a 15% commission. DistroKid doesn’t offer publishing administration, so you’d need a separate publisher or admin service.

YouTube Content ID

Content ID earns you money when other people use your music in YouTube videos. YouTube scans uploads for matches, and you can block the video or take a share of the ad revenue.

Ditto includes Content ID setup in Pro and Label. DistroKid doesn’t list Content ID in any plan on its pricing page, so check the cost at upload if it matters to you.

Royalty splits

Both split payments automatically between band members, producers and co-writers, on every plan.

Other features to compare

Smart links

Both create a pre-save and smart link page for each release that you can put in your bio. DistroKid’s is called HyperFollow. Both pages are basic and carry the distributor’s branding, so some artists build their own instead.

Music videos and VEVO

Neither plan includes video. Ditto sells music video distribution, including VEVO, as a separate product, and DistroKid does the same through DistroVid. Compare the add-on prices if videos are part of your release plan.

ISRC codes and moving distributors

Both assign ISRC codes free. If you move your catalogue from one distributor to the other, keep the original ISRCs, audio and metadata. Then the stores can usually match the new delivery to the old one and keep your play counts. Upload with the new distributor first, and take the releases down at the old one only once the new versions are live.

Can I use Ditto and DistroKid at the same time?

Yes, for different releases. You can’t deliver the same song through both. Most artists stick with one, because one account and one set of statistics is simpler.

Ditto Music alternatives

If neither fits, these are the other common options. Prices from each company’s own pages on 30 October 2026.

Ditto vs DistroKid: the short version

1. Both cost a yearly fee and let you keep 100% of streaming royalties.
2. Ditto Starter ($19) is cheaper than DistroKid Musician ($24.99). For 2 artists DistroKid is cheaper ($44.99 vs $59).
3. Ditto Pro and Label keep releases live if you stop paying. DistroKid needs Leave a Legacy per release.
4. Ditto Pro collects publishing royalties (15% commission) and sets up Content ID. DistroKid does neither in its plans.
5. DistroKid needs Musician Plus for a custom release date.
6. Both only do digital distribution, not CDs or vinyl, and neither will promote your music for you.

Whichever you pick, the distributor only delivers the file you give it. Get the master finished before you upload: our mastering service prepares a release-ready WAV for Spotify, Apple Music and every other store.

Mastering is $79 per song, and mixing and mastering starts at $133 per song, 2–3 days per song, 6 revision rounds included. The full price list covers every other service.