Spleeter
Music source separation library with pretrained models that split songs into 2, 4, or 5 stems.
About
Deezer's audio team released Spleeter to split finished mixes back into their component stems, and it has become a de facto baseline for music source separation. Pretrained TensorFlow models ship in three configurations: 2 stems (vocals and accompaniment), 4 stems (adding drums and bass), and 5 stems (adding piano), with the 2 and 4 stem models reported to perform well on the musdb benchmark. On a GPU the 4-stem model separates audio around 100 times faster than real time, and CPU-only operation works for smaller jobs. Installation is a pip, conda, or Docker pull away, with a simple command-line interface plus a Python API, and a Google Colab notebook covers experimentation without local setup. Release 2.4.2 from April 2025 is the current PyPI version and supports Python 3.8 through 3.11, the code is MIT licensed so commercial use is fine, and the repository has around 28,300 stars. Producers, karaoke services, DJs, and music information retrieval researchers use it for remixing, backing-track creation, and building training datasets, though Apple Silicon users face TensorFlow compatibility friction.
Should you use Spleeter?
Pick it when
Pick Spleeter when you need to split large batches of songs quickly, around 100 times real time with the 4-stem model on GPU, into 2, 4, or 5 stems with MIT terms and a simple pip, conda, or Docker install.
Look elsewhere when
Skip it when separation quality matters more than speed, since Demucs is the stronger modern model, or on Apple Silicon, where TensorFlow causes friction. Ultimate Vocal Remover is easier for one-off tracks.
Alternatives to Spleeter
- Demucs
Higher-quality hybrid transformer separation with a six-stem option, but slower at about 1.5 times track length on CPU and its original repo is unmaintained.
- Ultimate Vocal Remover
GUI with newer MDX-Net and Demucs models plus ensembles for non-coders, but not aimed at scripted mass processing.
- Basic Pitch
Turns separated stems into MIDI notes on CPU under Apache-2.0, a common next step after splitting rather than a substitute.
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Details
- Category
- Music & Audio Generation
- Price
- Free
- Platform
- Local/Desktop
- Difficulty
- Easy (2/5)
- License
- MIT
- Added
- Jul 29, 2026