A free stem separator for your Mac — no upload, no meter
Skip the browser upload boxes and the monthly plans. Quota Stems is a native Mac app that splits any song into stems right on your machine — offline, no account, and the audio never leaves your Mac.
Install it on your Mac
Download the Mac app and go. No account, no sign-up, no subscription — a normal desktop app that lives in your dock, not in a browser tab.
Load a song, or a whole playlist
Point it at a local file, paste a YouTube URL, or drop in an entire playlist to batch through. Pick 4 or 6 stems, or the full drum-kit split for up to ~10 — kick, snare, toms, cymbals broken out.
Separate on-device, export where you work
Demucs runs on your own Mac — nothing is uploaded. Get WAV stems, MP4 video stems, a ready-to-play Ableton Live 12 set with every stem warped on its own track, or an Akai Force / MPC project.
Your Mac doesn’t need a cloud subscription to split a song.
The web splitters all want the same three things: your upload, your email, and eventually your card. Lalal.ai’s free tier is preview-only — hear it, can’t keep it. Moises caps you at five songs a month in the cloud. Fadr’s free downloads are MP3 — the WAVs cost $10 a month.
Meanwhile the machine on your desk can run the same class of separation locally, in an app, for nothing. That’s what Quota Stems is: free WAV stems, up to ~10 with the full drum-kit break-out, straight off your Mac — plus the finished Ableton Live set or Force/MPC project the web tools don’t build at any price.
No account. No meter. No upload. If the Wi-Fi dies mid-session, the splits keep coming.
The Mac reality check: local app vs upload boxes
| Tool | Price | Runs offline | Max stems | Drum-kit split | Builds your session | YouTube import |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quota Stems | Free | Yes — runs on your machine | Up to ~10 | Yes — kick / snare / toms / cymbals | Yes — Ableton Live set + Force/MPC project | Yes — single link or whole playlist |
| Lalal.ai | Free preview only; $9.99–$19.99/mo | Cloud by default; offline needs Pro | 10 types (cloud) | No — drums are one stem | No — audio files only | No — file upload only |
| Moises | Free: 5 songs/mo; Pro $29.99/mo | No — cloud processing | Basic 4 free; more on paid plans | Pro plan only | No — audio files only | No — YouTube links blocked |
| Fadr | Free (MP3 only); WAV needs Plus $10/mo | No — cloud web app | 4 free / 16 with Plus | Plus only | No — stems + MIDI files | Not offered — file upload only |
| UVR5 | Free (open source) | Yes — local | 6 per pass | Community model + multi-pass setup | No — audio files only | No — local files only |
Competitor pricing and features verified July 2026 from each tool’s official pricing and documentation pages (and attributed reviews where noted). Their terms can change — check their sites for current details.
What runs on your Mac
- ✓A real macOS desktop app — installs and runs offline, not a web page you upload files to.
- ✓Nothing leaves the machine. Demucs does the separation on your own Mac — no file upload, no account, no sign-in, no cloud.
- ✓4 or 6 stems, or up to ~10 with the full drum-kit split: kick, snare, toms, and cymbals broken out on their own.
- ✓Exports a ready-to-play Ableton Live 12 set — each stem warped on its own track with cue-point scenes and follow actions — plus Akai Force / MPC projects and plain WAV stems.
- ✓Paste a YouTube URL or a whole playlist and batch the lot, and pull MP4 video stems out the other side.
The rest of the suite is just as at home on your Mac.
Every Quota app runs native on macOS — and they chain: Stems splits it, Kits turns it into instruments, Voice runs the session hands-free while you play. One-time pricing, no subscriptions, no accounts, all local.
Quota Voice
Run the whole thing hands-free. One-sentence voice commands drive Stems, DS, SongKit and Kits — local Whisper dictation, no cloud, no account. Free 30-day trial.
Check it outQuota Kits
Turn stems into instruments. Auto-build kits for Ableton, MPC, Force, SP-404, Koala, and Maschine from one folder of samples. $39 one-time.
Check it outQuota DS
Sample speech like it’s vinyl. Transcribe any video or audio locally, highlight the words you want, and drop them straight onto pads. $39 one-time.
Check it outThe Collection
DS + FX + Kits + Voice together for $99 one-time — and Stems stays free forever. No subscription, no account.
Check it outGet Quota Stems for Mac
Free download for macOS at getquota.app/stems. It runs offline on your Mac — no account, nothing uploaded. Same app on Windows if you move between machines.
Download Quota Stems — Free