Head to head

Envato Elements vs Uppbeat

A side-by-side look at Envato Elements and Uppbeat for podcasters: pricing, features, and where each one wins.

Envato Elements

Unlimited creative asset bundle with music and sound effects

$17/mo

Visit Envato Elements

Uppbeat

Free music for creators with a generous free tier

Free plan

Visit Uppbeat

At a glance

Envato ElementsUppbeat
Starting price$17/moFree plan
Free planNoYes
Free trialNoNo
Best forDesigners, marketers, and multimedia producers who need a wide range of creative assets beyond music aloneNew podcasters or creators on a tight budget who want a legal free option before committing to a paid subscription
Founded20182020

Key features

Envato Elements

  • 28+ million creative assets including music and sound effects
  • Unlimited downloads with lifetime commercial license
  • AI image, video, voice, and music generation on Plus and Ultimate
  • Stock video footage and motion graphics
  • Fonts, graphics, and templates
  • Adobe Creative Cloud integration

Uppbeat

  • YouTube channel safelisting
  • Free tier with 3 downloads/month and individual license
  • Unlimited downloads on paid tiers
  • Sound effects library on paid tiers
  • Stock video and motion graphics on Creator and Pro plans
  • Extended license for client work on Pro plan

Pros and cons

Envato Elements

Pros

  • Best breadth of asset types for the price
  • Lifetime commercial license on all downloaded assets
  • 60-day affiliate cookie window is longest in the category

Cons

  • Music catalog is not editorially curated
  • Monthly billing is not available - annual only at advertised rates
  • No free tier

Uppbeat

Pros

  • Best free tier in the category - genuinely usable
  • Competitive annual pricing on Essentials
  • Simple, transparent licensing

Cons

  • Catalog smaller than Epidemic Sound or Artlist
  • Free tier limited to 25% of catalog
  • Pro plan needed for client-facing or commercial work

The verdict

Choose Envato Elements if

Designers, marketers, and multimedia producers who need a wide range of creative assets beyond music alone.

Envato Elements is genuinely good value if you use more than one asset type - at $16.50/month you get music, SFX, video, graphics, fonts, and templates in a single subscription. For podcasters who only need background music, it is oversized…

Read the full Envato Elements review →

Choose Uppbeat if

New podcasters or creators on a tight budget who want a legal free option before committing to a paid subscription.

Uppbeat's free tier is the most genuinely usable free offering in this category - 3 downloads per month with full licensing isn't just a teaser, it's workable for a weekly podcast that rotates intro music infrequently. The Essentials plan at…

Read the full Uppbeat review →

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