FAQ

FAQ

Last updated: 2026-06-28

Common questions about ABEL. Short answers here — the Terms and Privacy Policy have the full detail.

The basics

What is ABEL?

ABEL is a desktop app that runs alongside Ableton Live and pairs with it via chat. You can ask it to control your session (bounce, slice, route, arrange), generate samples or full songs, or write brand-new Live 12 Extensions on demand.

Do I need Ableton Live?

Yes — Ableton Live 12.4 Suite or higher. The Live 12 Extensions SDK is Suite-only and currently requires the 12.4 Beta, which you can join for free at ableton.com.

Do I need AbletonOSC?

Yes — it's the free remote-control script ABEL uses to talk to Live. The onboarding wizard walks you through installing it in about a minute. Guide: Install AbletonOSC.

Do I need a GPU?

Not for the cloud features (chat, cloud song generation, image generation). You only need a GPU if you want to run local audio generation models (Stable Audio 3, ACE-Step, MMAudio), which are shipped as an optional Extras Pack. Local models need an NVIDIA GPU with 7+ GB VRAM.

Is there a Mac build?

Not yet. Windows-only for launch. Mac is on the roadmap.

Pricing

How does pricing work?

$1 of free credit lands on your account the first time you sign in — no card needed. When you want more, you top up in $15 packs. That's it. No subscription, no recurring billing.

What does $15 get me?

Roughly 165 chats, 50 cloud songs (MiniMax Music 2.6), or 375 image generations for the image-to-MIDI feature. Actual usage depends on what you do — chatting about your session is cheaper than generating a full song. You can see remaining balance and per-feature usage in Settings.

What can I do with the free $1?

Enough to meaningfully try ABEL: ~7 chats, ~2 cloud songs, or ~25 image generations. You can mix them however you want.

What happens when I run out of credit?

Cloud features (chat, cloud song gen, image gen) pause until you top up. Local features (bundled extensions, sample library, local audio models if installed, Live control) keep working. Your project data isn't affected.

Refunds?

Top-ups are non-refundable once credit has been consumed. If you top up and haven't used it, email us within 14 days and we'll refund. If something's broken on our side, contact us regardless of timing.

Do credits expire?

No. They stay on your account for as long as it's active.

How it works

What can I ask ABEL to do?

Things like "bounce track 2 with the reverb tail", "slice this loop into 8 pads in a drum rack", "build me a 9-section arrangement based on this clip", "make a 4-bar granular pad". Also "write me an extension that exports all clips as wavs" — ABEL scaffolds the TypeScript, builds it, and installs the extension into Live in about 30 seconds.

What extensions come with ABEL?

Ten bundled extensions auto-install into Live on first launch: Bridge (Live ↔ chat), Sampler (browse project samples), Arrange (AI-generated section plan), CHOP (slice + reorder audio clips), Generate (right-click → generate a sample), Pads (build a Drum Rack from your arrangement selection), Wash (offline ambient rendering), Warp (loop-length + randomize), Master (rule-based master chain), Clone (propagate audio edits across sibling clips), and Img2Midi (image → MIDI clip).

What AI models does ABEL use?

Do I need internet?

For cloud features, yes. Local features (Live control, sample library, local audio models, bundled extensions) work offline once you're installed.

Data and privacy

Do you store my chat messages or project data?

No. Chat messages, prompts, generated audio, project files, and Live session state stay on your machine. We only store per-request token counts and timestamps for cost tracking, and your Stripe billing state. Full details in the Privacy Policy.

Do you train AI models on my data?

No. We use the AI providers' zero-retention endpoints where available.

What email address do you keep?

The one you sign in with. It's used for magic-link sign-in and billing only — no marketing without your explicit opt-in.

Can I use what ABEL generates commercially?

Yes. You own everything you make with ABEL — music, samples, MIDI, projects, and extensions. We claim no rights over your output.

Support

Something's broken. What now?

Email hi@abel.audio — include your OS version, Live version, and a description of what happened. If a feature failed mid-request, mention the exact chat message so we can trace it.

Where do I see what's new?

Latest release notes live at /changelog.

How do I cancel?

There's nothing to cancel — no subscription. Just uninstall the app. Any remaining credit sits on your account in case you come back.