Freesound vs Soundly

Freesound is a collaborative web library and API for audio snippets, samples, recordings, and other sounds shared under Creative Commons licenses. Users can search by keyword or find sounds resembling a reference, and explore packs, collections, tags, charts, a map, and a forum. Community members can upload and download sounds and interact with sound artists. Files are available in MP3, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, AIFF, and WAV formats. Each uploader selects CC0, CC BY, or CC BY-NC, so commercial-use permissions and attribution requirements vary by sound. Downloading requires a registered account. The API can search and retrieve sound, pack, and user information, access audio features, and support uploads, comments, and ratings; an API key is required. API call volumes may be limited, and commercial API terms are negotiated case by case with Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Institutions seeking large datasets are directed to the Data Packs Portal. Freesound's homepage lists 737,070 sounds, while its catalog listing gives 736,091. The service is based in Barcelona, Spain.

Soundly is a sound-effects platform for finding material in cloud and local libraries and sending it to creative software. Search works across both library types with plain-language queries, related searches, autocomplete, thesauruses and translation. The app can index local WAV, AIFF, MP3, M4A, OGG and FLAC files up to 384 kHz and 32-bit. Named integrations include Pro Tools, Logic, Premiere, Nuendo, Cubase, Reaper, After Effects and Wwise; drag-and-drop is supported in compatible software. Users can connect cloud storage to Dropbox, Google Drive or Amazon S3, and shared network databases allow collaboration without a separate server. Audio tools include sound positioning and speaker simulation, equalization, and real-time pitch, speed and reverse effects. Voice Designer creates voices for uses such as announcements, assistants and navigation. The Offline Suite is designed for disconnected environments and supplies its library on encrypted drives or by secure download. The Free plan is free and includes 3,000+ sounds and indexing for 10,000 local effects.