SnipSound vs ChunkAudio — free audio splitter

Both split audio in your browser, and neither asks for an account. The difference is what the free tier actually hands you: SnipSound exports nine formats for nothing, ChunkAudio's free downloads are WAV only and the rest sits behind a €24 licence. Every row below cites something you can check on their site or ours — checked 14 October 2026.

Split an audio file free →

The comparison, row by row

What you are checking	SnipSound	ChunkAudio
Output formats on the free tier	MP3 (128–320 kbps), WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC, M4A — all free	WAV only. MP3, M4A, AAC and OGG output need Pro (their pricing page)
Splitting without re-encoding	Free, and the default. Drop in an MP3 and the format menu pre-selects “MP3 · Same quality as the original”: the parts are copied frame for frame, at any size, with no decode and no quality loss. Same for WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC and M4A back to themselves. Pick 320 or 128 kbps instead and it re-encodes, because that is what asking for a bitrate means	Yes, and it is what Pro is for: original-format MP3, M4A, AAC and OGG with tags kept, €24 lifetime (€49 after 31 October)
Removing or shortening silence	Free, any length, in the silence remover	Free up to 10 minutes of recording; past that it is Pro
File length	No cap we impose. Large files stream in pieces instead of loading, and a 15 GB file split successfully in our testing (one observation, on Edge)	No cap stated for splitting or cutting
Split at every silence	Yes — silence mode finds the gaps and cuts there	Not offered; their splitter cuts equal parts or one section
Nudge a cut to the nearest pause	Yes, on equal parts — each cut moves to the longest quiet run near where it was planned, so a part rarely starts mid-word	No
Chapter files (CUE, Podcasting 2.0 JSON)	No. You can place a split at each chapter start by hand in Markers mode	Pro feature
Batch several files, saved presets, loudness matching	No	Pro features
Ads	None, on any page	An ad-free site is listed as a Pro feature
Account, watermark, upload	None, none, and your file never leaves your device	None, none, and they state the same
Installable offline mode	No. Our service worker caches the speech models, not an installable app	Not mentioned on their pricing or tool pages
Everything else on the site	MP3 cutter, merger, BPM and key finder, transcription, text to speech, video editor, royalty-free music	Splitter, cutter and pause finder

Looking for a ChunkAudio alternative?

Three differences decide it, and none of them is a matter of taste:

Your MP3 comes out as an MP3, unchanged, free. On ChunkAudio's free tier a split downloads as WAV — lossless, but ten times the size and not what most people want back; original-format MP3 is part of the €24 licence. Here it is the default, and the frames are copied rather than re-encoded.
Silence removal is not metered. Theirs is free to 10 minutes of recording. A 40-minute interview is a Pro job on their site and a free one on ours.
The splitter is one of 80-odd tools. If the job is "split this, then find its BPM, then caption it", that is one site rather than three.

When ChunkAudio is the better pick

Original-format output used to be their row and is now ours by default, and so are the tags: parts keep the source's title, artist and cover art on both the copy and the re-encode route (landed 2026-10-15). What is left to them is the production furniture around the split: CUE and Podcasting 2.0 chapter files, splitting several files in one go, saved presets and loudness matching across parts — all Pro features of theirs, and none of them ours. At €24 lifetime, a podcaster shipping chaptered episodes every week should probably buy it. We are the better pick for the split itself; they are the better pick for the paperwork around a weekly show.

Frequently asked

Is ChunkAudio free?▼

Partly. Splitting, cutting and finding pauses cost nothing and have no length limit, but a free download comes out as WAV, and pause removal is free only up to 10 minutes. Original-format MP3, M4A, AAC and OGG output, MP3 at 192 or 320 kbps, chapter files, batch splitting, presets, loudness matching and an ad-free site are all part of Pro — €24 lifetime until 31 October 2026, then €49, or €29 a year.

Does SnipSound re-encode when it splits?▼

Usually not. Drop in an MP3 and the output menu pre-selects "MP3 · Same quality as the original"; split in equal parts or at silences and the pieces are copied frame for frame, with no decode and no size ceiling. The same holds for WAV, FLAC, OGG and M4A split back to their own format. Three things do re-encode, and each is something you asked for: picking a specific bitrate such as 320 or 128 kbps; splitting in Markers mode, where a cut has to land exactly where you clicked rather than on a frame boundary; and a file small enough (roughly under 5 MB) that loading the copy engine would cost more than the work. On the copy route a cut snaps to the nearest frame boundary — about 26 ms on an MP3, inaudible on an equal-parts or silence split, and the trade for losing nothing.

Which one should I use for an audiobook?▼

Ours, unless you need a chapter file. An M4A or M4B audiobook split back to M4A is copied here with no quality loss and no cost, and Markers mode lets you place a cut at each chapter start. If you want a CUE sheet or Podcasting 2.0 chapter JSON out the other end, that is a ChunkAudio Pro feature.

Which one for cutting the pauses out of a long recording?▼

Ours, on length alone: our silence remover is free with no cap, and theirs is free up to 10 minutes. Both shorten long pauses rather than deleting every gap, which is what keeps speech sounding natural.

Does either one upload my audio?▼

No. Both run the processing in your browser, and both say so. On our side what crosses the network is the page's own code and, for the AI tools, a one-time model download — your file is not sent anywhere.

Split an audio file now

Open the free audio splitter →

Equal parts, custom markers or at every silence. No account, no watermark, and your file never leaves your device.