Audio Development — hobby stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
Audio Asset Storage (WAV, OGG, MP3 binaries)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsS3: Free tier none (12mo trial 5GB). Paid $0.023/GB-mo first 50TB, $0.022 next 450TB. PUT $0.005/1k, GET $0.0004/1k, Egress $0.09/GB up to 10TB. R2 Free: 10GB storage + 10M Class A ops + 10M Class B ops/mo. Paid: $0.015/GB-mo, $4.50/M Class A, $0.36/M Class B, ZERO egress. B2 Free: 10GB storage + 1GB download/day + 1K API/day free. Paid: $0.006/GB-mo storage + $0.01/GB download + $0.004/10k Class B. Overage: B2 $100/TB egress cap, S3 $120/TB.
Audio Middleware Licensing / Runtime Hosting
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsFMOD Free: $0 if project budget <$200k and no prior-year $200k revenue. Paid: $2000 per project per platform (one-time) + $2000 per major title update. Indie upgrade $1500/project. Wwise Free: $0 if <150 sounds in project + <500k downloads + <$150k budget. Pro: $750/seat/mo annual ($900 mo-to-mo), or $5000/title indie license, $15000/title enterprise. Steam Audio: 100% free OSS MIT, no limits. Resonance Audio: Apache 2.0 free. Overage: FMOD console add $1000/platform.
Version Control for Audio Binaries (large files)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsPerforce Free: 5 users, 20 workspaces free forever, local server. Paid Cloud: $39/user/mo annual (min 1yr), $49/mo month-to-month. Includes 1TB Helix storage + unlimited depots. Git LFS: GitHub Free 1GB LFS storage + 1GB bandwidth/mo. Paid: Git LFS Data Pack $5/mo for 50GB storage + 50GB bandwidth. Overage: $0.438/GB-mo storage + $0.438/GB bandwidth. Helix Cloud hourly $3.60/user/hr.
CDN for Audio Delivery & Patching
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsCloudflare CDN Free: unlimited BW, 100GB/mo soft advisory, 10 free WAF rules, 3 page rules. R2 Free: 10GB + 10M reqs. Paid after: $0.015/GB-mo storage, egress $0. Pro $20/mo. BunnyCDN Free 14-day trial, then $1/mo minimum balance + $0.01/GB NA/EU, $0.03/GB APAC/SA, $0.01/10k requests. Volume over 5TB: $0.005/GB. CloudFront: Free tier 1TB transfer/mo first 12mo + 10M reqs. Paid after: $0.085/GB first 10TB, $0.065/GB next 50TB, $0.01/10k HTTPS reqs. Overage Bunny storage $0.01/GB-mo.
Spatial Audio Processing Service / SDK Hosting
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsSteam Audio: 100% free OSS, self-hosted C++ library, baking on CPU free, no limits, no hosted cost. Resonance Audio: 100% free OSS, no cost, Google deprecated but OSS fork maintained. Oculus Audio SDK: Free SDK download, free for Quest, enterprise support via Meta $0 (forums) or third-party integrator $5000/mo support ticket SLA. Compute for HRTF baking: t3.medium $0.0416/hr or local free. No licensing overage.
Voice Recording Raw Storage & Archival
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsB2 Free: 10GB storage free, 1GB download/day free, 2500 Class B daily free. Paid: $0.006/GB-mo storage ($6/TB-mo), $0.01/GB download (first 1GB/day free), Class B $0.004/10k, Class C $0.004/10k. Wasabi: No free tier, $6.99/TB-mo min 1TB (90-day min storage), no egress or API fees. S3 Glacier Deep Archive: $0.00099/GB-mo ($0.99/TB-mo) 180-day min, restore $0.02/GB bulk 48hr, $0.025/GB standard 12hr, $0.10/GB expedited. Overage: Wasabi overage pro-rated per GB.
DAW Project Backup & Collaboration Sync
Copies of your data so a bug, hack, or outage doesn’t become permanent loss. Cheap insurance every serious project needs.Pricing & free-tier limitsGoogle Drive Free 15GB shared Gmail/Photos, then Workspace Starter $6/user/mo 30GB pooled, Business Standard $12/user/mo 2TB pooled. Dropbox Free 2GB, Plus $9.99/mo 2TB, Professional $16.58/mo 3TB. Splice Free 5GB projects, Creator $7.99/mo unlimited projects + 100GB samples, $13.99/mo Producer 500GB. Perforce $39/user/mo. Overage Drive $0.20/GB beyond pool, Dropbox $0.50/GB extra.
Audio Build / Encoding Farm (WAV→Opus/Ogg/Vorbis)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsGitHub Actions Free: 2000 Linux mins/mo, 500MB cache, 500MB artifact, 20 concurrent jobs. Paid: $0.008/min Linux ($0.48/hr), Windows $0.016/min, storage $0.25/GB-mo. Hetzner CX22 $0.033/hr (4 vCPU 8GB, 80GB SSD), CPX31 $0.060/hr. AWS g5.xlarge (A10G 24GB) $1.006/hr OnDemand, $0.75/hr spot (~25% off), g5.2xlarge $1.212/hr. Batch free scheduler. Transcode throughput ~500 stereo files/min/core @48kHz Opus. Overage GH $0.004 extra 1000 mins.
Audio Middleware Build Integration CI
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsGH Actions Free 2000 mins/mo Linux + 1000 Windows mins for Pro accounts. GitLab Free 400 CI mins/mo shared runners, $0.008/min extra. GitLab Premium $19/user/mo gives 10k mins pooled. TeamCity Cloud Free 100 builds/mo + 3 agents, then $45/mo Small (6 agents), $299/mo Medium (14 agents). Self-hosted Jenkins OSS free $5-10/mo VPS. Overage TeamCity concurrent agent $50/agent/mo.
Crash Reporting for Audio Engine
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsSentry Developer: 5k errors/mo free, 1 project, 30d retention, 10k replays, 1 user. Team $26/mo inc 50k errors + 50k replays + 100k spans + 90d retention. Overage: $0.00029/error ($0.29/1k), $0.0001/transaction. Business $80/mo inc 100k errors + 500k replays. GlitchTip OSS free self-host $6/mo VPS handles 100k ev/mo, unlimited users, 90d retention. Overage Sentry caps $0.0015 per crash min $10/mo extra.
Secrets Management for Audio API Keys
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsInfisical Free: 2 projects, 500 secrets, 10 members, unlimited API keys. Paid Starter $20/mo 5 projects. Dotenv free 500 secrets. Cloudflare Workers Secrets: Free within Workers Free 100k reqs/day, $5/mo 10M reqs + $0.50/M after, unlimited secrets. AWS Secrets Manager: $0.40/secret/mo + $0.05/10k API calls (Free 30 secrets trial 30d). HCP Vault Dedicated: $0.03/hr cluster (~$22/mo) + $0.04/hr standby. Overage Secrets Manager $0.40 per extra secret.
How this hobby audio development checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby audio development build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.