SUNO V5 vs V4.5: The Complete Comparison

One of the most common mistakes SUNO users make is treating all versions the same. They write a prompt, hit generate, and wonder why it sounds different (or worse) than what they got last time. The reason is usually that they switched versions without adjusting their approach.

Each SUNO version has a distinct personality — different strengths, different weaknesses, and different prompt styles that get the best results. This guide breaks down every version you can currently use, when to pick each one, and how to migrate prompts between them.

The Version Lineup

V3.5: The Obedient Soldier

Audio quality: Lowest of the current options
Personality: Follows complex structural demands literally
Best for: Avant-garde experiments, complex arrangements, structural precision

V3.5 is described by the community as "dumber but more obedient." It doesn't have the audio quality of newer models, but it follows your instructions with an almost mechanical precision that the newer, smarter models sometimes resist.

If you need a song with seven sections, three tempo changes, alternating vocal styles, and unconventional structure — V3.5 is your model. It won't second-guess your decisions or try to "fix" your arrangement into something more conventional.

When to use V3.5:

• Experimental and avant-garde compositions
• Songs with complex, non-standard structures
• When you need the AI to follow instructions literally, even unusual ones
• Structural prototyping before re-rendering in a higher-quality version

When to avoid V3.5:

• Any production where audio quality matters
• Commercial releases or portfolio pieces
• Simple songs where newer versions will sound dramatically better

Prompt style for V3.5:
Be as detailed and specific as you want. V3.5 handles long, complex prompts better than any other version. Stack bracket tags, specify precise arrangements, give it a 15-section song structure — it will attempt all of it.

V4.5: The Heavy Hitter

Audio quality: Good (a clear step up from V3.5)
Personality: Excels at dense, aggressive, heavy music
Best for: Metal, Industrial, Hard Rock, Punk, and heavy electronic genres
Song length: Up to 8 minutes

V4.5 was where SUNO started getting serious about audio quality. But its real strength is genre-specific: it handles heavy genres better than any other version, including V5. The training data and tuning for V4.5 were optimized for dense, distorted, high-energy music.

V4.5 also supports conversational-style prompts — you can write more naturally instead of using rigid tag syntax. And it supports songs up to 8 minutes, which is critical for genres like progressive metal or extended EDM tracks.

When to use V4.5:

• Metal (all sub-genres: death, black, progressive, doom, thrash)
• Industrial and dark electronic
• Hard rock and punk
• Any track over 4 minutes that needs sustained intensity
• Dense arrangements with multiple layers of distortion

When to avoid V4.5:

• Clean, acoustic, or minimalist genres (V5/V5.5 handle these better)
• When you want the highest possible audio resolution
• Simple pop or singer-songwriter material

Prompt style for V4.5:
V4.5 responds well to descriptive, almost conversational prompts. Instead of pure tag lists, you can write things like "A crushing industrial metal track with mechanical drum patterns and distorted vocal screams over a wall of synthesizers." This conversational style often produces better results in V4.5 than strict tag formatting.

V5: The Clean Machine

Audio quality: Highest fidelity (48kHz)
Personality: Simplest prompts produce the best results
Best for: Clean genres, pop, singer-songwriter, acoustic, jazz, classical
Key feature: Negative prompting support

V5 represents a major leap in audio quality — 48kHz output, 10x faster generation, and noticeably cleaner audio across all genres. But it comes with a trade-off: V5 works best with simpler prompts.

Where V3.5 thrived on complexity and V4.5 handled conversational detail, V5 actually performs better when you give it fewer, clearer instructions. The model is smart enough to fill in the gaps, and over-specifying can lead to worse results than trusting the AI's interpretation.

V5 also introduced proper negative prompting support — the "no X" syntax in the Style field actually works reliably (though the dedicated Exclude Styles field is still more reliable).

When to use V5:

• Pop, singer-songwriter, and acoustic music
• Jazz, classical, and any genre where audio clarity matters
• When you want the cleanest possible output
• Productions where audio quality is the top priority
• When using negative prompting / Exclude Styles

When to avoid V5:

• Heavy metal and aggressive genres (V4.5 still handles the weight better)
• Complex structural arrangements (V5 may simplify them)
• When you want maximum expressiveness (V5.5 has the edge)

Prompt style for V5:
Less is more. The 5-8 tag sweet spot is especially important here. Write clean, focused prompts with strong tokens. Avoid redundant descriptors. Use the colon syntax for precision: [Energy: High]\, [Mood: Euphoric]\, [Texture: Grainy]\.

Example V5 prompt:
\
Indie Folk, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, warm analog,
breathy female vocals, 95 BPM, intimate
\\

That's 7 descriptors, and V5 will produce a beautiful, detailed track from them. Add 10 more descriptors and you'll likely get something worse.

V5.5: The Artist

Audio quality: Very high (close to V5)
Personality: Most expressive and emotionally dynamic
Best for: Vocal-forward tracks, cross-genre experimentation, personalized sound
Key features: Voice Cloning, Custom Models, "My Taste" personalization

V5.5 is SUNO's most expressive model. Where V5 optimizes for clean audio, V5.5 optimizes for performance — the vocals are more dynamic, the emotional range is wider, and the AI takes more creative risks with interpretation.

The standout feature is Voice Cloning: you record a spoken phrase to verify rights to your voice, and V5.5 can then maintain that "vocal fingerprint" across all your tracks. Combined with Custom Models, this makes V5.5 the version for artists building a consistent brand.

V5.5 also has a known behavior called "pop-washing" — it tends to smooth niche genres toward pop conventions. A metal prompt in V5.5 may come out with cleaner vocals and more polished production than the same prompt in V4.5. This is a feature for some use cases and a bug for others.

When to use V5.5:

• Vocal-forward tracks where emotional expression matters most
• When using Voice Cloning or Custom Models
• Cross-genre experimentation (the AI handles genre blending well)
• Pop, R&B, soul, and any genre where vocal nuance is critical
• Building a consistent sonic identity across multiple tracks

When to avoid V5.5:

• Raw, unpolished genres (punk, lo-fi, garage rock) — V5.5 may over-polish
• Pure instrumental work (voice cloning features are wasted)
• When you want exact genre accuracy for niche styles (pop-washing risk)

Prompt style for V5.5:
Similar to V5 — clean and focused. But V5.5 responds particularly well to emotional and performance descriptors: "vulnerable," "intimate," "soaring," "desperate." These weak tokens that are inconsistent in other versions become much more reliable in V5.5 because the model was trained specifically for expressive interpretation.

The Quick Decision Matrix

Migration Tips: Moving Prompts Between Versions

One of the most frustrating SUNO experiences is having a prompt that works perfectly in one version and produces garbage in another. Here's how to migrate:

V4.5 to V5

Problem: Your detailed V4.5 prompt sounds over-processed or confused in V5.

Solution: Simplify. Remove 30-50% of your descriptors. V5 doesn't need (and doesn't want) the level of detail V4.5 thrived on.

Before (V4.5):
\
Aggressive industrial metal with mechanical percussive patterns,
distorted screaming vocals layered with clean harmonies,
heavy synthesizer bass, glitchy digital textures, dark and menacing
atmosphere, 145 BPM, compressed and loud
\\

After (V5):
\
Industrial Metal, distorted vocals, heavy synth bass,
dark menacing, 145 BPM
\\

V5 to V5.5

Problem: Your clean V5 prompt comes out "pop-washed" in V5.5.

Solution: Add genre-anchoring specificity. If the genre is niche, reinforce it with era and sub-genre descriptors. Add "raw" or "unpolished" if you want to counter the pop-wash tendency.

Before (V5):
\
Black Metal, blast beats, shrieking vocals, tremolo picking
\\

After (V5.5):
\
Raw Black Metal, 90s Norwegian, lo-fi tape warmth,
blast beats, shrieking vocals, tremolo picking, unpolished
\\

V3.5 to V5/V5.5

Problem: Your complex structural prompt doesn't work in newer versions.

Solution: Simplify the structure. Newer versions resist complex, non-standard arrangements. Reduce from 7 sections to 4-5 standard ones. Move structural complexity into the Lyrics field bracket tags rather than the Style field.

Any version: the universal fix

If a prompt stops working after a version switch, try this:

1. Cut the Style field in half — remove the weakest/most abstract tags
2. Move arrangement instructions to the Lyrics field — bracket tags are more reliable than Style field for structure
3. Add a numeric BPM if you don't have one — it anchors everything
4. Test with a 1:30 generation before committing to a full song

The Bottom Line

There's no single "best" SUNO version. Each one is a different tool optimized for different jobs:

• V3.5 = precision at the cost of quality
• V4.5 = power and weight
• V5 = clarity and simplicity
• V5.5 = expression and personality

The best producers don't pick one version — they pick the right version for each project. And they adjust their prompt style to match what that version responds to best.

AceTagGen's Questionnaire automatically optimizes tag output based on your selected version, so your prompts always match the model you're targeting.

Disclosure: I'm the creator of AceTagGen — the tool referenced throughout this article. Originally published at acetaggen.com/blog/suno-v5-vs-v4-complete-comparison.