Apple Music vs. Spotify: Which music streamer is best?

Apple Music costs the industry-standard $10 per month, as does the Spotify Premium Individual service, Tidal Premium, Pandora’s on-demand service, and just about every other on-demand subscription service on the block (Amazon Music Unlimited costs $10 per month for existing users or $8 for new users and those with an Amazon Prime subscription). Right now, new subscribers get Apple Music free for one month. Apple Music also offers a Family plan for $15 with access for up to six people. Spotify also has a Duo plan for $13 for a couple subscribing together and a Family plan for $16 that offers up to six accounts along with Spotify Kids and parental controls.

There’s another way to save some cash on both services — student plans. New users with an applicable student email can get a discounted monthly subscription of just $5. Both add a bit more for that bargain, with Spotify offering students ad-supported Hulu access with Showtime, while Apple will hook the studious up with Apple TV+.

Apple Music subscribers can also get a year’s worth of service for $99 if you know where to look. You’ll first need to be subscribed to Apple Music (it doesn’t matter which subscription you have). Head to your Subscriptions in the App Store (accessed through your Apple ID at the bottom of the Featured tab), and select Apple Music. You should see an Individual (one-year) option for $99 — select it, and you can save nearly 20% over a year. Or, you know, you can always subscribe to Verizon Unlimited and bag a six-month membership for free. AT&T Unlimited & More customers, on the other hand, have the option to redeem a free Spotify Premium subscription, which will run right through the end of the contract.

Apple does not have a free, ad-based tier like Spotify. The majority of Spotify’s users listen for free, and they can still play songs on-demand as long as they are willing to put up with ads (unskippable on the app but can be muted on the web app) – with some extra limitations for mobile devices. Not to mention, new Spotify users can currently nab one month of Premium for free.

Section winner: Spotify Music

User interface and mobile experience

Despite Apple’s penchant for minimalist design, Apple Music’s mobile interface was less than intuitive out of the gate. But with improvements that came with the iOS 14 and 15 updates, Apple Music is much smoother. The library is now on the homepage of the Music app — all the music you own can be accessed in this tab, and you can easily filter by Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, and Downloaded music, just in case you don’t want to waste your precious mobile data.

Tapping on the Listen Now tab now brings up several different personalized options. The Top Picks and the daily themed playlists provide even more ways to discover new tunes, while the Browse tab gives you an avenue to explore popular music, videos, and Apple exclusives. The Radio tab gives users access to hundreds of Apple-curated music stations, broken up by genre, artist, and host. Those looking for something specific can use the Search tab, which allows you to quickly search through either your personal library or the Apple Music library.

Apple has also integrated Siri with Apple Music, allowing subscribers to issue voice commands through their Apple TV, iPhone, or Mac. It’s a cool feature that Android users won’t get, as they don’t have access to Siri.

The Android version of Apple Music is aesthetically different from the iOS version in that it hides its menu to the left side of the screen, as many Android apps do. If users need to navigate, they can pull the menu into view like a drawer. This keeps the layout clean and makes good use of your phone’s limited real estate. Though Apple Music is available for iOS and Android, Apple Music works best on iOS, especially with the added Siri functionality. As of MacOS Catalina, Apple Music is no longer accessed within iTunes. You’ll have a dedicated Apple Music app for that instead, though those on older versions or any version of Windows will still require the antiquated service.

Spotify, on the other hand, is more device-agnostic and has long been the industry leader in terms of sheer usability. The mobile and desktop applications provide users with an easy way to browse music, access playlists, listen to internet radio, and discover new music.

On mobile, all your bidding is done within three tabs — Home, Search, and Your Library. Each section features its own set of straightforward subcategories, which gives users easy access to the service’s many features. The search window actively populates the results field, much like Google’s search engine, often providing exactly what you’re looking for after typing just a few characters, and a filter function makes it easy to drill down even further. Spotify has middling support for voice activation through devices like the Amazon Echo or Google Home, but recent evidence points to the development of its own in-house digital assistant, according to Engadget. You’ll be able to call on it by issuing two magic words — “Hey, Spotify” — but only if the app is already open on your phone.

In February 2020, Spotify introduced key changes to its mobile interface to help streamline your playback efforts. The changes included the addition of a unified button for Play and Shuffle functions, as well as corralling the Like and Download buttons — among other actions — into a navigation bar that you can find near the top of any playlist. In April 2021, the company did another massive overhaul of its mobile apps to expand the Library feature, make searching easier, and allow for dynamic filters.

As for outside integration, both Apple Music and Spotify also support Amazon’s Echo ecosystem, allowing subscribers to play songs on the company’s smart home systems with simple Alexa voice commands like, “Play songs by Kendrick Lamar.” Spotify even offers Google Cast integration, which is especially handy for those who like Google’s streaming devices like the Chromecast, allowing for a quick and easy way to stream music from your home theater system. Apple Music once had exclusivity on the Apple TV, but recently loosened its grip, allowing Spotify integration for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD owners.

For those allergic to apps, Spotify has long offered a web player that, while not quite as intuitive as the native desktop app, offers quick, lightweight access. Apple has followed suit, with a web player of its own in beta. Both have the option to display the lyrics of the song playing.

Apple Music offers one of the most impressive music services around, but you have to be all-in on Apple’s smartphones, tablets, computers, and streaming boxes to get the most out of it. We give Spotify the edge here for its clean and easy user experience, ubiquity, and increased availability of third-party integrations.

Social features

Spotify’s social functions allow subscribers to follow friends (if you’re both on Facebook and connect your Spotify accounts) and see what they listen to and who they follow. It also gives users the ability to share or recommend playlists, along with the ability to publish their listening history to Facebook, which then allows their Facebook friends to like or comment on the activity. Add to that the Collaborative Playlist feature in which you and your friends can add to and edit playlists, and Spotify’s social features are pretty robust.

Apple Music’s social functionality is few and far between and includes the ability to see what your friends are listening to and easy playlist sharing.

Even without messaging, Spotify’s solid social media integration, as well as the ability to see what friends and followers are listening to, gives the service the upper hand.

Workout modes

Many people listen to music while running, and both Apple Music and Spotify are loaded with workout-themed playlists.

Spotify used to have built-in workout functions but has since offloaded some of those features to other apps. For example, on smartphones with the appropriate sensors, Spotify can be used in conjunction with running apps such as Runkeeper to automatically select a playlist that matches the user’s running tempo. The integration is a welcome one for people who don’t want to plan out their music selection before they hit the track — though it’s a shame the functionality is no longer natively supported in-app.

For Apple Music subscribers, there’s Apple Fitness+. Going for $10 per month or $80 per year (or free for three months with a new Apple Watch purchase), Apple Fitness+ uses data from a user’s Series 3 (or later) Apple Watch to create customized workout routines and workout playlists that can be listened to in Apple Music. Apple Music users can use the Search tab to find some motivational Apple Fitness+ playlists. With Apple Fitness+ Studio Series, users can even search for workout tunes based on the type of exercise they’re launching into. Everything from meditative music for yoga to dance and electronic music for rowing and kickboxing is available.

Offline downloads

Apple Music lets you download music for offline playback across 10 different devices at once, with a maximum of 100,000 songs. Spotify lags in this area, with its restriction sitting at 10,000 songs on up to five devices.

Overall winner

Spotify Music

Spotify is the winner here. While Apple Music has made some serious strides, Spotify still reigns supreme. Its user interface is accessible and uncluttered, making playlist management simple. Its music discovery playlists, especially Discover Weekly, keep it brilliantly fresh, and it’s also free for those who can’t yet commit. Apple Music’s larger catalog, exclusive releases, human-curated playlists, and features like Apple Music 1 make it a serious contender. Depending on what features are important to you, you may choose differently, but for now, Spotify still has the edge in which music streaming service is better.