Best Spotify Alternatives: Free and Cheaper Music Apps

YouTube Music mixes official albums with everything else on YouTube: live versions, covers, remixes and fan uploads.

The key fact: YouTube Premium includes YouTube Music Premium. If you already pay to remove ads from YouTube, you can cancel Spotify and lose very little.

The free tier is weak on phones. Google's help center says background play (music that keeps going with the screen off or in another app) needs Music Premium, though most podcasts play in the background for free. The Play listing says the free app contains ads.

On price, Google's own US page did not show us a figure. Inside the iPhone app, Music Premium is $15.99 a month and Family is $24.99, which is more than you pay on the web. Our YouTube Music vs Spotify comparison covers every plan and the sound quality gap in detail.

What you lose vs Spotify: a usable free tier on phones, Spotify's Duo plan and its audiobook hours.

Apple Music costs $11.99 a month for one person, $19.99 for a family plan shared with up to five people through Family Sharing and $6.99 for verified college students. That makes it a dollar cheaper than Spotify for one person and two dollars cheaper for families.

Every plan includes lossless audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz and Spatial Audio at no extra cost. Apple notes that the highest Hi-Res Lossless needs external gear such as a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter), and Spatial Audio needs compatible headphones or speakers.

Apple Music is not only for iPhone owners. The official Android app is on Google Play, and Apple lists Windows, smart TVs and Sonos too. There is no free tier, only a one-month trial for new subscribers. If you also pay for iCloud+ or Apple TV, Apple One bundles start at $21.95 a month.

What you lose vs Spotify: a free tier, Spotify's social features and its podcast library inside the same app.

Amazon Music comes in three levels, and the middle one is the hidden deal.

• Amazon Music Free: music and podcasts with ads, no credit card needed.
• Amazon Music Prime: included with a Prime membership. Amazon says you get all the music ad-free and can shuffle play any artist, album or playlist. You cannot pick any song on demand.
• Amazon Music Unlimited: $11.99 a month for Prime members or $12.99 without Prime, after a 30-day trial for new subscribers. You get 100 million songs on demand, ad-free, with HD and Spatial Audio. Amazon now includes one Audible audiobook a month in Unlimited.

If you already pay for Prime and mostly listen to playlists, Prime alone may replace Spotify for free. If you want full control, Unlimited costs a dollar less than Spotify for Prime members.

What you lose vs Spotify: on-demand play on the Prime tier, and Spotify's playlist culture and sharing.

Deezer is a French streaming service. In the US, Premium is $11.99 a month, Duo is $15.99, Family is $19.99 and Student is $5.99.

Pay yearly and it gets cheaper: $107.99 a year for Premium (about $9 a month), $174.99 for Duo and $218.99 for Family. That makes Deezer the cheapest full Spotify replacement on this list, and Duo is $3 a month cheaper than Spotify Duo.

Deezer Free also exists. Deezer describes it as shuffle-based streaming with occasional ads, plus Flow (a personal endless mix), playlists and lyrics. Offline listening and ad-free play need Premium.

What you lose vs Spotify: some of Spotify's podcast and audiobook extras, and friends to share playlists with.

TIDAL is built around sound quality. Its US support page lists Individual at $11.99 a month and Family at $19.99, one dollar and two dollars less than Spotify.

Paid plans include HiRes lossless audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz, Dolby Atmos, no ads, unlimited skips and offline downloads. Family covers you plus five family members, and there is a discounted Student plan. New users get a 30-day free trial. Bought inside the iPhone app, the same plans cost more: $15.49 for Individual and $26.99 for Family, per the App Store listing. Subscribe on the web.

Prices vary by country. TIDAL announced a price change in Germany for November 2026, so check your local price before you switch.

What you lose vs Spotify: a free tier, and the size of Spotify's podcast library.

SoundCloud is where many artists post music before anyone else has it: demos, remixes, mixes, DJ sets and tracks that never reach Spotify. The free app plays it all with ads.

Both paid tiers remove ads and let you save tracks offline. Go+ also unlocks premium Go+ tracks that free listeners cannot play in full. In the iPhone app, Go+ is $14.99 a month and Go is $5.99. SoundCloud's own help center says buying through Apple costs more than buying direct, and SoundCloud raised its prices in 2026, so check the web checkout for your current price. Students get Go+ at half price after verification.

What you lose vs Spotify: polished editorial playlists and a cheap way to get major-label music without ads.

Pandora builds personal radio stations from a song or artist you pick. The free version is ad-supported radio.

Since September 22, 2026, Pandora Plus is $5.99 a month and Premium is $11.99 on the web. Plus gives you ad-free music with unlimited skips and replays. Premium adds playing any song, album or playlist on demand, plus offline downloads. Discounted Family, Student and Military Premium plans are still offered. Bought through the iPhone App Store, Premium is $12.99.

The free tier is better than it sounds: per the Play listing, you can watch an ad to search and play any track or podcast, and skips are unlimited.

The big limit: Pandora's help center says it is only available in the United States, due to licensing.

What you lose vs Spotify: availability outside the US, and ad-free on-demand play below the $11.99 Premium tier.

If you bought music, ripped CDs or keep a folder of MP3s, you do not need a streaming service to play it. Musicolet is a free Android player for local files only. Its listing is blunt: it cannot stream, download or search for music online.

It plays MP3, M4A, FLAC, ALAC, Opus, APE, DSF and more, with gapless playback, an equalizer with separate presets for speakers, headphones and Bluetooth, multiple queues, a tag editor and synced lyrics. The Play listing shows no ads.

Want your own library on every device, Spotify style? Run a home media server. Our Jellyfin vs Plex vs Emby comparison explains how.

What you lose vs Spotify: new music and discovery. You only hear what you already own.