Spotify remains the king of best free music apps on iOS and Android. The ad-supported free version features playlists and recommendations. Audiomack is another free music app that is similar. The original music streaming juggernaut, Pandora is still a popular free music app that has a wide streaming library. If your friends don’t use Spotify, they most like stream on Pandora instead. Unlike Spotify, where you can play songs on demand, Pandora creates a station based on which genres, artists, and songs you like. Deezer – Most Similar to Spotify but Better Sound Quality The French streaming music site Deezer is one of the oldest music streaming platforms, which is well-known as over 53 million licensed tracks offered than most of the rivals including Spotify, over 30,000 radio channels, podcasts, lyrics and more. Apple Music is one of the next best free Spotify alternatives. This free music streaming service is launched by the Apple and can be used by anyone even if you are not having an iPhone or an iPad. Find the best free apps like Spotify for iPhone. More than 27 alternatives to choose: Spotify for iOS 4, Musi, Music Mate Offline Yolk and more.
What is the best way to stream music on your desktop, mobile phone, tablets, or wrist? Spotify might be the answer in the minds of the vast majority of folks. Yes, Spotify is still the best music streaming service, or the king of among the most of music streaming services should not be overstated. It has the best library, beautiful interface, reasonable price, abundant discovering features, and mature social networking aspect.
But there are different types of listeners, such as audiophiles, laid-back ones, radio lovers or YouTube addicts, Spotify might not be the best option for them, and actually, they have other more good choices. Where you should go if you won’t pay for Spotify premium? Here we list the top 9 Spotify alternatives that are worth your trying and sticking with.
1. Deezer – Most Similar to Spotify but Better Sound Quality
The French streaming music site Deezer is one of the oldest music streaming platforms, which is well-known as over 53 million licensed tracks offered than most of the rivals including Spotify, over 30,000 radio channels, podcasts, lyrics and more. Now Deezer is available in more than 180 countries, and there are 192 countries in total all around the world, so you probably find something different and discover more music from other countries. Similar to Spotify, Deezer offers 320kbps sound quality for Premium users, but the main difference is that Deezer offers Elite tier for audiophiles who peruse the CD quality.
2. Tidal – Specially for Audiophiles
Tidal is the only platform which offers the unique benefit - high fidelity streaming audio quality, so it means that you can streaming uncompressed FLAC files with CD quality, especially if you have good speakers and headphones. Tidal also released a new audio format called 'Master Quality Authenticated'. MQA aims to 'fundamentally change the way we all enjoy music', that means the music streamed to your speakers or headphones sounds just as it was recorded in the studio. If you are audiophiles and want more special exclusives, Tidal is a perfect choice.
3. Google Play Music –Unlock to Access YouTube and YouTube Music
If you gave a try to Google Play Music, you may have some good experience, for example, it is the only service which allows you to integrate subscription music with a personal music locker of purchased and uploaded music. And you can pay $2 extra to fully access the features on YouTube and YouTube Music. Google Play Music also offers up to 320kbps audio quality.
4. Amazon Music Unlimited – Best for Prime Members or Amazon Echo Owners
Amazon Music Unlimited is a premium music subscription service established by e-commerce giant Amazon. It features over 50 million songs and thousands of expertly crafted playlists and stations. With Amazon Music Unlimited, uses can listen to music on all devices including smart phones, tablets, desktop, Amazon Fire TV, and Alexa-powered devices like Amazon Echo. And if you have Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, or Amazon Tap, you can pay only $3.99 per month to subscribe Amazon Music Unlimited. For Prime members, you can pay $7.99 per month to access the fully unlimited catalogue.
5. Apple Music – Best for Apple Users
Apple Music joined the streaming service industry in 2015, but it was not too late in the golden age of music streaming services. On the contrary, it quickly risen to the top music streaming service to compete with Spotify. In addition to the excellent music curation and unique Beats 1 Radio, the best integration across Apple’s ecosystem, including the Siri voice control and HomePod smart speaker support, these might be the reason why you choose Apple Music.
6. SoundCloud - Great Community to Share and Listen to Awesome Tracks
SoundCloud is a popular music sharing platform in which less-known artists will upload their work and connect with potential listeners without needing record labels, but also including the popular remixes or covers. It is a good place for those who make music to be noticed in the future. It is also the best place to find some fresh, especially for jazz, trance, EDM, and discovering new artists, and listen to music for free.
7. Pandora Radio – The Most Powerful Music Discovery Platform
Pandora Radio works differently from other music discovery services like Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music, even though there are some similarities. It focuses on analyzing the structure of music to create radio stations based on their preferred music style. If you want a personalized listening experience which continually evolves with your favorite tastes, and you want try something different from Spotify, you can dive into Pandora Radio.
8. Last.fm - Discover Great Music That Fits Your Style and Know What’s Hot
Last.fm is a music site founded in 2002, and it remains popular though other music streaming services quickly rise. Last.fm allows users to streaming music foe free with unlimited skips. Especially, the 'scrobbler' feature makes Last.fm different from other music discovery services. 'Scrobbler' pays attention to and keeps track of all the music you listen to, then creates the best personalized music recommendations for you. What’s more, Last.fm can be integrated with other music services, including iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more.
9. iHeartRadio - Free Radio-Style Streaming Service
iHeartRadio is a free radio-style streaming platform in which you can listen to songs, news, podcast and stream radio from over 1,500 AM and FM Live radio stations all around the world. And you can create your own radio stations based on your favorite music. In here, you can also listen to music with the lyrics displayed.
Top 9 Alternatives to Spotify for Streaming Music
Free Music App Like Spotify
Deezer | Tidal | Google Play Music | Amazon Music Unlimited | Apple Music | SoundCloud | Pandora Radio | Last.fm | iHeartRadio | |
Monthly fee | $9.99 | Tidal Premium $9.99 / Tidal HiFi $19.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 and $7.99 for Prime members | $9.99 | $9.99 for SoundCloud Go | $9.99 | $9.99 | iHeartRadio All Access: $9.99 for web and Android, $12.99 for iOS |
Free trial | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 3-month | 30 days | 60 days | / | 30 days |
Music library | over 53 million licensed tracks | over 60 million licensed tracks | over 40 million licensed tracks | over 60 million licensed tracks | over 60 million licensed tracks | over 135 million tracks | 1-2 million tacks | / | over 15 million licensed tracks |
Sound quality | 320kbit/s MP3 quality for Premium/128kbit/s MP3 quality for Free/CD-quality for Deezer Elite | 320 kbit/s in AAC for Tidal Premium, variable in FLAC, ALAC, MQA for Tidal HiFI and MQA, | 320 kbit/s | 256 kbps in AAC | 256 kbps in AAC | 256 kbps in AAC | 192 kbps in AAC | 128 kbps in AAC | 128 kbps in AAC |
Offline listening | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes | Yes, with paid subscription | Yes | Yes |
Supported devices | Android and iOS devices, computers, TV, car or home audio system, game console | Android and iOS devices, computers, TV, car or home audio system like Sonos | Android and Apple devices, computers, Adobe eBook reader, Google Home devices, Android TV | Android and iOS devices, computers, Amazon FireTV, Fire tablets, Alexa-powered smart speakers like Echo | iOS or Android devices, computers, Apple TV, Apple Watch, HomePod, Sonos speakers | iOS or Android devices, computers, Sonos, Chromecast, and Xbox One. | iOS or Android devices, computers, Kindle devices, Sonos, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Ruku, Google Home | iOS or Android devices, computers, Nokia, Sonos, Squeezebox | iOS or Android devices, computers, Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung TV |
Web player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Extra Tips: How to Download Spotify Music to 320kbps MP3 Files
For people who want to get high quality 320kbps MP3 songs from Spotify, Sidify Music Converter is definitely the best choice. It does a truly great job to download and convert Spotify music to MP3, AAC, WAV or FLAC with the best sound quality kept and without any other poor encoding issues. It records accurately and quickly, and adds the correct tags and album art correctly.
Sidify Music Converter
- Download Spotify song or playlist to MP3/AAC/WAV/FLAC.
- Keep 100% original audio quality of Spotify after conversion.
- Keep ID3 tags and metadata to well organize music library.
- Burn Spotify music to CD and share Spotify music via Email.
- Fast conversion speed & batch conversion & clean user interface.