Apple Music vs. Spotify: Which One Should You Get?

Nowadays, music streaming services are a dime a dozen. There are a bunch of platforms that will give you millions of songs and a bunch of cool features for pretty much the same price.

But amongst a plethora of options, a few music streaming services stand out, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Both streaming services are two of the most popular music platforms in the world, and widely considered some of the best. 

But if they’re both so good, which one should you actually get? If you’re an Apple user, should you just go for the obvious choice and pick Apple Music, or is Spotify a better bang for your buck? Keep reading to find out. 

Spotify vs. Apple Music – Which One Offers the Best Price?

This is probably one of the biggest reasons to choose one service over the other. Fortunately for people on a budget, both services offer some pretty affordable options, albeit Apple Music is the more expensive platform—as it usually happens with Apple products.

For starters, Spotify offers a free plan. You can just download the app, create an account and start playing some music. 

Of course, you won’t have access to all of Spotify’s features, like switching songs or downloading playlists—not to mention you’ll have to sit through ads every now and then—but you won’t have to pay any extra money.

Instead of a free plan, Apple Music offers a pretty cheap Voice plan, which costs $4.99 per month and lets you listen to all of Apple Music’s library without interruptions. 

However, there’s a catch: you can’t control Apple Music with your hands. Instead, you need to rely on your voice—hence the name—and ask Siri to play songs for you, search for albums, and do everything you usually do with your hands.

Additionally, it doesn’t have all of Apple Music’s features available, like lossless audio or the ability to download music to listen to offline. 

For the regular individual plan, Spotify starts at $9.99 per month. On the other hand, Apple Music starts at $10.99 per month. Both offer the full package of features, songs, and playlists, including download songs, ad-free listening, and better audio quality (more on this later).

Both Apple Music and Spotify have a family plan for $16.99 and $15.99 per month, respectively. These plans give you premium access to the platform, and you can share it with five other family members.

Both platforms also come with a Student plan that any student can get for $4.99 per month on Spotify or $5.99 per month on Apple Music. 

Spotify also offers a Duo plan which, as you can guess from its name, lets you share a premium Spotify subscription with another person. The catch is that you need to live in the same place as the other person, making it perfect for a couple but not so much for friends. 

As you can see, both platforms have almost identical plans, but if you’re looking for the most affordable option, or want more subscription plan options, then Spotify is the way to go. 

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Availability

When it comes to availability, both platforms are pretty similar, but Apple Music might not be your best option if you’re not a die-hard Apple fan. 

You can find both Spotify and Apple Music on popular devices like Android, iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and PC. Additionally, you can use Spotify on consoles like PS5 and Xbox. 

Surprisingly Apple Music on Android works pretty well, and it’s fairly similar to the experience on an Apple device. With that said, Android users tend to get exclusive features a bit later. 

Not only that, but there have been times when Android users do get a new update, but they’re still missing a few small new features that only iPhone users can get. 

Of course, that’s not necessarily a deal breaker; you’ll still get access to all your favorite music. But if you like to play around with new features as soon as they come out, and you own an Android device, you might be better off with Spotify. 

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Special Features

You’ll find almost the same on both platforms when it comes to special features. 

Both platforms let you download music, read song lyrics, and even control it with voice commands. Yes, Siri works with Spotify, too, albeit it might not work as well as with Apple Music. 

Both platforms also let you see your most listened songs and artists during the year, but Apple Music gives you more data throughout the year, unlike Spotify. 

Apple Music has a couple of extra features like Apple Music Live, a concert series you can access from any device, and Apple Music Sing, which is basically karaoke for when you feel like singing your heart out. 

So while both platforms offer the same basic features, if you want to do some karaoke or catch your favorite artists live, Apple Music might be the best option.

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Library

Both platforms offer millions of songs you can play to your heart’s content, so you won’t have to worry about not finding one of your favorite tunes. 

Additionally, both streaming services let you upload your own music so you can listen to it on the go. 

Spotify boats over 80 million songs in its library, whereas Apple Music claims to have over 100 million songs. While Apple Music sounds like the clear winner, it’s worth mentioning that Spotify also offers audiobooks you can buy and podcasts to listen to without paying extra.

Apple Music, on the other hand, doesn’t have any podcasts or audiobooks. Of course, this is by design since Apple also has the Apple Podcasts and Apple Books apps to handle those types of content. 

So even if you choose Apple Music, you’ll still have other options to buy audiobooks or listen to podcasts, but some people might choose Spotify and have all that content in one place.

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Sound Quality

Besides price, the sound quality might be why you choose one platform over the other.

Spotify offers three sound rates, which are 96kbps, 160kbps, and 320kbps. Apple Music, on the other hand, offers resolutions from 44.1kHz to 192kHz. 

Additionally, Apple Music offers hi-res audio, spatial audio, and lossless audio, while Spotify doesn’t. Spotify did confirm that it is working on a HiFi feature, but it doesn’t seem like it’s coming any time soon.

Overall, Apple Music has the best sound quality out of the two. You’ll get more resolutions, and if you have the right pair of headphones, you’ll enjoy spatial audio and Dolby Atmos at no extra cost. 

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Which One Should You Get?

The good news about the Spotify vs. Apple Music debate is that you can’t make the wrong choice. Both platforms offer the best, most popular songs in the world, while you get state-of-the-art features to make your experience even better. 

With that said, if you care about sound quality or are a hardcore Apple user, Apple Music is the better option. Apple Music wins if you care specifically about AirPlay 2, as Spotify is lacking this feature.

On the other hand, if you want something more versatile or just want to spend less money and don’t mind the sound quality, Spotify has everything you need to enjoy your favorite artists.