App comparison · Music

Apple Music vs Spotify

Q: What do users dislike about Apple Music and Spotify?

Apple Music users complain most about “Red icon swapped for black and white”. Spotify users complain most about “Too many ads, especially on free tier”. Both get complaints about price and paywalls.

Q: What do Apple Music and Spotify users want next?

Apple Music users most often ask for “Restore red icon or offer icon choices”. Spotify users most often ask for “Ad-free option without paying Premium”.

It is a close call between Apple Music and Spotify.

Based on 500 + 50 recent App Store reviews · updated 1d ago

Apple Music

Apple Inc.

72satisfaction

4.9★ · 3,236,108 ratings

Spotify: Music and Podcasts

Spotify

70satisfaction

4.8★ · 42,875,943 ratings

Who wins on…

How Apple Music and Spotify compare on each measure
Measure	Apple Music	Spotify
Satisfaction scoreFrom 0 to 100, based on recent reviews.	72/100 Wins	70/100
Recent average TieAverage stars in the reviews we read.	4.1★	4.1★
1–2 star reviewsShare of recent reviews. Lower is better.	19%	18% Wins
Reviews we readMore reviews make the score more solid.	500 Wins	50
App Store ratingAll-time rating on the App Store.	4.9★ Wins	4.8★
Number of ratingsAll-time ratings on the App Store.	3,236,108	42,875,943 Wins

Apple Music wins 3, Spotify wins 2, and 1 is a tie. The first four rows come from the reviews we read. The last two are all-time App Store numbers.

Which should you pick?

This one is close, and neither app wins clearly on the numbers. Apple Music scores 72 out of 100 for satisfaction, and Spotify scores 70. 19% of Apple Music’s recent reviews give 1 or 2 stars, against 18% for Spotify. Over time, Apple Music has the higher App Store rating, 4.9 against 4.8.

Pick Apple Music if you want what its fans praise most: Huge catalog, finds nearly any song. Pick Spotify if you would rather have this: Huge music selection covers every taste. Each app has a weak spot. For Apple Music it is Red icon swapped for black and white, and for Spotify it is Too many ads, especially on free tier. Both apps get complaints about price and paywalls and 1 more issue, so do not expect either one to fix that for you.

We read 500 recent reviews of Apple Music and 50 of Spotify, so this shows how people feel now.

Recent rating mix

Share of recent reviews at each star level.

5★

Apple Music: 67%

Spotify: 66%

4★

Apple Music: 7%

Spotify: 12%

3★

Apple Music: 7%

Spotify: 4%

2★

Apple Music: 3%

Spotify: 4%

1★

Apple Music: 16%

Spotify: 14%

Shared complaints

Users of both apps complain about these. Expect them whichever one you pick.

Price and paywalls

Apple Music Price keeps climbing Started 1.99 and now it is 11.99 a month

Spotify Feels nearly useless without Premium Almost useless without premium

Crashes and bugs

Apple Music Crashes, freezes, and auto-skipping it just automatically starts skipping and running through a list of 100 other songs

Spotify App won't load, crashes, or freezes it just WILL NOT LOAD

What users love

Apple Music

Huge catalog, finds nearly any song15× mentions
Every song that I look for is on Apple Music.
No ads, unlike Spotify and YouTube12× mentions
I love Apple Music because there's no ads like Spotify or YouTube
Clear, high-quality sound10× mentions
The sound is clear as water
Clean, easy-to-navigate interface7× mentions
The interface is so much cleaner.

Spotify

Huge music selection covers every taste6× mentions
the selection of music to choose from is never ending
Recommendations feel like they know you2× mentions
it knows what I like and what I want to hear
Easy, user-friendly interface3× mentions
way better UI

What users hate

Apple Music

Red icon swapped for black and white25× mentions
Bring back the RED app icon!
Downloaded songs vanish or won't play12× mentions
all my downloaded songs are gone
Price keeps climbing12× mentions
Started 1.99 and now it is 11.99 a month
Recommendations and autoplay feel random12× mentions
the algorithm is still really really really unusable

Why some say they are leaving

Switching to Spotify or Amazon Music after bugs or algorithm complaints
Songs deleted from playlists and libraries, so users cancel
Deleting and reinstalling the app every few months due to technical issues

Spotify

Too many ads, especially on free tier10× mentions
ads are killing me
App won't load, crashes, or freezes5× mentions
it just WILL NOT LOAD
Feels nearly useless without Premium2× mentions
Almost useless without premium
Shuffle keeps repeating the same songs
stop shuffling the same songs over and over

Why some say they are leaving

Deleting account after an unexpected subscription charge
Switching to Apple Music because the app won't open properly
Uninstalling and reinstalling repeatedly because playback freezes

What users want

Apple Music

Restore red icon or offer icon choices22× mentions
Can you give us maybe 5 choices of what kind of app icon
Free or ad-supported tier5× mentions
I just think there should be a free version with ads
Block artists and genres from recommendations4× mentions
I should be able to block artists that I don't want to hear
Download whole library in one click3× mentions
download your whole music library in one click

Spotify

Ad-free option without paying Premium3× mentions
Can I have no add
Show queue length; don't reset on tap
Letting us check how long our queue is would be great
Unlimited hand-selected song choice
please change it back to unlimited
Add Hazbin Hotel content
WE NEED TO HAVE HAZBIN HOTEL

Questions people ask

Which is better, Apple Music or Spotify?

It is close. Apple Music scores 72 out of 100 for satisfaction, and Spotify scores 70. Pick the one whose strengths match what you need.

What do users dislike about Apple Music and Spotify?

Apple Music users complain most about Red icon swapped for black and white. Spotify users complain most about Too many ads, especially on free tier. Both get complaints about price and paywalls.

What do Apple Music and Spotify users want next?

Apple Music users most often ask for Restore red icon or offer icon choices. Spotify users most often ask for Ad-free option without paying Premium.

How did you compare Apple Music and Spotify?

We read the 500 most recent App Store reviews of Apple Music and the 50 most recent of Spotify. Then we sum up what users love, hate and want, and give each app a satisfaction score from 0 to 100. The scores come only from those reviews.

Want the details? Read how we read reviews.