Spotify vs YouTube Music
Recent reviews clearly favor Spotify.
Based on 50 + 500 recent App Store reviews · updated 1d ago
Who wins on…
| Measure | Spotify | YouTube Music |
|---|---|---|
| Satisfaction scoreFrom 0 to 100, based on recent reviews. | 70/100 Wins | 42/100 |
| Recent averageAverage stars in the reviews we read. | 4.1★ Wins | 2.4★ |
| 1–2 star reviewsShare of recent reviews. Lower is better. | 18% Wins | 58% |
| Reviews we readMore reviews make the score more solid. | 50 | 500 Wins |
| App Store rating TieAll-time rating on the App Store. | 4.8★ | 4.8★ |
| Number of ratingsAll-time ratings on the App Store. | 42,875,943 Wins | 1,516,037 |
Spotify wins 4, YouTube Music wins 1, 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?
Recent reviews clearly favor Spotify. It scores 70 out of 100 for satisfaction, and YouTube Music scores 42. Only 18% of Spotify’s recent reviews give 1 or 2 stars, against 58% for YouTube Music.
Pick Spotify if you want what its fans praise most: Huge music selection covers every taste
. Pick YouTube Music if you would rather have this: Better than Spotify for many users
. Each app has a weak spot. For Spotify it is Too many ads, especially on free tier
, and for YouTube Music it is App crashes or freezes during playback
. Both apps get complaints about too many ads and 3 more issues, so do not expect either one to fix that for you.
We read 50 recent reviews of Spotify and 500 of YouTube Music, so this shows how people feel now.
Recent rating mix
Share of recent reviews at each star level.
Shared complaints
Users of both apps complain about these. Expect them whichever one you pick.
Too many ads
ads are killing me
There is an add each time before and after a single song
Crashes and bugs
it just WILL NOT LOAD
this app crashes on my daily
Price and paywalls
Almost useless without premium
Why do I have to pay for it to be in the background?
Content quality
stop shuffling the same songs over and over
it starts over after a hundred songs or so
What users love
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
YouTube Music-
Better than Spotify for many users12× mentions
Still better than Spotify
-
Huge catalog, including obscure and independent music10× mentions
it has literally every song ever
-
Recommendations surface music people like6× mentions
has very good recommendations
-
Bundled with YouTube Premium value3× mentions
YouTube premium carrying over to YT music is the greatest subscription ever
What users hate
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
YouTube Music-
App crashes or freezes during playback30× mentions
this app crashes on my daily
-
Ads between nearly every song18× mentions
There is an add each time before and after a single song
-
Background play locked behind Premium18× mentions
Why do I have to pay for it to be in the background?
-
Shuffle repeats the same songs18× mentions
it starts over after a hundred songs or so
Why some say they are leaving
- Switching to Spotify or Apple Music after crashes and bugs
- Canceling Premium because the free tier is unusable
- Deleting the app after playlists and downloads disappear
What users want
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
YouTube Music-
Real shuffle through entire playlists8× mentions
make it so that the whole playlist is actually shuffled
-
Free background and screen-off playback6× mentions
Just wish this was free to play in the background
-
Filter or label AI-generated music6× mentions
there's no way to filter out AI music
-
Proper iPhone Duo support5× mentions
App needs to be optimized for the iPhone Duo
Questions people ask
Which is better, Spotify or YouTube Music?
Recent reviews favor Spotify. It scores 70 out of 100 for satisfaction, and YouTube Music scores 42. 18% of recent Spotify reviews give 1 or 2 stars, against 58% for YouTube Music.
What do users dislike about Spotify and YouTube Music?
Spotify users complain most about Too many ads, especially on free tier
. YouTube Music users complain most about App crashes or freezes during playback
. Both get complaints about too many ads.
What do Spotify and YouTube Music users want next?
Spotify users most often ask for Ad-free option without paying Premium
. YouTube Music users most often ask for Real shuffle through entire playlists
.
How did you compare Spotify and YouTube Music?
We read the 50 most recent App Store reviews of Spotify and the 500 most recent of YouTube Music. 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.
Keep exploring
Full Spotify teardownEvery insight from 50 reviews
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Full YouTube Music teardownEvery insight from 500 reviews
YouTube Music alternativesApps users like more
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Is one of these your app?
Synthiya pulls in every new review, tags it with AI and shows what hurts your rating most. You will know what to fix before users leave.