By
Justin SabrinaUpdated on May 27, 2025
Summary
Apple Music vs Spotify, which is better? If you hesitate about this question, come to this post. Here's how to choose between the two biggest names in music streaming based on interface, price, catalog, sound quality, features and more.
Are you a music lover? Apple Music and Spotify are the two leading streaming music platforms, offering over 100 millions high-quality music tracks, podcasts, and more. What are the key differences between these two platforms? When you are new to them, you may confused about which one is suitable for you. Here is an honest Apple Music VS Spotify review will mainly introduce both platforms based on price, catalog, music quality, and other features to help you decide which streaming music service is best for you.
Overview of Apple Music and Spotify
Apple Music, launched by Apple Inc. in 2015, over 93 million subscribers in 2025, has quickly grown into a leading platform in the industry. With over 100 million songs in its catalog, Apple Music offers curated playlists, exclusive releases, music videos, and live radio shows. One of its major strengths lies in its seamless integration with Apple's ecosystem, making it easy for users to enjoy music across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and HomePod.
Spotify, launched globally in 2008, with more than 268 million subscribers worldside, is one of the most popular music streaming service. It boasts over 100 million tracks, along with podcasts, audiobooks, and unique algorithm-based playlists like Discover Weekly. Compare to Apple Music, users can access Spotify on mobile devices, desktops, smart TVs, gaming consoles, and smart speakers.
Let's compare Spotify and Apple Music:
Overview
|
Apple Music
|
Spotify
|
| Founded |
June 30, 2015, WWDC 2015 |
October 2008, Stolkholm |
| Premium Plan |
$10.99/month for individual |
$11.99/month for individual |
| Family Plan |
$16.99 per month for six accounts |
$19.99 per month for six accounts |
| Free Trial |
1 month |
1 month |
| Quality |
256 kbps |
320 kbps |
| Music Library |
over 100 millions |
over 100 millions |
| Sound Fuality (free) |
256 Kbps in AAC |
96 Kbps, 160 Kbps in Ogg |
| Sound Quality (Premium) |
256 Kbps in AAC |
320 Kbps in Ogg |
| Extras |
- Beats1Live
- Siri Integration
- Offline Listening
|
- Access music from third-party apps
- Spotify’s signature algorithm
- Playstation compatibility
|
| Free Account |
|
- Ad-supported
- 96-160 kbps
- Shuffle play only for some playlists
|
| Premium Account |
- Play, save and like
- Connect content and radio songs
|
- Ad-free
- Unlimited skips
- High quality
- Listen offline
|
| Platforms |
Mac, iOS, Windows (via iTunes), Apple TV, Android |
Windows, Mac, PlayStation 3 and up, Android, iOS, Windows Phone |
When it comes to music streaming, Apple Music and Spotify are the two giants that often go head-to-head. Both platforms also support offline listening and high-quality streaming. Each platform is suitable for different types of audiences. In the following, you will explore Apple Music vs. Spotify in 9 aspects, and also get extra tips to download Apple Music, Spotify music to MP3 for offline listening anywhere!
Comparison Table: Apple Music and Spotify
Next, we'll look at each service's pricing, music library, streaming quality, radio and other features to help you decide which streaming music service is best for you.
Apple Music vs Spotify: Design & Interface
Normally, design and interface usability make a significant difference in the overall user experience. Both music platforms offer offer user-friendly experience. Apple Music features a clean and modern aesthetic, aligning with Apple's overall design philosophy. The app is visually pleasing, especially on iOS devices, and its "Listen Now" and "Browse" tabs offer quick access to personalized content and new releases.
Spotify, on the other hand, has a sleak, clean and intuitive interface. Its dark theme, consistent layout, and fluid navigation make it user-friendly, especially for first-time users. Everything from playlist creation to finding new releases is seamless. Many users find Spotify's layout more intuitive compared to Apple Music's.
Winner: Spotify
Apple Music vs Spotify: Pricing
In the battle of Apple Music vs Spotify, pricing plays a major role in user choice. Both music platforms offer various subscription plans tailored to individual needs, including student, individual, and family plans.
Apple Music Pricing in 2025:
- Individual Plan: $10.99/month
- Family Plan: $16.99/month (up to 6 people)
- Student Plan: $5.99/month
- Apple One Bundle (includes Apple Music + other Apple services): Starting at $19.95/month
Apple Music does not offer a free tier, but it provides a 1-month free trial for new users. Subscribers get access to the full music library, Spatial Audio, lossless audio, and offline downloads.
Spotify Pricing in 2025:
- Free Tier: Ad-supported
- Premium Individual: $11.99/month
- Premium Duo: $16.99 per month (for 2 users)
- Family Plan: $19.99/month (up to 6 people)
- Student Plan: $5.99/month
- Audiobooks Access: $9.99 per month (providing 15 hours of listening time each month, but ad-free music streaming is not included).
Spotify's free tier is a major advantage, allowing users to explore the platform without paying any fee. While the free version includes ads and limited skipping, most users plan to upgrade to Spotify Premium tier for advanced features.
We can see that although Spotify's paid subscription plans are more expensive than Apple Music, it offers free tiers and more Premium options to meet your needs.
Winner: Spotify
Apple Music vs Spotify: Music Library
Let's compare Apple Music and Spotify in catalog. Both Apple Music and Spotify boast massive music libraries, making it easy for users to access their favorite tracks, artists, albums, and more music content. On Apple Music, you can discover over 100 million songs, including exclusive tracks, curated playlists, live radio shows, and music videos. The service offers deeper integration with iTunes, so, users can easily combine purchased and streaming music in one app, saving much effort. Apple's focus on artist partnerships often results in exclusive releases and early access to new content. Another highlight is that it allows you to sync Apple Music library to iCloud Music Library, allowing you to access your Apple Music on all your Apple devices!
Spotify also offers a large library with over 100 million songs, 7 million podcasts and 200,000 audiobooks. While Spotify doesn't feature exclusive music as often as Apple Music, it excels in user-generated content, remixes, and live performances. Its expansive podcast directory adds additional value beyond just music.
Winner: Draw
Apple Music vs Spotify: Sound Quality
Streaming quality is a crucial consideration for any audiophile evaluating Spotify vs Apple Music. Apple Music offers high-resolution lossless audio, with streaming options up to 24-bit/192kHz. It also supports Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, delivering immersive 3D soundscapes, especially noticeable with supported headphones or devices like AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. Listeners can toggle between different quality settings depending on network conditions, making it ideal for both mobile and home use.
Spotify, on the other hand, Spotify Free and Spotify Premium come with different sound quality in encrypted Ogg Vorbis. The former at a maximum bitrate of 160kbps on mobile and 128kbps on desktop, and the latter at highest 320kbps audio quality across all devices. While Spotify previously announced its HiFi tier, promising CD-quality lossless audio, it still hasn't been released as of 2025. This places it at a disadvantage compared to Apple Music's robust high-fidelity offerings.
Winner: Apple Music
Apple Music vs Spotify: Offline Listening
Offline listening is essential for users who stay outside or want to save mobile data. In the Apple Music vs Spotify debate, both services provide offline download features, but with a few differences.
Apple Music allows users to download entire albums, playlists, or individual songs in the Apple Music app or iTunes program. While Spotify empowers users to download tracks, albums, playlists, podcasts and audiobooks in both Spotify desktop player and mobile app, there is no download feature for free users.
In addition, there are certain restrictions on the downloads and devices.
| |
Apple Music
|
Spotify
|
|
Download Limit
|
100,000 songs |
10,000 songs per device |
|
Device Limit
|
Up to 10 devices |
Up to 5 devices |
Winner: Apple Music
Apple Music vs Spotify: Music Discovery
Spotify's algorithm is finely tuned to user preferences, offering features like "Discover Weekly", "Release Radar", "Daily Mixes" and "AI DJ Mode", all curated based on your listening habits. In addition, Spotify also integrates social listening, collaborative playlists, and friend activity, making discovery a communal experience.
Apple Music uses a combination of human curation and algorithmic suggestions through the "Listen Now" tab. Its "Discovery Station" is available on Apple Music web player, mobile app and desktop player. Apple Music offers some social features but lacks the same level of real-time engagement.
Winner: Spotify
Apple Music vs Spotify: Radio & Playlist
Apple Music offers curated playlists and live radio stations such as "Apple Music 1", "Apple Music Hits" and "Apple Music Country", featuring exclusive interviews and DJ-led shows. In addition, Apple Music allows you to create your own custom stations and playlists basd on songs, artists and genres.
Spotify focuses on algorithmically generated playlists and personalized radio stations based on user listening habits. Some widely-followed playlists on Spotify include "Today's Top Hits", "Hot Hits USA", and "Hot Rhythmic". While Apple Music emphasizes human curation, Spotify provides dynamic, personalized content. In terms of radio and playlist, the two music platforms are tied.
Winner: Draw
Apple Music vs Spotify: Other Features
If you want to enhance social interaction through music platform, both platforms allow you to follow your favorite artists, friends, as well as acquaintances. By comparison, Spotify offers superior Social Sharing features, especially on collaborative playlists. Moreover, not only does it allows you to see what friends are playing via the Friend Activity sidebar, but also lets you seamlessly share Spotify tracks to Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Apart from these, Spotify offers a feature called Spotify Connect, which allows users to control music playback from one device to another, such as a smart speaker, smart TV, or car stereo.
Apple Music has an integration with Siri and Apple devices, offering better vioce control. For example, you can use Siri to controal almost all essential functions related to your Apple Music collection on your HomePod speaker.
Winner: Draw
Extra Tips: Download Apple Music & Spotify Music to MP3
After reading the introduction above, you now must have a better understanding of these 2 music streaming platforms and find the one that meets your needs. However, Apple Music uses AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) for streaming, while Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis. They also set a downloading and device limit. When you cancel your subscription, you will lose all you music downloads. To get the most out of them, you can utilize a third-party tool to download Apple Music or Spotify music to MP3. Here UkeySoft Streaming Music Converters give you a hand.
UkeySoft Apple Music Converter and UkeySoft Spotify Music Converter provide a fast and simple to download and convert music library from Apple Music and Spotify. With these tools, you can easily download songs, playlists, albums and podcasts to plain MP3, M4A, FLAC, AAC, WAV or AIFF formats and make them playable on any device or player! The tools will preserve original ID3 tags, including Title, Artist, Album, Genre and more. You don't need to worry about your subscription expiring, all downloaded music files will be stored on your local folder permanently!
Afterwards, you'll be able to burn Apple Music or Spotify music to CD or share via email, listen to music on MP3 player and more devices. Even better, you can transfer Apple Music to Spotify, or add Spotify music to Apple Music/iTunes without limits!
UkeySoft Apple Music Converter embeded the official Apple Music web player, free try it right now!
UkeySoft Spotify Music Converter offers a clean, neat and user-friendly interface, free try it right now!
Let's check their highlighted features:
- Built-in Web Player. UkeySoft Apple Music Converter and UkeySoft Spotify Music Converter have integrated with the official Apple Music web player and Spotify web player, making it easy to access the whole music library.
- Adjust the formats and parameters. The customized options make playback of streaming music content even more flexible! You can define the output format in MP3, M4A, AAC, WAV, FLAC or based on your needs and set the output quality to 320kbps or highest 640kbps for the best listening experience.
- Remove ads from Spotify. It can easily remove ads from Spotify music tracks even with a Free account, ensuring an ad-free and smooth streaming experience.
- Download music in batches. With this function, users can add entire playlists or albums from Apple Music or Spotify to the program for batch download.
- Download music at 10X speed. The 10X marvelous speed makes the music conversion smooth and fast. Your Apple Music/Spotify music files will be converted in just a few seconds.
- Organize and manage music library. The built-in music manager makes it quite easy to manage the output songs. Plus, you may also classify the output songs by date, artist or album.
Easy Steps:
Step 1. Launch UkeySoft music converter, sign in with your Apple Music or Spotify account.
Step 2. Click "Gear" icon to define the output audio parameters.
Step 3. Select songs/albums/playlists/podcasts as you want.
Step 4. Hit on "Convert" button to export the music files to local folder.
Conclusion: Which is Better?
In the Apple Music vs. Spotify debate, both platforms offer robust music streaming experiences, and the decision ultimately depends on individual preferences. If you prioritize high-quality audio, seamless integration with Apple devices, and curated content, then Apple Music would be a good option. For those who wish to streaming music for free, and value personalized recommendations, and social features, pick the Spotify.
Whether you are an Apple Music or Spotify user, you can' miss the powerful tools like UkeySoft Apple Music Converter and UkeySoft Spotify Music Converter. These tools help you download Apple Music and Spotify songs, albums and playlists to high-quality MP3 and other formats without any limit. Thus you can keep Apple Music, Spotify songs forever and enjoy your favorite tracks on more devices, including portable MP3 player, car player, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets, Fitbit Ionic, PS4, Xbox, etc.
Justin Sabrina has always had great enthusiasm for writing, programming and web development. He likes writing about software and technology, his works are featured on some tech blogs or forums like Tom's Hardware, CNET, etc.
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