Apple Music and Spotify are the giants of music streaming. With similar catalogs (50 million-plus songs each) and the same monthly subscription price ($9.99, £9.99 or AU$11.99) it may be tough to separate the two. Which is the best for iPhone or Android? Which has the most robust smart speaker support? And which one is the best at helping you find new music you’ll love? This was originally published last year and is updated periodically.
Read more: Best music streaming service of 2020: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal and YouTube Music compared
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Spotify is the most flexible option if you want to stream songs without paying, because it has a free, ad-supported tier. You can use Spotify across different devices from smart speakers to game consoles to phones. There’s also a robust podcast offering, including some exclusives.
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Apple Music has a key advantage over Spotify in that you can combine the songs you already own with the Apple Music streaming catalog. Siri users also get more robust voice controls for playback. Like Spotify, Apple Music has playlists that serve up songs based on your listening habits, but you can also listen to the Beats 1 Radio stations with human DJs at the helm.
Here’s a general overview of how they compare:
Spotify vs. Apple Music
Spotify
Apple Music
Price
$9.99 a month ($4.99 for students)
$9.99 a month ($4.99 for students)
Family plan
Yes, up to 6 people ($14.99)
Yes, up to 6 people ($14.99)
Free tier
Yes, ad-supported
No, only Beats1 radio
Free trial
3 months
3 months
Stream quality
Up to 320kbps Ogg Vorbis, or AAC (see section below)
256kbps AAC
Music library
50 million songs
50 million songs
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Apple Music vs. Spotify: Music streaming battle
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Price and subscription options
Both Spotify and Apple Music offer a free* three-month trial period for their premium services, which normally cost $9.99, £9.99 or AU$11.99 a month. It costs $4.99 for students or $14.99 for family plans. With the premium version, you can stream any song from the catalog on demand, plus listen to songs offline.
And if you’re a student, you’ll get access to Hulu and Showtime (ad-supported) as part of your Premium subscription. Spotify is also the only one of the two music services with a free, ad-supported tier, so even if you don’t want to pay for the premium version you can still listen. The caveat (aside from the interruptions) is that many albums and playlists require you to listen in shuffle mode rather than sequential play and there’s a limit of six skips per hour.
Apple Music only lets free users stream Beats1 Radio, or you can listen to songs from your iTunes library.
Winner: Spotify
The free version of Spotify lets you listen to songs on demand, but many playlists and albums can only be listened to on shuffle.
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Streaming quality
In terms of stream quality, Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis format. On mobile you can choose what bit rate to stream, in increments up to 320kbps, which is handy especially if you’re worried about using up too much mobile data. Desktop playback is at 160kbps or 320kbps for premium users.
If you listen on Spotify’s web player or via Chromecast, it streams in AAC at 128kbps for free users or 256kbps for premium.
Apple Music streams 256kbps AAC files.
To find out more about bit rate and audio quality, read this in-depth comparison of sound quality between Apple Music and Spotify.
You can also adjust the equalizer in both to suit your preferences (although you’ll find Apple Music’s EQ setting outside of the app, within the Settings > Music section on the iPhone).
Unless you’re a serious audiophile, you probably won’t notice much difference between the highest-quality Spotify and Apple Music streams of the same song. If the highest audio fidelity is really important to you, consider another service that supports lossless streaming like Tidal.
Winner: draw
Library and music selection
Both have roughly the same library for tunes, topping 50 million and they also offer early access to certain albums from time to time. Apple Music sometimes offers exclusives for certain music videos.
If you turn on iCloud Music Library within Apple Music, you can access your personal library of tunes across all your devices (from the PC to the phone). This feature “matches” songs in your library with those in the iTunes catalog, or uploads them if the song isn’t available, so you can listen to your music wherever you’re signed in with your Apple ID. You can store up to 100,000 songs.
Note that iTunes Match is also available even without an Apple Music subscription for $25 a year.
Spotify also lets you play music from your device in the Spotify app, but it only works for local files (so they aren’t stored in the cloud). Spotify is the only service that offers podcasts within the app. Apple splits podcasts into a dedicated Podcasts app.
Winner: Apple Music for integrating your own library, but Spotify has the podcast advantage
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Interface and navigation
Apple Music features a clean white look on mobile, while Spotify paints it black across its apps. (Activate dark mode on iOS and Apple Music will switch, too.) Both are pretty easy to navigate on mobile, with the main tabs (radio, search, your library and so on) found at the bottom of the interface.
Depending on the song, Spotify has animations and short videos that play full screen while you’re listening. Both let you look at lyrics on screen if they’re available for particular songs. But only Apple Music lets you search by typing a stream of lyrics to find songs you don’t know the name of.
Google Maps lets you listen to and control Spotify or Apple Music playback within the navigation interface in iOS and Android. Waze also offers a similar feature for Spotify users.
On top of CarPlay support, Apple Music for Android works with Android Auto, so you can control playback through the infotainment system.
Winner: draw
Where can you listen?
Both Apple Music and Spotify are available on iOS and Android. Both have desktop apps for Windows and Mac, so you aren’t limited to listening on mobile.
Spotify Connect lets you Cast to compatible devices and listen on AirPlay speakers (on iOS only).
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You can also listen to music in your browser: Spotify is at open.spotify.com and Apple Music is at music.apple.com.
And you can also stream any audio to a Bluetooth wireless speaker, to an AirPlay speaker from an iOS device, or to a Chromecast speaker from an Android device (you can also cast from iOS if you have Spotify).
When it comes to smart speakers, Apple Music with Siri voice control on Apple’s HomePod and is now compatible with Amazon’s full line of Echo smart speakers via the Alexa App (US only). It’s also available on other Apple and Amazon devices like the Apple Watch, Apple TV and FireTV.
In addition to Amazon Alexa speakers, Spotify is also available on and Google smart speakers. And, if a device is certified as Spotify Connect compatible, it means you can use the Spotify app as a remote to control playback. Spotify is also available across a wide range of other devices like Xbox and PlayStation.
Winner: Spotify
Music discovery tools 
Beats1 Radio.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
One of the top reasons to use a streaming service is to discover new music. Both Spotify and Apple Music expose you to new tunes based on what you already like.
Spotify has tailored playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar that are automatically populated each week with new songs. Apple Music has similar playlists, including New Music Mix.
When you first sign up for each service, both ask you for your favorite genres and artists to get a baseline reading. Once you start listening more, each gets a clearer picture of your likes and dislikes to help tailor recommendations even further.
Spotify and Apple Music also have radio stations based around your favorite artists, tracks or genres. Apple Music also has a separate station called Beats1 Radio which is curated and hosted by actual DJs, so you can listen to it in real time like you would a traditional radio station.
In our experience, Spotify’s algorithmic recommendations for new music based on our listening habits is the most on-point. But Apple Music’s human-curated radio station often uncovers new or unreleased tracks that also appeal.
Winner: draw: Spotify for playlists, Apple Music for radio lovers
Social sharing 
Spotify codes can be scanned with the camera to share playlists.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
Both services let you follow your favorite artists to keep up to date with their posts and latest releases.
You can also follow friends. On Spotify, you can see what song your pals are listening to in real-time (if they choose to share this detail) on the desktop app.
Spotify Codes are a way to share tracks, albums and playlists among friends. It’s kind of like a custom QR code that you can scan with the camera in Spotify if you’re listening in the same location, or share through messages if you’re apart.
Many popular musicians seem to be more active in posting updates on Apple Music and it’s easier to find that content than it is on Spotify.
Naturally, you can also follow your friends and see what they’re up to across both platforms. While it’s much easier to find profiles on Apple Music than it is on Spotify, you do have to already have your friends in your contacts list (or on Facebook) to follow them.
Spotify has also introduced Group Sessions that lets two or more Premium subscribers control music playback and collaborate on a shared playlist.
Winner: Apple Music
Which one is right for you?
If you want a free service, Spotify is the clear winner. But if you are looking to pay for a service, your decision may be a little more complicated.
Apple Music plays well with other Apple devices. If you want voice control on the HomePod, for example, Apple Music is your only option. Spotify, on the other hand, has greater cross-compatibility across lots of different devices, from game consoles to smart speakers.
It takes time to train each of these services to really get to know your taste. For our money, Spotify does a better job in uncovering and tailoring playlists and recommendations to us through its custom playlists and discovery features. But Apple Music gives you the most flexibility in mixing songs from your own library (that might not even be on streaming services) with new tunes you can stream on demand.
Of course, Spotify and Apple Music aren’t your only options for streaming music services. To see how they stack up against competitors like Tidal and Amazon, click here to read our comparison.
Spotify
Best for cross-compatibility and podcasts
Apple Music
Best if you have a big existing music library and want radio stations
