12 Best Spotify Alternatives for Streaming Music in 2024 (Cheaper or Free)

Here’s how much Spotify Premium costs:

• Individual (1 account): $9.99 a month
• Duo (2 accounts): $12.99 a month
• Family (6 accounts): $15.99 a month
• Student (1 account): $4.99 a month

As you can see, it is kind of costly (although there are ways to get cheap or free Spotify Premium!)

While Spotify is a great platform, it’s not the only place where you can listen to music.

Whether you’re looking for a cheaper or even free music streaming platform, more podcasts, more live music, or just want a different selection of music to listen to, there are plenty of Spotify alternatives out there.

The Best Music Apps Like Spotify

Short answer: Some of the best Spotify alternatives include Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, Tidal, and Apple Music.

For more apps like Spotify, and details on what each one has to offer and pricing, make sure you read the rest of the post!

1. YouTube Music

• Cost: Free with ads
• App available for: iOS – Android

YouTube Music is a website and app that has a great selection of music. There are more than 70 million songs available on the app. You can find everything on there from current chart hits to classic songs, and even classical music. You get unlimited skips too.

YouTube Music is free, but there are ads. If you want to listen without ads, then you will need to pay for YouTube Music Premium, which costs $9.99 a month. There’s a two-month free trial available.

You can also go for YouTube Premium which gives you access to YouTube and YouTube Music without ads, offline, and in the background, starting at $13.99 per month. And if you don’t want to pay that, check out my post on how to get YouTube Premium for free.

2. Pandora

• Cost: Free with ads
• App available for: iOS – Android

Pandora is a great Spotify alternative. It provides a great selection of songs, and it even offers personalized stations and allows you to create stations based on your favorite artists and genres. There are even podcasts available too.

There’s a free version of Pandora, but it has ads. There are two paid memberships, which are ad-free and offer some additional features:

• Pandora Plus: $4.99 a month. You can get 30 days free.
• Pandora Premium: $9.99 a month. You can get 60 days free.

3. Deezer

• Cost: Free with ads
• App available for: iOS – Android

Deezer is a music streaming app. With it, you can get access to more than 90 million tracks. There are even podcasts available. And you can even create your own playlists on Deezer. So, it’s similar to Spotify.

You can listen to music for free on Deezer, but there are ads.

If you want to listen to music without ads and want access to other features, such as the ability to pick and play any track and offline listening, then you will need to opt for a paid plan. This is called Deezer Premium, which costs $9.99 a month. There’s a 3-month free trial available.

4. Jango

• Cost: Free
• App available for: iOS – Android

Jango is a free internet radio app that allows you to listen to a wide variety of music genres. What’s great about Jango is that there are no ads!

You can listen to hundreds of stations from Top 100 to Hot Country to Classic Rock.

You can search the name of your favorite artist or band, and Jango will create a custom station based on their music and that of similar artists.

5. Apple Music

• Cost: Prices start at $4.99 a month
• App available for: iOS – Android

If you’re looking for a huge music library that rivals what’s available on Spotify, then try Apple Music.

There are more than 90 million songs and more than 30,000 expert-curated playlists available.

Apple Music isn’t free though. There’s no free membership option available.

Here are the plans:

• Voice: $4.99 a month
• Student: $4.99 a month
• Individual: $9.99 a month
• Family: $14.99 a month

So, it’s similarly priced to Spotify. There’s a free trial available too.

Apple Music has a lot of great features. With the Voice plan though, you can only stream on Siri, so if you want to listen to music with devices that don’t have Siri, like Android devices, you will have to go for the Individual plan instead. It’s the same price as Spotify though.

6. Amazon Music

• Cost: Free if you are a Prime member
• App available for: iOS – Android

If you have an Amazon Prime membership and are looking for a good alternative to Spotify, then I would highly recommend Amazon Music.

With it, you get access to 2 million songs. And, there are no ads! You also get unlimited skips, which is better than the free version of Spotify.

Amazon Music also offers plenty of other features that make it a worthy competitor to Spotify. It offers offline listening, millions of podcast episodes, and access to thousands of stations and top playlists.

If you’re not yet a member of Prime, then I would highly recommend joining. It’s saved me so much money on shipping!

With Prime, you get access to free shipping on Prime-eligible items with no order minimum, free movies and TV shows that you can stream with Prime Video, free cloud photo storage, and, of course, free music!

So, it’s definitely worth joining.

2 million songs is quite a lot anyway, but you can get access to 90 million songs if you join Amazon Music Unlimited. This isn’t free though, costing $8.99 a month. There’s a free 30-day trial available. Still though, it’s cheaper than Spotify.

7. Bandcamp

• Cost: No membership fees, but you have to pay to purchase music
• App available for: iOS – Android

If you are looking to discover new music and musicians, then you should try Bandcamp.

Bandcamp describes itself as, “An online record store and music community where passionate fans discover, connect with, and directly support the artists they love.”

You purchase music and then you can listen to your Bandcamp purchases via the free Bandcamp app for iOS and Android. You can also get access to the high-quality download of all your purchases.

If you are looking to support artists, then Bandcamp is great. There have been many complaints about the low pay that artists get from Spotify. But, with Bandcamp, when a fan buys something, an average of 82% of the money goes to the artist or their label, making it a great choice if you are looking for ethical alternatives to Spotify.

8. SoundCloud

• Cost: Free with ads
• App available for: iOS – Android

With SoundCloud, you can stream music for free! You can discover and play more than 265 million music tracks.

It’s great for finding music from emerging artists, as well as from established ones.

With SoundCloud, you can create playlists, and there are podcasts available too.

SoundCloud is free to use, but there are ads. There are two paid membership options, which are ad-free and come along with some additional features, like the ability to save unlimited tracks for offline listening.

Here are the paid plans:

• SoundCloud Go: $4.99 a month
• SoundCloud Go+: $9.99 a month

So, they’re similarly priced or cheaper than Spotify. There’s a free trial available for both plans.

9. iHeartRadio

• Cost: Free
• App available for: iOS – Android

iHeartRadio is a free music app. With it, you can listen to music from lots of different genres, such as R&B, Christian, Alternative, Country, Classical, Dance, and EDM, and thousands of live radio stations. There are playlists on offer as well.

Podcasts and news are available too. There are sports stations on offer like ESPN radio and Fox Sports Radio.

iHeartRadio is free, but if you want access to additional features, like the ability to play songs and albums on demand and unlimited skips, then you will need to opt for one of the company’s paid membership plans.

Here’s what each one costs:

• Plus: $4.99 a month
• All Access: $9.99 a month

There’s a free 30-day trial available for both membership plans.

10. Tidal

• Cost: Free with ads Free 30 Day Trial
• App available for: iOS – Android

Update: They have removed the free plan but do offer a 30-day free trial.

Tidal is another great Spotify alternative. Tidal offers more than 90 million songs!

It has a free version available, but there are ads. If you want no ads, then you will need to pay for one of the paid membership plans.

Here are the membership plans:

• HiFi: $9.99 a month.
• HiFi Plus: $19.99 a month.

The paid membership plans are ad-free and offer additional features, like more than 450,000 music videos, HiFi sound quality, and the ability to listen offline with unlimited skips.

11. Qobuz

• Cost: Prices start at $10.83 per month
• App available for: iOS – Android

Qobuz is a streaming platform like Spotify. It’s a streaming platform and digital music store, so you can purchase tracks and albums.

Once bought, you can download and listen to your album on whatever device you want.

It has more than 80 million tracks available to stream. Offline listening is available too. It also offers more than 500,000 album reviews and artist bios.

It’s a really popular platform and a great alternative if you’re looking for another streaming platform like Spotify.

Qobuz is not free. It has two plans available, and both are paid membership plans.

Here’s how much it costs:

• Studio: From $10.83 per month
• Sublime: From $15 per month.

There’s a free trial available of the Studio plan. With the Sublime plan, you can get discounts of up to 60% on Hi-Res purchases.

12. LiveOne

• Cost: Free with ads
• App available for: iOS – Android

LiveOne, formerly LiveXLive powered by Slacker, is a music streaming app. With LiveOne, you can watch live streaming performances, such as concerts and festivals, for free. You can get access to hundreds of music stations. And, you can get music recommendations that are personalized to you.

LiveOne also offers exclusive audio and video shows and podcasts.

LiveOne is free, but it has ads.

If you want to listen to music ad-free, then you will need to opt for one of the company’s paid membership plans.

LiveOne offers two paid plans:

• LiveOne Plus: $3.99 per month.
• LiveOne Premium: $9.99 per month.

The paid membership plans come along with additional features, like unlimited skips, maximum audio quality, and, in the case of LiveOne Premium, offline listening.

Final Thoughts

There are lots of Spotify alternatives out there. Some of Spotify’s biggest competitors include YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Pandora, Tidal, and Deezer. There are plenty of other options for listening to music, many of which are cheaper!

If you want some apps like Spotify, then give the platforms on the list above a try.