Alternatives to Apple Music
Apple's ad-free music streaming subscription with lossless audio and Spatial Audio in Dolby Atmos. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Apple Music
Apple's ad-free music streaming subscription with lossless audio and Spatial Audio in Dolby Atmos.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Apple Music.
Spotify
A music streaming service with a web player and lossless audio for Premium subscribers.
Spotify adds a free tier and a browser web player, with lossless audio limited to Premium on supported apps and no Dolby Atmos listed.
Amazon Music Unlimited
Amazon's paid music streaming subscription with HD, Ultra HD and spatial audio tracks.
Amazon Music Unlimited ties the subscription to an Amazon account and offers HD, Ultra HD, Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio through a web player.
Tidal
A paid music streaming service offering lossless FLAC stereo and Dolby Atmos on supported tracks.
Tidal is a paid service with lossless FLAC stereo and Dolby Atmos on supported tracks, listed with a web player rather than native Apple apps.
Deezer
A music streaming service with a free ad-supported tier and paid plans including FLAC quality.
Deezer offers a free ad-supported tier and Android, iOS and web apps, with FLAC streaming on its HiFi plan and playlist transfer.
Qobuz
A hi-res music streaming service with a store for buying lossless and Hi-Res album downloads.
Qobuz is a paid Hi-Res streaming service that also sells lossless and Hi-Res album downloads, and its annual plan is non-refundable.
IDAGIO
A classical music streaming app with search built for classical works and lossless sound.
IDAGIO focuses on classical music only, with lossless streaming, classical-specific search and video concerts, on Android and web.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Apple Music as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Pandora
A music and podcast streaming service with radio-style stations, plus on-demand listening on paid plans.
Apple Music is subscription only, always ad-free, and includes lossless audio and Dolby Atmos, with apps for Windows, macOS and iOS and a family plan.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Plexamp
A music player from Plex for listening to and exploring the music library on a Plex server.
Apple Podcasts
Apple's podcast app for following, listening to and watching shows, with sync across Apple devices.
GarageBand
Apple's free music creation studio for recording, playing and mixing songs and podcasts on a Mac.
Volumio
A music player operating system that turns a Raspberry Pi or PC into a network audio streamer.
Cider
A community-run desktop client for Apple Music on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Apple Books
Apple's app for buying, reading and listening to ebooks and audiobooks on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
