For most iPhone owners, Apple Music is the better pick. It costs $1 a month less than Spotify for one person and $2 less for a family, and lossless audio, Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos and the Apple Music Classical app come with every plan. Choose Spotify if you want to listen free with ads, keep podcasts and audiobooks in the same app as your music, or rely on gear outside Apple's world, such as a Garmin or Wear OS watch, a PS4, or speakers you control with Spotify Connect.
The two services overlap more than you might expect. Both charge college students $6.99 a month, both stream lossless audio, both give newcomers a free month, and both can import your playlists from other services. What separates them is the price for your household, whether you need a free tier, what else you listen to besides music, and the devices you reach for every day.
What each service costs you
Apple Music costs less for one person and for a family, both student plans cost $6.99, and only Spotify has a plan for couples. These are the US monthly prices as of September 2026.
| Plan | Apple Music | Spotify Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | $11.99 | $12.99 |
| Two people | No Duo plan (Family is $19.99) | Duo, $18.99 |
| Family, up to six people | $19.99 | $21.99 |
| Student | $6.99, includes Apple TV | $6.99, includes Hulu (With Ads) |
| Free way to listen | Six live radio stations only | Spotify Free, with ads |
| Trial | First month free for new subscribers (three months with an eligible new Apple device) | First month free on Individual and Student if you've never had Premium |
Over a year, Apple Music saves you $12 on the individual plan and $24 on the family plan. Spotify Duo is the exception: two people at the same address pay $18.99, a dollar less than Apple's Family plan, and Apple has no two-person tier. Each family plan gives everyone a separate account with their own library and recommendations, which matters because a single account on either service plays on only one device at a time. Check current prices on Apple Music's plan page and Spotify's Premium plans page.
Student plans cost $6.99 on both services. Apple keeps student pricing for up to four years while you stay in college, and Spotify's student plan is for adults enrolled at accredited US colleges.
If you also pay for other Apple services, look at Apple One's bundles before subscribing. Individual costs $21.95 a month for Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud+ storage. Family costs $27.95 with 200GB shared by up to six people, and Premier costs $39.95 with 2TB plus Apple Fitness+ and Apple News+.
Only Spotify has a free plan
Spotify Free costs nothing and needs no credit card. You get music and podcasts with ads, and you can search for any song and play it. Premium removes the ads and lets you download albums and playlists (Free can download only podcasts), and in the apps it raises streaming quality from about 160 kbps on Free to about 320 kbps, plus lossless.
Apple Music has no free plan and no ads. New subscribers get the first month free, or three months with an eligible new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod or Beats headphones. Without a subscription you can still tune in to six live radio stations: Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, Apple Music Country, Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club and Apple Music Chill.
Podcasts and audiobooks belong to Spotify
Spotify keeps music, podcasts and audiobooks in one app. Premium Individual includes 15 hours of audiobook listening a month from a catalog of more than 700,000 titles, and you can buy more time in 10-hour top-ups if you run out. On Duo and Family plans only the plan manager gets those hours, Premium Student gets none, and unused time does not roll over.
Apple Music includes neither. Podcasts live in the separate Apple Podcasts app, which is free and comes preinstalled on Apple devices, and audiobooks are bought one title at a time in Apple Books. If you finish a book most months, Spotify's allowance is worth real money. If you only play music, it should not sway you.
How each app helps you find new music
- Spotify: DJ, daylist, Blend and Jam, all built around your listening habits
- Apple Music: live radio shows, Apple Music Sing, the Classical app and collaborative playlists
Spotify's discovery tools lean on personalization. DJ, a Premium feature, mixes your favorites with new artists and genres and takes typed or spoken requests to change direction. Spotify's daylist is a playlist that refreshes several times a day around the music you usually play at that hour, and it works on Free as well as Premium. Blend combines your taste with up to 10 friends in one shared playlist, and Jam lets a group add songs to the same queue, with a Premium host and Free listeners welcome when they join in person.
Apple Music leans on people and extras. Apple Music Radio runs live local, global and artist-led shows, Apple Music Sing turns millions of songs into sing-alongs with real-time lyrics and adjustable vocals, and the Apple Music Classical app, included at no extra cost, has search built for composers, works and their many recordings. You also get personalized artist and album suggestions, collaborative playlists your friends can edit, and Playlist Playground, a US beta that builds a playlist from a song or a mood.
If you like an algorithm steering you, Spotify gives you more ways to be steered. If you prefer radio, singing along or classical music, Apple Music has more for you.
Apple Music has the edge in sound quality
Both services stream lossless audio, but Apple Music goes further. Spotify Premium's top setting is lossless FLAC up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz. Apple Music's Lossless setting reaches 24-bit/48 kHz and Hi-Res Lossless reaches 24-bit/192 kHz, though on an iPhone anything above 48 kHz needs an external digital-to-analog converter. Apple Music also adds Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos on thousands of tracks.
How you listen matters more than the numbers. Bluetooth connections aren't lossless on an iPhone, AirPods included, so for true lossless you need the phone's speakers, a wired connection, or AirPods Max with USB-C plugged in by cable. Bluetooth can also cost you Spotify's lossless quality, though Spotify Connect can stream lossless wirelessly to speakers built to handle it. The upside for AirPods owners is Dolby Atmos, which plays automatically on Apple Music through AirPods and Beats headphones.
Where your speakers, watch and console point you
Spotify Connect is Spotify's strongest everyday feature. It turns your phone into a remote for Spotify playing on another device, such as a smart speaker, TV, console or computer, and the first connection needs both devices on the same Wi-Fi. Spotify works with more than 2,000 devices, which makes it the easier choice for a home full of mixed brands.
Apple Music relies on AirPlay instead, sending audio from your iPhone, iPad or Mac to AirPlay speakers, including several rooms at once with AirPlay 2 receivers on the same Wi-Fi. Apple Music itself isn't limited to Apple gear, with apps and support for Android phones, Windows PCs, Sonos speakers, Amazon Echo, Google Nest and smart TVs.
HomePod is where Apple Music pulls clearly ahead. Apple Music is built into the speaker, so it streams directly and handles Siri requests such as "Play something totally different" without your phone. Spotify reaches HomePod over AirPlay from an iPhone, iPad or Mac, and when you ask Siri on the HomePod for it, the speaker starts an AirPlay session from your nearby iPhone that stops if the phone moves out of range. Holding your iPhone near the top of a HomePod to hand off audio works with anything you are playing, so that trick is not a reason to switch.
Consoles and watches tilt toward Spotify. Spotify runs on both PS4 and PS5, while Apple Music is on PS5 only. On Apple Watch, both let you listen without your phone, but Spotify needs a Series 4 or later on watchOS 10 or later plus Premium. Spotify also has apps for Wear OS watches and select Garmin models. The Garmin app needs Premium and plays only music and podcasts you download.
Your own music files and offline listening
If you own ripped CDs or purchased downloads, Apple Music handles them better. With Sync Library turned on, your own files sit next to the Apple Music catalog on every device signed in to your Apple Account, including Windows PCs, Android phones and the web. The cloud library holds up to 100,000 songs, not counting iTunes Store purchases, and no single file can exceed 200 MB. It isn't a backup, so keep your originals.
Spotify plays local files on computers and phones, but you have to copy the files to each device yourself. For a large personal collection, that difference alone can decide it.
Both paid plans let you download music for flights and commutes. Spotify Premium allows up to 10,000 tracks on each of up to five devices, and you need to go online at least once every 30 days to keep them. Downloading on a sixth device clears the downloads on the one you used least recently. Apple Music downloads are stored on each device, so download an album on every iPhone, iPad or Mac you want to use offline, or turn on Automatic Downloads in Settings > Apps > Music so songs you add download automatically.
Our pick for most listeners
Get Apple Music if you use an iPhone and listen mostly on AirPods, a HomePod or an Apple Watch. It costs less for individuals and families, Dolby Atmos plays automatically on AirPods, its lossless options go further on wired gear and HomePod, and Sync Library keeps your own music alongside the catalog. For a student, the price is identical, so the choice comes down to Apple TV or Hulu.
Get Spotify if you won't pay for music, if podcasts and audiobooks fill a big part of your week, or if your household runs on a mix of brands, from Garmin or Wear OS watches to a PS4 and Spotify Connect speakers. A couple at one address also saves a dollar a month with Duo. Either way, use the free first month to try the app on the devices you actually listen with before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take my playlists with me if I switch?
Yes, in both directions. With an Apple Music subscription, tap your account button in the Apple Music app on iPhone or iPad and choose Transfer Music from Other Music Services to bring over saved music and playlists you created on other services; you can also start the transfer from the Apple Music app on Android or at music.apple.com (see Apple's transfer steps), and once everything has arrived you can cancel Spotify Premium. To go the other way, open Your Library in the Spotify mobile app and tap Import your music from other apps, which copies playlists from Apple Music through a separate company called Tune My Music.
Do I get Apple Music free with a new iPhone?
Yes, if you're new to Apple Music. New subscribers get three months free with an eligible new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod or Beats headphones, redeemed within 90 days of setting up the device. A new iPhone, iPad or Mac also comes with three months of Apple One free for new and qualified returning subscribers, and every Apple One plan includes Apple Music. Both renew automatically unless you cancel.
Can I use Apple Music without an iPhone?
Yes. Apple Music has an Android app on Google Play, a Windows app in the Microsoft Store and a web player at music.apple.com, and you can set up Family Sharing for the Family plan from an Android phone.
Can two people who live apart share Spotify Duo?
No. Duo and Family members must live at the same address, so a partner in another home needs their own Individual plan.