Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Article updated on July 28, 2026, 12:00 pm EDT Today’s music streaming services give you unprecedented access to all your favorite artists while also helping you unearth new gems. Sound quality is better than ever, as many of the paid subscriptions include lossless quality as well. It’s not just about music anymore, either. Audiobooks and podcasts are must-have features, with Spotify and Amazon Music including both as part of their monthly fees. I’ve tested all the major services and compared all the relevant features, along with a full price breakdown. Here’s what you need to know. Best music streaming service overall Lossless music on Premium for no extra charge Free version is robust Spotify Connect simplifies connection to devices Great playlist features including live "Jam" Podcast integration is awkward You're paying for audiobook access even if you don't use it Jump To See More Details Best alternative to Spotify Spatial and hi-res music included Combines your iTunes library with music you don't own, with a choice of music lockers Human music experts and algorithms help find music you'll want to hear based on what you play Tight integration with Apple HomePod and iOS devices Not as fun or feature-rich as Spotify Jump To See More Details Best for serious music fans High-fidelity music streams, including Dolby Atmos surround mixes Lots of video content, including concert livestreams Profiles and record reviews on every page, plus up-and-coming artist spotlights The mobile apps and web player aren't as straightforward as some others The catalog isn't as exhaustive as Spotify Premium despite its size Some hi-res music still uses MQA, which needs a specialized decoder Jump To See More Details Best for Prime members Amazon Music Unlimited Cheaper than the top three if you're an Amazon Prime member Lyrics automatically pop up on the "now playing" screen Hi-res and spatial audio from Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos at no extra charge Offers free music stations for Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap (includes ads) Artist profiles don't have biographies The service no longer includes a music locker Jump To See More Details Best for audiophiles who want to buy albums The app is really clean and fun to use Ability to listen to 24-bit music without needing a specialized decoder Download store as well No spatial audio Jump To See More Details Best for Android users It makes YouTube work better for music listening It has a music locker for people with existing music collections The music is more compressed than competitors No lossless option Jump To See More Details Easiest transfer for existing libraries Hi-res music included Has a free tier Catalog conversion at no extra cost Plenty of competition at the price Jump To See More Details What is the best music streaming service overall? When choosing a music streaming service, it’s a close race between two in particular: Spotify Premium and Apple Music . Both services boast extensive catalogs and plenty of features, but there is a clear winner. Despite a recent price increase to $13 per month , Spotify is the best streaming service for most people. It offers the ultimate mix of features, including lossless music , audiobooks , Spotify Connect streaming and great community offerings, such as Spotify Wrapped (now it’s not just for the holidays) . Spotify also offers the best free tier : Without paying a dime or providing a credit card number, you can listen to millions of tunes on demand and stream to Wi-Fi devices. For Apple device users, the excellent Apple Music is hot on Spotify’s tail with the inclusion of spatial music , and it’s a dollar cheaper (after a slight increase ). However, Apple Music isn’t as feature-rich or fun as Spotify, and it’s not as recommendable to Android or PC users. Lastly, if you’re an audiophile — or simply love music — then both Tidal and Qobuz offer excellent sound quality at realistic prices. Of those two, Tidal has taken pains to remove the proprietary MQA format and offer a cheaper fee, while Qobuz offers a point of difference in its download store . Read more: Apple Music vs. Spotify: Comparing the Top Music Streaming Services Best music streaming services of 2026 James Martin/CNET Best music streaming service overall Lossless music on Premium for no extra charge Free version is robust Spotify Connect simplifies connection to devices Great playlist features including live "Jam" Podcast integration is awkward You're paying for audiobook access even if you don't use it Spotify is a pioneer in music streaming and is arguably the best-known service. It offers several curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations, a bunch of AI features, such as an AI DJ , audiobooks and podcasts . After years of waiting, Spotify rolled out lossless music for no extra charge. Spotify is great if you’re seeking a solid all-around service, especially one that lets you make, browse and share playlists for any occasion. The company’s year-end Wrapped is an institution, and it has spawned “best of” imitations from most of the company’s competitors. The service even introduced on-demand stats so you don’t need to wait till year’s end. Spotify has undergone big changes in the last few years, and the service now includes 15 hours of audiobooks a month, plus the new Page Match feature, which lets you swap between a physical book and the audiobook. While the company supposedly has a book-free tier for $11 , it’s not available to new users, though you can sign up for the audiobooks-only plan for $10 a month. The company is also branching out into live concerts , and we expect to see more on that front soon. With all of the added features, the service now costs $13 in the US, £13 in the UK and AU$16 in Australia, and the student rate will set you back $7 per month. If you don’t want to pay any money at all, the ad-supported free version of Spotify is the best free music streaming service. Specs & Configurations Best alternative to Spotify Spatial and hi-res music included Combines your iTunes library with music you don't own, with a choice of music lockers Human music experts and algorithms help find music you'll want to hear based on what you play Tight integration with Apple HomePod and iOS devices Not as fun or feature-rich as Spotify Now at one dollar less than Spotify, Apple Music still offers quite a lot for the money, including 100 million tracks and iOS and Android compatibility. The service runs second to Spotify in terms of subscribers, but surpasses its rival in that it has hi-res lossless and spatial audio albums , plus the classical music app at no extra charge. In terms of the user experience, there isn’t much to it: a choice of music or podcasts, and I feel that the interface could do with a bit of sprucing up. Though it makes the most sense if you’re an Apple user, Music is an option if you’re listening on a PC , Android, or have invested in smart speakers — including those from Google. If you own an Apple HomePod , Mini or Nest device, you can summon Apple Music tracks with your voice. The service also features a ton of curated playlists, many handcrafted by musicians and tastemakers, but on the downside, the service lacks the robust sharing options (or cool add-ons ) available to Spotify users. If you’re looking to move to Apple Music from its main rival, Spotify, Apple has released a tool that enables you to swap your libraries from one to the other. Specs & Configurations Score Breakdown Best for serious music fans High-fidelity music streams, including Dolby Atmos surround mixes Lots of video content, including concert livestreams Profiles and record reviews on every page, plus up-and-coming artist spotlights The mobile apps and web player aren't as straightforward as some others The catalog isn't as exhaustive as Spotify Premium despite its size Some hi-res music still uses MQA, which needs a specialized decoder Though Tidal quietly did away with its free service , it also replaced its $20 Hi-Fi Plus tier with an all-inclusive $11 plan instead — this means hi-res music for everybody. It’s worth noting that the service is (still) replacing its proprietary MQA files with hi-res FLAC for better compatibility. The service also boasts a larger library than most competitors, on paper at least, of over 110 million tracks.

If you’re an audiophile, a fan of urban music, or a mix of both, then Tidal offers a great catalog and a very attractive price. Specs & Configurations Screenshot: Ty Pendlebury/CNET Best for Prime members Amazon Music Unlimited Cheaper than the top three if you're an Amazon Prime member Lyrics automatically pop up on the "now playing" screen Hi-res and spatial audio from Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos at no extra charge Offers free music stations for Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap (includes ads) Artist profiles don't have biographies The service no longer includes a music locker While Amazon Prime Music comes “free” as part of a Prime membership, users can choose to upgrade to Music Unlimited for audiobooks (one title a month) and higher-quality music streams. At $12 for Prime members, or $13 if you don’t have Prime, Unlimited offers an expanded catalog plus Atmos audio mixes, which can be played on Dolby Atmos soundbars , Android or iOS devices, and the Amazon Echo Studio . In terms of usability, the Music Unlimited interface is also more powerful than before, with playlists, genres and podcasts all accessible from the main page. Specs & Configurations Screenshot: Ty Pendlebury/CNET Best for audiophiles who want to buy albums The app is really clean and fun to use Ability to listen to 24-bit music without needing a specialized decoder Download store as well No spatial audio Qobuz’s streaming service offers a wealth of hi-res music, and you don’t need a special hardware decoder to listen to it. The service offers two main plans: Studio Premier ($13 monthly or $130 yearly) and the $180 annual Sublime Plus. If you’re a student, its new $5-a-month plan is a great value. Uniquely, the streaming service offers its own hi-res download store, and if you sign up for Sublime, you get a discount on purchases. In 2025, the company added Qobuz Connect , which enables users to stream from the app to their compatible hi-fi, and takes on similar functionality from Tidal and Spotify . At 100 million tracks, Qobuz’s streaming catalog rivals Tidal’s and Spotify’s in number, and based on our tests, its catalog of more-obscure artists is now pretty impressive. Excellent sound quality at a reasonable price? Qobuz is our favorite service for serious music lovers who also want to be able to purchase tracks. Specs & Configurations Services also worth considering Screenshot: Ty Pendlebury/CNET Best for Android users It makes YouTube work better for music listening It has a music locker for people with existing music collections The music is more compressed than competitors No lossless option YouTube Music ($12 per month) is the successor to Google Play Music, but if you sign up for the ad-free YouTube Premium at $16 a month, you get YouTube Music for free. The good news is that YouTube Music is a mostly impressive service (the lower bit rate of 256Kbps is mildly disappointing), but Google has retained the predecessor’s music locker system, enabling you to upload new tracks. YouTube Music offers a clean interface with over 100 million tracks to choose from. YouTube Music offers well-curated radio stations that play endlessly and are updated often. The service also has the ability to make playlists out of YouTube music clips, which makes it a worthy option. Lastly, the Apple HomePod has joined Google’s Nest devices in enabling users to set YouTube Music as the default. Specs & Configurations Easiest transfer for existing libraries Hi-res music included Has a free tier Catalog conversion at no extra cost Plenty of competition at the price French stalwart Deezer has been operating in the US since 2016, and it has a lot to offer, including a free tier (mobile only) and an impressive 120 million tracks. It has more subscribers than some others on this list, thanks in part to its previous affiliation with Cricket Wireless. The main Premium plan is $12 a month, and users are also able to upgrade their audio quality within the app. Deezer also offers a couple of great features, and was the first service to let users upload their catalogs from competitors at no extra charge. Specs & Configurations Top services compared Factors to consider The principal thing you’ll need to weigh is your monthly cost. Until recently, prices were stable at around $10 a month, but Apple Music , Amazon Music Unlimited , Tidal, YouTube Music and Spotify have all hiked rates up to between $11 and $13. While your subscription fee can give you access to a number of features — including classical music , karaoke and podcasts — what it can also do is unlock higher-quality audio. Sound quality is also an important consideration, and most services offer lossless and/or Dolby Atmos music at no extra charge. With the addition of audiobooks , both Amazon Music and Spotify offer an additional point of difference over the other services. This is especially attractive to people who have a separate Audible subscription, for instance. If you like to buy your own digital music, Apple Music and YouTube Music are the only services to offer a digital locker to store your existing library of songs, while Qobuz also offers a storefront (without a locker for existing libraries). How we test streaming services We’ve checked out the big names, including Spotify , Apple Music , Amazon Music , YouTube Music and Deezer , as well as smaller ones such as Tidal , Qobuz , and Pandora Premium , to see how each platform stacks up for your subscription dollar. All of the major services feature music catalogs of over 100 million tracks and are supported by a host of different devices. Given that all of the services basically have the same libraries, we evaluated each one based on: While YouTube Music offers objectively the “worst” quality based on numbers alone, most people won’t notice a difference, especially on phones or Bluetooth speakers. The biggest boons for Spotify users, in particular, are that service’s ubiquity, community features and ability to easily pair with other devices. If the service was more yielding to PC and Android users, Apple Music would easily become the service we would recommend. In short, Spotify is better for users of almost any phone, smart device or computer. Pandora Premium: Still one of the most popular streaming radio services in the US, Pandora also offers the a la carte Premium ($11 a month) and no-ads Plus ($5 a month). The result is more flexibility than most competitors, and Premium has gained plenty more subscribers in recent years, even if the service is not keeping up in terms of overall catalog size. Sadly, its audio quality is among the lowest available, even on the Premium subscription (192Kbps), and it doesn’t offer enough of an incentive for an upgrade from its highly popular free tier. See at Pandora . Music streaming FAQs How do I listen to free music? Most of the streaming music services offer free tiers — including Spotify, Pandora, Amazon and YouTube — but they do come with a couple of caveats. First, these are usually playlist services, in which you can pick a song and the rest of the tunes auto-generate — you can’t pick exactly what you want to play. The other potential downside is that they come with ads, and sometimes it’s the same ad for every break. How do you transfer your library between services? Without contracts, it’s pretty easy to cancel one service and start with another. Swapping between music services isn’t as straightforward as swapping between movie locker services using Movies Anywhere , for example. If you don’t want to have to rebuild your playlists and library from scratch when you switch, you have two main options: a music locker service such as YouTube Music (but this implies you have a library of ripped or bought MP3s ), or a library import tool such as Soundiiz . The latter is a service that lets you import the songs from each of your music services and transfer them, and while there’s a $4.50 monthly charge, you can always cancel once you’ve converted your library. Deezer offers the ability for new users to convert their libraries from other services for free (via another service called Tune My Music ). Do I need spatial or Atmos audio? The short answer is “no” and the long answer is “sort of, maybe.” Stereo music has been around since the 1950s, and its worldwide catalog simply dwarfs the amount of Atmos audio tracks by comparison. Apple may rave about how “magical” spatial music is, but unless you have an expensive Dolby Atmos system, you may not be able to hear the differences anyway. In our own tests, we’ve found that a well-mixed Atmos track on a dedicated setup can be fun. It’s like a roller-coaster — enjoyable, but you wouldn’t want to use it as your sole form of transport. However, spatial audio does make sense if you’re watching a movie because you’re not moving your head that much, and soundtracks are designed to be listened to in surround, anyway. While the music industry has tried unsuccessfully to market surround sound with Quadraphonic in the 1970s and DVD-Audio in the 2000s, it’s unlikely that stereo music will ever go out of favor. Which music streaming service has the biggest catalog? At the time of writing, all of the services offer over 100 million tracks each — while Deezer says it has 120 million — but that’s not the end of the story. The number of songs offered by a music service used to be the main differentiator, but as always, it’s quality over quantity that counts — and particularly if you’re looking for more obscure tracks. Depending on your favorite genre, some of the services may offer a better catalog for under-the-radar (Spotify), indie (Apple) or hip-hop artists (Tidal). Users who are less ambitious about expanding their musical taste should be satisfied with the catalogs that all the services offer. Which services include music lockers? Amazon was one of the first services to offer uploading your MP3 collection into the cloud, but this was officially discontinued in 2018 . Meanwhile, both the Apple and YouTube services allow you to combine your personal music collection with the streaming catalog, although tagging and organization can be a time-consuming challenge (your myriad live Phish tracks won’t organize themselves). Still, if you’ve invested money in digital music over the years, those two services offer a path to continue enjoying that music online. 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