YouTube Music or Spotify, which is better? Is YouTube Music better than Spotify? Some people might say that YouTube Music is better than Spotify, or vice versa. But everyone gives the reasons based on their own experience. If you are about to choose one but don't know which is the right option to pick, then no worries.
In this article, we will let you know all about YouTube Music vs Spotify. We hope that by the end of this article, you can get to know all the details and select the one you like the most. So, keep reading.
Part 1. What Is Spotify vs What Is YouTube Music
YouTube Music vs Spotify both are streaming services that allow you to gain access to unlimited music and listen to music on your favorite devices whenever. Now, let's look at the brief introduction of them below.
What Is YouTube Music
YouTube Music offers millions of songs and video content that contains covers, remixes, and live performances that you won't find anywhere else with easy access. You can enhance your listening experience with its advanced features. You can discover new music quickly, listen to your favorite songs with lyrics, switch between video and audio, create personalized playlists, etc.
What Is Spotify
Spotify is a digital music, podcast, and video service that provides its users access to unlimited songs and other content from creators worldwide. This service can be used on multiple devices and played wherever you like. You can listen to unlimited songs online for free. But to gain access to music offline, you need to go for a premium subscription.
After that, follow the parts below to learn more about the details and differences between YouTube Music and Spotify.
Part 2. YouTube Music Premium vs Spotify Premium
Both Spotify vs YouTube Music offer premium subscriptions, but Spotify is a bit pricey. With a premium plan, users can download music from the platforms for offline listening without ads and enjoy more advanced features. They both offer individual, family, and student plans for users to choose from.
YouTube Music Premium individual plan costs $10.99/month, while Spotify costs $11.99/month. The sound quality that YouTube Premium provides is way better than the Spotify Premium. So, if you want to enjoy music at its best, then maybe YouTube Music is the best option for you. The number of artists that you will find on the YouTube Music Premium plan is massive as compared to Spotify's Premium plan.
In addition, with Spotify's Premium plan, you can have many more additional features that you will not find on YouTube Music. You can play songs in any order you want, listen with friends together in real time, and more. So, if you are looking for extra features, then Spotify's Premium version is a better option.
Now, let's check the YouTube Music vs Spotify Premium price below.
| Individual Plan | Duo Plan | Family Plan | Student Plan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify Premium | $11.99/month; 3-month free trial (ends on December 31, 2024) |
$16.99/month | $19.99/month (Up to 6 family members - Premium or Kids accounts) |
$5.99/month; 1-month free trial |
| YouTube Music Premium | Individual: $10.99/month ($109.99/year); 1-month free trial |
/ | $16.99/month (Up to 6 family members); 1-month free trial |
$5.49/month; 1-month free trial |
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Part 3. Spotify Free vs YouTube Music Free Plan
Spotify vs YT Music both have a free plan. But both of their free plans come along with a few limitations.
Spotify lets users pick the music they like to play on particular playlists, such as the personalized Daily Mix. Users can only play songs in shuffle mode on others, which is irritating and doesn't seem convenient. Songs can be skipped, but only six times per hour. Audio quality is also limited to High (160kbps), so songs can't be downloaded for offline listening. In Spotify web player, you can only enjoy 128kbps audio quality.
YouTube Music lets you choose and play any song you like, and makes it easier to use compared to Spotify. You can also skip unlimited songs whenever you need them. And it offers Low (48kbps) and Normal (128kbps) audio setting in the web player. The highest output streaming quality is 128kbps.
The best thing about Spotify-free music is that you can listen to your favorite song even if you turn off the screen of your device. But YouTube Music is not like that as the song will ultimately stop when you turn off the screen of your device. You can only play YouTube Music in the background via its web player.
View also:
How to Play Spotify in the Background
How to Play YouTube Music in the Background
Now, check the table below to compare YouTube Music Free vs Spotify Free.
| Spotify Free | YouTube Music Free | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to Entire Music Library | ✔ | ✔ |
| Skip Songs | ✔ (Max of 6 songs per hour) | ✔ (Unlimited) |
| Skip Ads | ❌ | ✔ (After 5 seconds) |
| Offline Listening | ❌ | ❌ |
| Background Playback | ✔ (All platforms) | ✔ (Web player only) |
| Audio Quality Settings (mobile) | Automatic: Depends on internet speed; Low: 24kbps |
Normal: 128kbps |
| Audio Quality Settings (desktop) | Automatic: Depends on internet speed; Low: 24kbps; Normal: 96kbps; High: 160kbps |
Low: 48kbps; Normal: 128kbps |
| Audio Quality Settings (web player) | Normal: 128kbps | Low: 48kbps; Normal: 128kbps |
| Highest Audio Quality (mobile) | 160kbps | 128kbps |
| On-demand Playback | ✔ (Desktop & web player) | ✔ (All platforms) |
| Playback Mode | / | Song mode and video mode |
| Lyrics | ✔ | ❌ |
Part 4. YouTube Music Quality vs Spotify
When talking about YouTube Music vs Spotify sound quality, the former can play content at a bit rate of up to 256kbps AAC, while the latter can stream up to 320kbps. Apart from that, if you need to preserve data while streaming, YouTube Music is a better choice as its data saver mode turns down the level to 48kbps AAC.
Spotify, when at its lowest Spotify bitrate, can stream at 24kbps. If you like to go for and stream music at the lowest possible rate, then Spotify is the go-to option.
| Coding Standards | Automatic | Low Quality | Normal Quality | High Quality | Very High Quality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | AAC | Depends on internet speed | 24kbps | 96kbps | 160kbps | 320kbps (Premium only) |
| YouTube Music | AAC and OPUS | / | 48kbps | 128kbps | 256kbps (Premium only) | / |
Part 5. YouTube Music vs Spotify Music Library & Music Discovery
Spotify and YouTube Music both offer over 100 million tracks to users. By the way, Spotify offers a wide range of podcasts for users to enjoy. There are more than 5 million podcast titles on Spotify. However, YouTube Music focuses on music and music videos. On Spotify, you can enjoy kinds of music content like audiobooks, etc., while YouTube Music doesn't have audiobooks.
When it comes to discovering music, Spotify is a better option. It offers several playlists with music from artists and different genres users like to listen to. On Monday, a new one with 30 tracks was released. Besides, according to their listening results, the service makes up to six daily mixes for users. What's more, Spotify AI DJ can help introduce new music to you.
YouTube Music also provides several types of personalized playlists based on users' listening habits. They are Discover Mix, New Release Mix, My Supermix, and My Mix. With these playlists, users can explore new music and different genres.
So, if you want to enjoy podcasts and audiobooks, you should go to Spotify. If you prefer videos, YouTube Music should be your best option.
View also: How to Find New Music on Spotify
Part 6. Spotify vs YouTube Music Offline Listening
With a Spotify Free plan, you can download music content but only podcasts for offline listening. You can't download single tracks, albums, playlists, etc. If you want to do that, you need to update to a Premium plan.
However, YouTube Music Free users are not allowed to download any music content for offline playback. They need to have a Premium account to download any song they want. Also, there is a Smart Download feature in YouTube Music that allows users to download up to 100 songs or entire albums.
But if you want to download any Spotify music for offline playback, you can seek help from AudFree Spotify Music Converter. It can help you download and listen to music from Spotify without premium. Please learn more about it in the next part.
View also: How to Listen to Spotify Music Offline without Premium
Part 7. YouTube Music vs Spotify User Interface
Spotify has a black, clean and easy-to-navigate user interface. You can easily browse tracks, playlists, audiobooks and more on the main screen of the Spotify mobile or desktop app. Also, you can tap the Search section to find any music content you want by typing title or artist name. It will show you songs and featured playlists if you search for an artist. What's more, you can access your Spotify music library via the Library section directly.
YouTube Music also has a black user interface. But it doesn't provide rich features like Spotify. By the way, you can tap the small search icon on the screen to start to search for any music track or video you like. When you search for a target artist, it will display top songs, albums, videos and other content.
Part 8. YouTube Music vs Spotify Device Limitations
Both YouTube Music vs Spotify work with smartwatches and all mobile devices with Android or iOS systems as well as offer a web player. Besides, Spotify provides an app for Windows and Mac computers. But there is no desktop app for YouTube Music, you can only access it via its web player on desktop. Also, Spotify can work with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Google Assistant, Alexa, etc., while YouTube Music can only work with Google Assistant and Siri.
Though Spotify supports lots of devices, it won't let you listen to music offline on other devices. That's because it has protection for its music files. So, if you want to use Spotify music anywhere, then you can try the AudFree Spotify Music Converter.
It is one of the best Spotify music downloaders. It allows you to download and convert your favorite Spotify music into different file formats including FLAC, MP3, WAV, M4A, etc. You don't need to be worried about losing the quality of the original song here as everything runs smoothly. With it, you can play your favorite songs in offline mode without using Spotify Premium.
Extra Tips: If you want to listen to YouTube Music offline on more devices, you can seek help from AudFree Audio Capture.
Part 9. Final Thoughts
Hopefully, users who need to know more about Spotify vs YouTube Music have found all they want in this review. Besides the aspects introduced above, there are other features that Spotify and YouTube Music offer. They are song lyrics, equalizers, and so on. Now, it would be easier for you to choose the best tool in need.
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What's more, if you want to use Spotify songs with ease, then you can use along with the AudFree Spotify Music Converter. This tool can help convert and play Spotify music anywhere and anytime without any limit.
Charles Davis
Chief Editor
