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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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Better options than

Amazon Music alternatives

Amazon Music users often look for alternatives due to frequent ads, app performance issues, and a confusing user experience. Alternatives like Spotify and Apple Music offer different strengths, from extensive music libraries to better podcast integration and fewer ads.

Why users look for alternatives to Amazon Music

The alternatives

Spotify
4.8★ · 40,877,669 ratings · Free

Spotify is praised for its extensive music library and organization R55. While the free tier has many ads and limitations on skips and song order, the premium experience is highly valued by long-term users R52R56.

Better for: Spotify suits users who want a vast music selection and good organization, especially those willing to pay for a premium subscription to avoid ads and unlock full features like unlimited skips and on-demand playback R55. It's also seen as easier to navigate than Amazon Music R18.

Head-to-head: Amazon Music vs Spotify
Pandora
4.8★ · 11,238,520 ratings · Free

Pandora is a long-standing music app, with some users listening for a decade, and is known for its music recommendations and station-based listening R66. The free version has many ads and limitations, but paid subscribers appreciate the ad-free experience R65R69.

Better for: Pandora is better for users who enjoy personalized radio stations and music discovery through its algorithm, and those who are willing to subscribe to avoid frequent ads R66. It may not be ideal for users who want to pick specific songs on demand without a subscription .

Head-to-head: Amazon Music vs Pandora
Apple Music
4.9★ · 2,914,983 ratings · Free

Apple Music offers a very good collection of songs with no ads and unlimited skips, making it a strong competitor to other streaming services R80. It also integrates Shazam for song identification . However, some users report issues with the app automatically starting and difficulty managing playlists R79R81R82.

Better for: Apple Music is suitable for users who prioritize an ad-free experience, unlimited skips, and a large song library R80. It's also a good option for those already in the Apple ecosystem who appreciate features like Shazam integration .

Head-to-head: Amazon Music vs Apple Music
Apple Podcasts
4.9★ · 2,072,757 ratings · Free

Apple Podcasts is a dedicated app for podcasts, praised for being easy to use and helpful for language development . However, users frequently complain about its poor search functionality, lack of advanced features compared to other apps, and issues with queue management and playback R93R95R96.

Better for: Apple Podcasts is best for users who primarily listen to podcasts and prefer a simple, free interface for finding and playing shows . It may not suit users who need advanced search capabilities, detailed queue control, or robust features found in other podcast apps R93R96.

Head-to-head: Amazon Music vs Apple Podcasts
Audiomack
4.8★ · 1,982,845 ratings · Free

Audiomack is noted for having a wide selection of songs and allowing background play R109. However, the free version is heavily criticized for an excessive number of unskippable ads that appear after almost every song or click, and many desired features and songs are locked behind a premium subscription R107R109.

Better for: Audiomack might suit users looking for a broad music library, including unreleased songs, who are either willing to tolerate a high volume of ads on the free tier or pay for premium to remove them R107R109. It's less ideal for those who expect a smooth, ad-free experience without paying R107.

Head-to-head: Amazon Music vs Audiomack
Stick with Amazon Music if

You are an Amazon Prime subscriber who values the integration with other Amazon services and is satisfied with the included music library, or if you are willing to pay for Amazon Music Unlimited to get an ad-free experience and full access R8.

Evidence note: No alternative had too-thin evidence.

Frequently asked

Does Amazon Music have ads for Prime members?
Yes, many Amazon Prime members report experiencing frequent ads and limitations, often feeling pressured to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited to get an ad-free experience and full access to features R3R12R22R45.
Is Amazon Music difficult to use?
Many users find Amazon Music difficult to navigate, describing it as confusing and less user-friendly compared to other streaming services R4R18R24R27.
What are common technical issues with Amazon Music?
Common technical issues with Amazon Music include the app being slow, freezing, crashing frequently, and having problems with shuffle functionality playing the same songs repeatedly or giving error codes R4R7R13R15.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] Amazon Music 3/5 · US Addsssss: So many adds and it wants me to pay money to get no adds 😭 do not recommend!!!
  2. [R12] Amazon Music 3/5 · US Not 100% included w prime subscription: I pay a ganillion dollars prime subscription and still don’t have 100% access to all features.
  3. [R22] Amazon Music 2/5 · US Ads: Literally said add free when I get ads after TWO SONGS. Stop false advertising.
  4. [R45] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Too many adverts: Would be the best platform if it were not for the adverts. I don’t see why we should have to pay to have no adverts when already paying for Amazon prime membership etc etc
  5. [R13] Amazon Music 2/5 · US Slow, slow, slow: Very slow
  6. [R15] Amazon Music 3/5 · US Shuts off on its own: I pay for ad-free music. The past few months, the app will inexplicably shut off. I’ll be listening to the music and it will suddenly stop working. It will even stop in the middle of a song. There’s no warning and no apparent reason for the app to stop. This happens while using CarPlay in my car to listen to music. It happens while simply using the app on my phone. And, it
  7. [R19] Amazon Music 1/5 · US Very unreliable: The app kicks me out every 5 minutes or so and I have to start over.
  8. [R31] Amazon Music 1/5 · US App is horrible: Consistently freezes up remains stuck on a commercial for 10 plays before I just shut it down unable to fast forward your own playlist because they constantly want money. Why would I pay for such substandard service.
  9. [R4] Amazon Music 1/5 · US No shuffle: Platform is confusing. If i hit shuffle i get an error code everytime. Added albums and it says i have no songs. Going back to apple music.
  10. [R18] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Not user friendly: I find it a lot harder to navigate than Spotify
  11. [R24] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Good when it loads: Not always easy to access what I want to play
  12. [R27] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Navigation and sound could be much better: I upgraded to the premium and it was no difference in audible quality. Not a bad streaming app by any means but not great. Searching could be made much better and suggestion page is very limited
  13. [R8] Amazon Music 5/5 · US SO AMAZING!!: you have all ur music and no ads it’s like the best ever!! totally recommend!!! (but the podcast variety could be a little better but it’s still great)
  14. [R10] Amazon Music 1/5 · US Previously owned tracks are no longer available: Many, MANY albums are incomplete now… or completely gone. Some only have one or two tracks! Absolute garbage, don’t buy music from Amazon
  15. [R21] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Looks good......but: Still missing albums and songs by many artists, for example Jason Downs-White Boy with a Feather We also need higher bit rate audio.....'High Fidelity' only should be an option for all songs.
  16. [R42] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Freya Skye: I updated the app and London by Freya Skye is not on there
  17. [R7] Amazon Music 2/5 · US Playing music: Anytime I start out with the channel, it always plays the same songs.
  18. [R33] Amazon Music 3/5 · GB Same tracks played🤯: Love the amount of music available but get I little miffed when every time I play my favourites or likes on shuffle. It plays the same music. I must have nearly a thousand tracks marked down as favourites. But it only plays the same tracks or starts from the same place. I pay for Prime already and will not pay again to upgrade. 😮‍💨🤯
  19. [R52] Spotify 4/5 · US Skips: Great app! Has all the songs you could possibly imagine. Only thing that is missing is that 6 skips is little, like just because I don’t have premium I only have 6 skips..
  20. [R55] Spotify 5/5 · US Faithful user of 7 years: This app never let me down, through highschool and into my adult life this is still quite amazing
  21. [R56] Spotify 3/5 · US Ok: I hate that on our free subscription. I can’t pick what order my songs playing on my playlist. Also, I hate you only get six skips and then at a certain point you guys just start playing the full track and I don’t wanna listen to all that.
  22. [R65] Pandora 2/5 · US Free listening: The songs played on pandora sound pretty clear but you can’t do much on the app unless you pay for a subscription. I was recently able to do replays by watching an ad and apparently that was because I accidentally started a free trial but now that it is over, the app is difficult to work with. If you leave the app or refresh it in the middle of a song it will skip the rest of the s
  23. [R66] Pandora 5/5 · US Pandora: I’ve been listening to pandora for probably 10 years straight now! This is LITERALLY THE ONLY MUSIC APP I LISTEN TO. And it is not that I don’t know other music apps I do I just love Pandora so much! And I don’t want to listen to anything else. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
  24. [R67] Pandora 3/5 · US Not Bad: They play the same songs over and over - I’ll even put on the 70’s station and it plays the same songs over and over even play today’s songs on the 70’s channel over and over .
  25. [R69] Pandora 5/5 · US Commercials?: I am a paid subscriber to Pandora…. Why am I now getting commercials on my feed? I will cancel my subscription if I have to pay for commercials
  26. [R79] Apple Music 1/5 · US Tim Cook needs to fix this glitch immediately.: The app starts when I get in my car, even though I DON’T have the app OPEN. So then I activated “require Face ID” to start. Even with my phone wallet cover closed this stupid app still starts playing. Search online and this has been an issue for over a year. Steve Jobs would have fired whoever was this careless. and FYI, Podcast app needs this
  27. [R80] Apple Music 5/5 · US Apple Music: Very very good collection of songs I really enjoy it thanks Apple Music
  28. [R81] Apple Music 3/5 · US Works okay but there’s an issue with controls: I removed the app from my iPhone 17 Pro Max because when I first connect USB to my car, even if Spotify is playing a song, the iPhone stops Spotify and plays a track from Apple Music. It plays the same Music track unless I delete it from my library. I’ve found a few issues with this app. First, when I deleted the Music track, it was one that I purchas
  29. [R82] Apple Music 1/5 · US Deleted playlist: If there’s a way to delete playlist I have yet to discover it…. It’s much easier on other platforms…. Please help … you won’t though
  30. [R93] Apple Podcasts 1/5 · US Worst app ever made by Apple: Just try doing a search / it’s the biggest piece of trash you could ever imagine. It is absolutely unfathomable how something that is used by so many people can be so unbelievably useless for things like search. Literally everybody who worked on this app should be fired.
  31. [R94] Apple Podcasts 4/5 · US Great App! Just needs more video game choices.: I love it but I constantly need to look for more podcasts about games I like and some people add like one episode which is annoying.
  32. [R95] Apple Podcasts 3/5 · US Love podcasts but this app is the bare minimum: The app itself could offer a far superior experience. They seem to only offer up Top Shows. Those are the easiest to find. Seems like it needs an overhaul so people can find shows they’ll like more easily.
  33. [R96] Apple Podcasts 1/5 · US Can’t search for episodes: I can’t search any episodes for shows in this app. So if my favorite show had a topic or guest years ago, the only way to find that old one is to scroll and scroll and scroll. Crazy such a feature is missing.
  34. [R107] Audiomack 1/5 · US I would rate it five starts but…: Every time you click on a song or a button, there’s an ad, and some of us are too broke to pay for music, reduce the ads and make some features free Edit: now I can’t skip the ads, this makes my life more depressing… why are you giving me unskippable ads now?! "Ads make our music app free and they support the app" how the hell does ads an making people suffer sup
  35. [R108] Audiomack 5/5 · US The best for iphone: The best I really liked it
  36. [R109] Audiomack 3/5 · US recent songs are blocked by subscription: has every song i want, no ads during songs, unlimited plays, and it plays in the background. i'm so grateful to finally find an app like this, i really hope it doesn't change or get taken down like the others :( edit: unfortunately after i wrote this, i got an ad after every song. i don't mind this but it wouldn't let me skip the ad or even continue playi
  37. [R110] Audiomack 1/5 · US A: Worse app ever needs update

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store