Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

YouTube Music vs Spotify

YouTube Music 4.8★ · Free to download 65
Winner Spotify
Spotify 4.8★ · Free to download 70

Spotify has a slight edge over YouTube Music due to its more consistent performance and fewer reported bugs, despite both apps facing significant criticism regarding their free tiers and the prevalence of ads.

Full reviews: YouTube Music · Spotify

Both YouTube Music and Spotify offer extensive music catalogs and generally positive experiences for premium users, but their free tiers are heavily criticized for ads and limited functionality. Spotify edges out YouTube Music due to fewer reports of critical bugs and a more established user base.

Head to head

Features & Content tieR8R9R14R15
YouTube Music YouTube Music is praised for its deep music catalog, comprehensive YouTube integration, and the ability to switch between song and video R8. Users appreciate the algorithmic daily mixes and suggestions R8. However, some users note the lack of lossless audio R9 and issues with lyrics accuracy R15. The platform also faces criticism for the influx of AI-generated music R14.
Spotify Spotify is lauded for its extensive music and podcast library . Users enjoy its ease of use and ability to discover new music . However, recent updates have led to complaints about the platform favoring AI content over real artists and a shift towards binging popular songs rather than growing music collections . Some users also miss the ability to listen offline without premium R99.
Ease of Use & UI edge: SpotifyR6R7R13R17
YouTube Music YouTube Music receives mixed reviews on its UI and ease of use. Some find it less confusing than Spotify R17 and appreciate the new update for making the app cleaner and smoother . However, many users report persistent issues with the keyboard getting stuck R6R7, clunky playlist and queue management R19, and frustrating navigation R13. There are also complaints about the removal of the 'Related' tab .
Spotify Spotify is generally considered easy to approach with a good UI . Users appreciate its organization for playlists . However, recent updates have introduced problems such as slow load times , the app force closing , and difficulty in upgrading to premium from the app . Some users also find the shuffle algorithm problematic .
Reliability & Performance edge: SpotifyR1R2R10R19
YouTube Music YouTube Music struggles with reliability, with frequent reports of music cutting out or stopping randomly R1R19. Users experience issues with Bluetooth connections, leading to skips and stops . The app is also described as laggy and prone to crashing . Some users report songs sounding sped up R10 or issues with background play stopping R2.
Spotify Spotify also faces reliability issues, including the app crashing and songs not playing or pausing . Users complain about slow performance and lag . Bluetooth car connections can be glitchy . However, some users specifically note that Spotify had no problems with Bluetooth where YouTube Music did .
Price & Value (Free vs. Paid) tieR3R17R27R36
YouTube Music YouTube Music's free tier is heavily criticized for requiring payment for background play R3R17R36. Free users also encounter frequent and unskippable ads, sometimes in the middle of songs R27R48. Premium users, however, find it valuable, especially since it often comes bundled with YouTube Premium, eliminating ads on YouTube videos .
Spotify Spotify's free tier is widely criticized for an excessive number of ads, often every other song or multiple ads at once R63R66. Free users also have limited skips and cannot choose specific songs to play . Premium is seen as essential for a good experience .
Support & Other Issues tieR12R26R31R37
YouTube Music YouTube Music users report issues with customer support regarding double billing R26 and difficulties with account creation R37. There are also complaints about music being removed from playlists and regional availability restrictions R12. Some users express concern about artist compensation R31.
Spotify Spotify users report issues with customer support, particularly regarding billing discrepancies for premium accounts . There are also complaints about the lack of control over recommendations and difficulty with playlist management, such as songs not showing up or not being able to add songs to playlists easily .
Pick YouTube Music if

Pick YouTube Music if you are already a YouTube Premium subscriber and want a unified experience for music and video without ads, or if you value the ability to easily switch between song and video versions of content R8.

Pick Spotify if

Pick Spotify if you prioritize a vast and established music and podcast library, and are willing to pay for a premium subscription to avoid ads and unlock full functionality, as its free tier is heavily restricted .

Evidence note: Both apps receive a significant number of negative reviews, primarily from free-tier users complaining about ads and feature limitations. The paid experience for both is generally more positive, but critical bugs and UI frustrations are still present in both apps' reviews.

Frequently asked

Can I listen to music offline with YouTube Music or Spotify?
Both YouTube Music and Spotify offer offline listening, but this feature is typically restricted to premium subscribers R19R99.
Do YouTube Music and Spotify have ads?
Yes, both YouTube Music and Spotify have ads on their free tiers, with users frequently complaining about the number and intrusiveness of ads, sometimes even in the middle of songs R27R48R63R66.
Which app is better for background music playback?
Both YouTube Music and Spotify require a premium subscription for uninterrupted background music playback; free users of YouTube Music report music stopping when the app is closed or the phone is off R2R3R17R36.

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. [R8] YouTube Music 5/5 · US Deep music catalog, sounds great: For YouTube users YouTube Music is a great way to stream music. The song catalog is comprehensive and the audio sounds better than Apple Music (for my taste). I also like the many daily mixes that are algorithmically made to cover a variety of genres you like. Quickly switching between song and video is another strength of YTM. The queuing system is second to no
  2. [R9] YouTube Music 3/5 · US No lossless audio option: This is the only music streaming service that doesn’t offer lossless audio which is extremely frustrating to audiophiles.
  3. [R14] YouTube Music 4/5 · US Satisfactory: It’s satisfying for the most part. I love that I don’t need premium to pick a specific song to listen to; however, I’m not a big fan of the AI songs that I come across. The platform would be so much better if the AI songs would be taken away.
  4. [R15] YouTube Music 3/5 · US Letra: La letra de la música siempre la ponen mal, cambian las palabras. No ponen la letra original. A veces ponen palabras que ni existen
  5. [R6] YouTube Music 3/5 · US Can you fix the song look up?: If you look up a song, and then choose the song, it leaves the keyboard on screen like half the time. This has been a glitch for years. It can’t be that hard to fix. Like when you choose a song make sure it just exits all text prompts, idk I’m not a coder but yeah it can’t be that hard.
  6. [R7] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Navigation and keyboard issues: Please fix all the broken back navigation issues and the keyboard getting stuck on the screen
  7. [R13] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Not good: One of the most frustratingly user unfriendly apps i have ever experienced
  8. [R17] YouTube Music 5/5 · US Pretty good but..: This app is a lot more less confusing then Spotify or really any other platform for music but the thing is that we have to pay to have music playing in the background that’s all I have to say other then that this app is lovely.
  9. [R1] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Buggy and weird: Cuts out frequently. Just stops the music for no reason, which is pathetic. Can’t even successfully do the on thing it claims to do - play music. Also, lots of weird UI issues because they don’t play music, rather, always trying to play the videos without showing you the video to make you think it’s a Spotify competitor. Hot garbage that should make Google ashamed (but they won
  10. [R2] YouTube Music 4/5 · US It’s amazing: Love it, but when I turn my phone off the music turns off. Overall it’s amazing
  11. [R10] YouTube Music 1/5 · US SONGS SOUND SPED UP: why do so many songs sound sped up (as if playing at 1.1x or something) i cant stand it
  12. [R19] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Leaves a lot to ask for: App is carried heavily by its catalog of music, videos, and of course, YouTube access. However, the app itself could be heavily improved to not drain battery, start/stop music randomly, or simply improve the UI to be user friendly. The playlist and queue UI is clunky, slow, and frankly, inefficiently adds music to both processes making it a pain. The download feature i
  13. [R3] YouTube Music 3/5 · US Ehh: I liked it but eventually I had to pay to listen to music with it off which is stupid because ofc I’m gonna listen to it when my phone is off
  14. [R27] YouTube Music 3/5 · US In the middle huh.: You gave me an AD in the MIDDLE of a SONG, does that make ANY SENSE‽ if you’re gonna give me an ad at least make it at the end or beginning of a song. And if you’re gonna give an ad, don’t make it two un-skipable 15 second ads. That’s just ONE un-skipable 30 second ad.
  15. [R36] YouTube Music 3/5 · US Look this….: It's not very friendly to people who want to listen to music for free. Although I felt good about the one-month free Music Premium, on the first day after the month was over, I felt it wasn't so good for me anymore because I couldn't play music in the background.but it still good if u have premium
  16. [R12] YouTube Music 3/5 · US not the best for some locations: If u live in the Middle East there is a 50% chance that u won’t be able to download this app, yesterday July 11th I downloaded this app and when I opened it I wasn’t able to listen to music bc it wasn’t available in my country or region! It says I should open YouTube but I don’t like having YouTube on my phone, honestly this seems like a great app but I would rlly
  17. [R26] YouTube Music 5/5 · US Doble cobro: Hola buenas noches quisiera saber porque me estan cobrando dos veces el 07/09/2026 y el 07/10/2026 quiero saber porque espero respondan pronto gracias o
  18. [R31] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Pays artists too little: For how nit the company is, they really don’t pay the artists enough
  19. [R37] YouTube Music 1/5 · US stupid ah: i cant een create anotha acc , stop flagging me 🫩
  20. [R99] Spotify 3/5 · GB We should be able to listen to it without WiFi: We should be able to listen to it without WiFi
  21. [R48] YouTube Music 3/5 · US it’s good but not the best: this app is amazing but only if u have a subscription that costs more than 30$ a month there’s adds every skip i used to listen on it with my dads account that has the subscription but when i used it on my account i couldn’t listen to one song calmly. If u want to listen to music calmly without paying use spotify it has adds without a subscription but like 1 add per 50
  22. [R63] Spotify 3/5 · US Me gusta o no?: Dan muchos anuncios
  23. [R66] Spotify 3/5 · US Adds: Tooo many adds and some of them are really gross I don’t want to here about things I don’t need to know for a long time, but the app is good only wish I could get rid of podcast off my recommended so when my green noise ends it doesn’t put a random podcast and I wake up from my sleep

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