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

Spotify vs YouTube

Spotify 4.8★ · Free to download 75
Winner Spotify
YouTube 4.7★ · Free to download 60

Spotify is generally preferred for music streaming due to its extensive library and personalized playlists, while YouTube excels for diverse video content but suffers from significant technical issues and an overwhelming number of ads.

Full reviews: Spotify · YouTube

Spotify offers a vast music library and good personalized playlists, though free users face frequent ads and limited functionality. YouTube provides diverse video content but is plagued by app crashes, excessive ads, and user dissatisfaction with recent feature changes like the removal of the dislike button.

Head to head

Content Library & Discovery edge: SpotifyR20R23R53R54
Spotify Spotify is praised for its extensive music library, allowing users to find the songs they are looking for and offering good personalized playlists R20R23R53. However, some users feel that new music recommendations have declined, becoming too similar to existing listening habits R54.
YouTube YouTube is highly valued for its diverse content, including educational videos and entertainment, with users appreciating the availability of various creators and content types . However, some users express concerns about inappropriate content and the prevalence of 'slop' videos .
Ease of Use & Features tieR3R8R9R10
Spotify Spotify is generally easy to use for playing music R8R53. However, free users face significant limitations, including frequent ads, restricted skips, and inability to select specific songs R3R9R10R25. There are also complaints about podcasts autoplaying and the lack of an 'unlike' button .
YouTube YouTube's organization of videos and shorts is appreciated, and some users find it easy to navigate . However, recent updates have made features like rearranging playlists difficult , and users are unhappy with the removal of the dislike button and the push for YouTube Shorts .
Reliability & Performance edge: SpotifyR1R18R19R42
Spotify Spotify users report various technical issues, including songs changing unexpectedly, daylists disappearing, slow loading times, and the app going into offline mode despite having internet access R1R18R19R42.
YouTube YouTube suffers from severe reliability problems, with numerous reports of the app crashing instantly upon opening, requiring frequent reinstallation, and videos freezing or glitching R61.
Ads & Monetization tieR3R6R9R10
Spotify Spotify's free tier is heavily criticized for an overwhelming number of ads, with users reporting ads every one to two songs, and frequent podcast ads R3R6R13. Some feel the app is becoming 'pay-to-win' or 'terrible without premium' R9R10.
YouTube YouTube is also heavily criticized for an excessive number of ads, with users experiencing frequent ad breaks, long ads, and banner ads covering videos R76. Many find the ads disruptive and irrelevant R85.
Price & Value tieR13R22R24R25
Spotify Spotify's premium subscription is considered expensive by some users, especially given the frequent ads on the free tier R13R22R24. There are complaints about being forced to pay for basic features like skipping songs R25.
YouTube YouTube Premium is seen as expensive, forcing users to choose between a high price or constant ads . Despite paying for premium, some users still experience app issues .
Pick Spotify if

Pick Spotify if you primarily want a dedicated music streaming app with a vast library and good personalized playlists, and are willing to pay for premium to avoid ads and unlock full features R20R23R53.

Pick YouTube if

Pick YouTube if you need a platform for diverse video content, including educational, entertainment, and creator-generated videos, and are prepared to tolerate frequent ads or pay for premium to avoid them .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative reviews, primarily from free users frustrated with ads and limited functionality. YouTube's recent reviews show a strong negative skew due to widespread app crashing issues and unpopular feature changes.

Frequently asked

Which app has more ads?
Both Spotify and YouTube are heavily criticized for having too many ads on their free tiers, with Spotify users reporting ads every 1-2 songs and YouTube users experiencing frequent ad breaks and banner ads R3R36R76R85.
Is Spotify or YouTube more reliable?
Spotify appears to be more reliable than YouTube, despite some users reporting occasional glitches and slow loading R19R42R46. YouTube is frequently reported to crash upon opening, requiring constant reinstallation, and has issues with videos freezing and glitching R61.
Can I pick specific songs on Spotify's free tier?
No, on Spotify's free tier, users often cannot pick specific songs and are limited to a certain number of skips, with the app playing random or recommended songs instead of those in their playlists R25R40R41R51.

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. [R20] Spotify 5/5 · US Amazing download now !💖💅: Amazing work I love this app all types of music I use it more that’s Netflix💅
  2. [R23] Spotify 5/5 · US Quality of App: This app has never let me down! It has always had the songs I’ve been looking for! And the personalized playlists are pretty good!!
  3. [R53] Spotify 5/5 · US Is good: Is really helpful it haves a lot of songs that you can hear I us this app to clean or when I about to shower
  4. [R54] Spotify 3/5 · GB New music recommendations: What i used to love about Spotify is that it was amazing for finding new music that you may not have found on your own. I’m not sure what’s changed in the back end but Spotify now only seems to recommend songs that are already very similar to what you listen to. I could get that anywhere, may be time to switch to YouTube music.
  5. [R3] Spotify 3/5 · US Anuncios: Muchos anuncios cada dos canciones
  6. [R8] Spotify 5/5 · US IDK: It plays music
  7. [R9] Spotify 3/5 · US Be nicer to free listeners: Without premium it’s trash so it’s bad for children or people without money.
  8. [R10] Spotify 1/5 · US Terrible without premium: This app is terrible without premium
  9. [R1] Spotify 1/5 · US Disappointing: I listened to some really good songs in my curated daylist while driving however by the time I got to my destination my daylist changed and I couldn’t pull up the songs I had just listened too. Now I can’t pull them up and they are gone forever
  10. [R18] Spotify 3/5 · US Para Spotify: Te doy 3 estrellas porque no puedo volver a reproducir mi música y me pone músicas que no estan en mi lista espero que algún día cambie eso Spotify porfavor Spotify combínalo las personas que no tienen dinero para pagar Spotify no pueden hacer lo que ya escribi cámbialo porfa
  11. [R19] Spotify 2/5 · US Tech issues: I have always experienced tech issues on this platform. I love Spotify, just wish it worked more smoothly. I will be watching a podcast , then it switches to another one I didn’t pick. It tends to freeze up, then hop to another screen when it finally works again. Very glitchy platform
  12. [R42] Spotify 3/5 · GB Good but now it’s slow: Suddenly it takes ages to load. What’s up ?
  13. [R6] Spotify 3/5 · US Eh: It’s great but maby lil less ads
  14. [R13] Spotify 2/5 · US 2 many commercials: Too many commercials and expensive
  15. [R22] Spotify 2/5 · US Overpriced: $10 should be the stander but they keep raising it
  16. [R24] Spotify 3/5 · US Too many adds: The app is great but in the last year I have noticed significantly more adds. Premium is still an option but it’s pretty expensive.
  17. [R25] Spotify 2/5 · US Get rid of premium and let people skip songs at any time: I like Spotify but tbh I want to skip the songs at any time js not wait a whole day js to skip 6 songs and then listen to random songs I don’t even have in any of my playlists
  18. [R36] Spotify 3/5 · US WAY TO MANY ADDS: This app is great with premium…(only) When streaming free at first I was getting adds every like four or five songs but that changes. Over the weeks adds have started appearing more often😭 now im getting adds every 2 songs! I mean Ik that their just trying to get me to pay for the app again but it’s still hella annoying!
  19. [R76] YouTube 1/5 · US great creators, TERRIBLE monetizing: i love the content available on youtube. it's awesome, and there's always something new to watch. but the ads are becoming absolutely ridiculous. today i was watching a video and noticed i was getting quite a few ad breaks. so i timed them, and realized there was only about 1.5 minutes between each ad break, with the total time per ad session being about 10-15
  20. [R85] YouTube 1/5 · US Pop-up banner ads are terrible: As if interrupting an instructional video mid-sentence to watch an insurance ad every 90 seconds isn’t bad enough, now a banner ad is on top of the video for 30 seconds after it resumes. Greedy corporate b.s.
  21. [R46] Spotify 1/5 · US TO SLOW: I haven’t been able to play a song from the I pad for A WEEK. I hope you can fix’s the glitch
  22. [R61] YouTube 1/5 · US Crashing: For the past week this stupid app has been crashing instantly when i try to open it up
  23. [R40] Spotify 2/5 · US Random: Literally lets you pick what you listen to for a little, but when you are out of skips, or you picked songs too much they just play songs completely different from what you listen to.
  24. [R41] Spotify 5/5 · US Aaliyah: Can I have unlimited skips and picking music please
  25. [R51] Spotify 3/5 · GB Good AND Bad: So many adssss ahh it won’t actually let me shuffle/ skip / search a song if I’ve searched afew already??? Tbh probs would have deleted but the podcast r good so that’s why im still here lol …kk

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