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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Mixcloud vs YouTube Music

Mixcloud 4.8★ · Free to download 65
Winner Tie
YouTube Music 4.8★ · Free to download 65

Mixcloud is better for curated DJ mixes and niche genres with fewer ads for paying users, while YouTube Music offers a broader music library integrated with YouTube Premium benefits, despite recent UI and reliability issues.

Full reviews: Mixcloud · YouTube Music

Mixcloud excels in providing a platform for DJ mixes and radio shows, often with fewer ads for its users, but suffers from significant app stability and UI issues. YouTube Music boasts a vast library, strong recommendations, and integration with YouTube Premium, yet it faces criticism for recent UI changes, frequent bugs, and a restrictive free tier.

Head to head

Content & Curation edge: MixcloudR5R17R20R23
Mixcloud Mixcloud is highly praised for its extensive collection of DJ mixes, radio shows, and niche genres, including old school, ambient, house, and hip hop, with users appreciating the ability to find specific DJs and their archives R5R17R20R23.
YouTube Music YouTube Music offers a vast music library, including official songs and YouTube videos, and is lauded for its strong recommendation algorithm that helps users discover new music . However, some users lament the removal of the 'Explore' and 'Related' tabs, which previously helped with new music discovery .
Ease of Use & UI tieR9R24R33R36
Mixcloud Mixcloud's user interface is a significant point of frustration, with reports of landscape mode issues on iPad, unresponsive buttons, and a faulty search function R9R24R33R36. Recent updates have also removed features like 30-second skip buttons and detailed track information, making the app feel stripped down R15R31.
YouTube Music YouTube Music has faced recent criticism for its user interface changes, with users disliking the new layout, the removal of the 'Related' tab, and a glitchy experience . Some also report issues with CarPlay integration and the shuffle function .
Reliability & Performance tieR1R4R12R21
Mixcloud Mixcloud users frequently report severe reliability issues, including connection problems, music stopping unexpectedly, constant glitching, and the app being unresponsive or failing to load R1R4R12R21. Login issues are also common R10R13.
YouTube Music YouTube Music also struggles with reliability, experiencing frequent crashes, lag, and songs randomly stopping . Users report downloaded songs not playing offline and issues with the app not working on CarPlay .
Price & Value (Free vs. Paid) edge: MixcloudR11R14R16R28
Mixcloud Mixcloud's free tier is appreciated for having fewer ads compared to other apps R11R14. However, premium users report significant issues, including downloaded mixes not working, inability to replay favorites, and a lack of exclusive features for subscribers R16R28. Some also criticize the removal of features like fast-forwarding to push for paid use R31.
YouTube Music YouTube Music's free tier is heavily criticized for its limitations, such as mandatory screen-on playback, unskippable ads in the middle of songs, and no background play R69R76. Premium users generally find value in the ad-free experience and YouTube Premium bundle , but some feel it's overpriced given the app's issues .
Support & Development tieR4R15R31R45
Mixcloud Mixcloud users express frustration with the app's declining quality over time, with features being stripped away and persistent bugs not being addressed R4R15R31R45. There are also reports of issues with paid 'boost' features not delivering as promised .
YouTube Music YouTube Music users are vocal about recent updates making the app worse, with developers removing beloved features like the 'Explore' and 'Related' tabs and introducing more animations that hinder user comfort . There are also complaints about songs being removed from playlists and search functionality issues .
Pick Mixcloud if

you are primarily interested in discovering and listening to DJ mixes, radio shows, and niche electronic music genres, and prefer an app with fewer ads in its free tier R5R11R14R17.

Pick YouTube Music if

you already pay for YouTube Premium and want a music streaming service integrated with it, or if you value a vast music library that includes YouTube videos and a strong recommendation algorithm .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of recent negative reviews, indicating a decline in user satisfaction despite high lifetime ratings. The free vs. paid asymmetry is notable for YouTube Music, where many negative reviews stem from the limitations of the free tier.

Frequently asked

What are the main differences in content between Mixcloud and YouTube Music?
Mixcloud specializes in long-form audio content like DJ mixes, radio shows, and podcasts, offering a unique platform for discovering curated sets across various genres R5R17R20R23. YouTube Music, on the other hand, provides a comprehensive library of official songs, albums, and music videos, leveraging YouTube's vast content catalog .
Which app offers a better free experience?
Mixcloud's free tier is generally perceived as better because it has fewer intrusive ads and allows for continuous listening without as many restrictions as YouTube Music R11R14. YouTube Music's free tier is heavily criticized for requiring the screen to be on, having unskippable ads in the middle of songs, and lacking background play R69R76.
Are there common technical issues with either app?
Yes, both apps suffer from significant technical issues. Mixcloud users report frequent connection problems, unexpected stopping of music, glitching, and login failures R1R4R10R13. YouTube Music users experience frequent app crashes, lag, songs stopping randomly, and issues with downloaded music not playing offline .

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. [R5] Mixcloud 5/5 · US Righteous Mixes!: The BEST in old school mixes! Read RELENTLESS!
  2. [R17] Mixcloud 5/5 · US Kenny K,Ty Boogie,Nelly Nell: I love that you can find just about any DJ you like in rotation!
  3. [R20] Mixcloud 5/5 · US Mil gracias: Agradezco infinitame a esta app por permitirme escuchar a los mejores djs con mucha música de todos los tiempos claro mi mejor época fue de los 80s y 90s y tiene bastantes mixes gracias totales
  4. [R23] Mixcloud 5/5 · US From the garage to AfroPunk: The music from my youth at paradise garage to the Rock and Roll in my high school and more. I find a global link to all the music from my time in Europe and Asia, all the music from my life.
  5. [R9] Mixcloud 3/5 · US Wide music choice ruined by faulty UI: Db radio and world wide DJ’s of every stripe a great plus. The fact that some times it works in landscape on my iPad, and then randomly will switch to portrait and not switch back. Frustrating to the point of not using the app any longer. It may seem minor, maybe it is, but it makes want to delete the app and sit in silence instead.
  6. [R24] Mixcloud 3/5 · US Not quite there yet: It’s decent but feels like it’s missing something still. At times it doesn’t feel responsive to any button touches. I’m glad I can access my mixes though. I’d like to see this continue to improve.
  7. [R33] Mixcloud 3/5 · GB Search and Destroy: There’s alot to love about Mixcloud, but unfortunately, the search function is still beyond useless. Jah Bless
  8. [R36] Mixcloud 3/5 · GB iPad version: Everything was fine until suddenly 03.05.25 the iPad version only seems to work in portrait view, whereas my iPad stand is in landscape view. Others seem to have had this issue, so I’m hoping it will be fixed or that I’m doing something wrong. Other apps are working fine though in landscape view.
  9. [R1] Mixcloud 1/5 · US No connection: Every time I select music, it says there’s a problem with the connection
  10. [R4] Mixcloud 2/5 · US Good to Bad to Ugly: MixCloud was one of my favorite apps for many years. Unfortunately it has gone from, Good to Bad to Ugly. The basic functionality was excellent for many years. Then inconsistencies crept in and increased throughout 2025. Frustrating, it is and has been for several months of 2026. Often I would share links for streams, several times a day. Now it rarely works well for mo
  11. [R12] Mixcloud 3/5 · US Initial thoughts…: Keeps stopping when I use other apps
  12. [R21] Mixcloud 3/5 · US Doesn’t Load: The app is slow to load and music and app become unresponsive
  13. [R11] Mixcloud 5/5 · US Mixcloud is great!: So many apps ruined by pop ups and ads. Not this one! If the genre’s of music featured are your cup of tea…it’s a really good app! I use it a lot and totally recommend it for anyone into ambient, house, etc. It’s awesome.
  14. [R14] Mixcloud 5/5 · US Super great: This app it’s so awesome. The best music app specially if you hate adds. 👌 totally 10/10
  15. [R16] Mixcloud 1/5 · US Subscription means nothing!: What’s the use of making people pay subscription if you’re not going to do anything about making it exclusive? Just paid and literally still can’t listen to anything!
  16. [R28] Mixcloud 1/5 · US Won’t let me replay favorites or downloaded mix: I’m a premium member and should be able to replay mixes regardless if it’s the only mix I listen to. No reason to cut me off.
  17. [R15] Mixcloud 3/5 · US Good service, rotting app: A decent service that hosts some great DJ sets. Unfortunately, the app is slowly being stripped of features. The ability to see what track is currently playing beyond a truncated title that might not even display the artist was made a premium feature a few months ago, and in a recent update the buttons for skipping forward and backward by 30 seconds were stripped out. I
  18. [R31] Mixcloud 2/5 · US High Quality of music, Low quality of life.: Downloaded the app a couple years ago now, you could download 2 or 3 tracks for free offline play, no fast forward restrictions, no subscription required. Now you’ve gotta pay if you want to use the skip ahead button more than 6 times a day. Sad how the app has fallen out of shape due to unfettered greed.
  19. [R45] Mixcloud 3/5 · GB Restart: I would have given it 5stars but the app creators have messed it up. Use to be able to listen where you left off last on apple CarPlay now it restarts the whole thing from the beginning. It’s going down hill cos they getting too greedy.
  20. [R69] 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.
  21. [R76] YouTube Music 1/5 · US Sucks: Your phone screen must be on or it won’t play… seriously? There are so many music apps with that basic feature so I will stick with Pandora and Spotify. This app is the worst I’ve seen basically due to that simple feature. YouTube is already a nightmare with its advertising. Uninstalled and I won’t be back.
  22. [R10] Mixcloud 1/5 · US Can’t login at all!: Unexpected response from the server!!!!!!!!!
  23. [R13] Mixcloud 1/5 · US BROKEN: Was Great Now the APP wont work wont let me do a Password reset. NOTHING. Unexpected error. Server issues.

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