Free Tier
Yes, ad-supported with shuffle limits
Yes, ad-supported with background play locked
Premium Price
~$11.99/month individual
~$10.99/month individual
Family Plan
$17.99/month, up to 6 accounts
$16.99/month, up to 6 accounts
Student Plan
~$5.99/month
~$5.99/month
Catalog Size
~100 million tracks
~100M+ official + vast user uploads
User Music Upload
No
Yes, up to 100,000 songs
Podcast Support
Yes, native and extensive
Largely discontinued / minimal
Offline Downloads
Yes (Premium only)
Yes (Premium only)
Audio Quality (max)
~320 kbps Ogg Vorbis
~256 kbps AAC
Hi-Fi / Lossless
Not yet (long-promised)
No
Collaborative Playlists
Yes
No
Algorithm / Radio
Best-in-class Discover Weekly & Daily Mix
Good but relies heavily on YouTube history
Worth knowing
- Spotify has over 600 million active users as of 2024, making it the world's largest music streaming platform.
- YouTube Music automatically includes live versions, covers, and remixes that official streamers don't carry.
- Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist has introduced billions of new artist-listener connections since 2015.
- YouTube Music Premium doubles as YouTube Premium, removing ads across all of YouTube — a serious value-add.
- Spotify podcasts library hosts over 4 million shows; YouTube Music essentially exited the podcast space.
Spotify once hired a fake band called 'Sountrap Studio' to test whether their algorithm would boost artificially seeded tracks — and it worked, earning millions of streams before journalists caught on.
If you wantYou want the best music discovery and podcast combo
Spotify's Discover Weekly and native podcast support are still unmatched in the streaming world.
→ Pick Spotify If you wantYou upload your own music or bootlegs
YouTube Music lets you upload 100,000 personal tracks and mix them seamlessly with the streaming catalog.
→ Pick YouTube Music If you wantYou're already paying for Google One or watch a lot of YouTube
YouTube Music Premium bundles ad-free YouTube, making the price a no-brainer for Google loyalists.
→ Pick YouTube Music If you wantYou share playlists and music with friends
Spotify's collaborative playlists, blend feature, and social sharing tools are miles ahead of YouTube Music.
→ Pick Spotify Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.