Spotify vs Apple Music: What App Reviews Reveal
Spotify and Apple Music are the two most compared music streaming apps, and their store reviews show very different strengths and frustrations. AppLens puts both side by side on real user reviews so you can see who leads and why.
Last updated: July 1, 2026
Spotify
Category: Music streaming
A cross-platform music and podcast streaming service with a free ad-supported tier and paid Premium plans.
Apple Music
Category: Music streaming
Apple's subscription music streaming service, tightly integrated across Apple devices and iCloud.
Illustrative example. Real percentages come from each app's live reviews when you run the analysis in AppLens.
What AppLens compares
Rating-anchored verdict
Which app users rate higher on Google Play and the App Store, used as the primary signal for who leads.
Top complaint topics
The issues each app's reviewers raise most, measured by each topic's share of that app's complaints rather than raw counts.
Praise themes
What each app's users consistently love, so each app's real strengths are visible, not just its problems.
Where one app wins
The topics where one app clearly outperforms the other, in its users' own words.
Trend over time
How ratings and topics move release over release, with low-confidence, small-sample changes muted.
Why compare Spotify vs Apple Music?
- Both apps compete for the same subscribers, so review sentiment is a live read on switching risk.
- Music-app reviewers often raise topics like pricing, ads, library management, and playback reliability.
- Comparing topic share instead of raw counts keeps a bigger app from looking worse just because it has more reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Can I compare Spotify and Apple Music reviews in AppLens?
Yes. AppLens can analyze the public App Store and Google Play reviews for both apps and compare them topic by topic, with rating as the primary anchor.
What do music-app users usually complain about?
Common topics in music-app reviews include price changes, ads on free tiers, library and playlist management, offline playback, and recommendation quality. AppLens shows which of these each app's users raise most.
How is this different from a features comparison?
A features comparison lists what each app can do. This comparison is based on what real users say in reviews: the problems and praise that show up once people actually use each app.
Compare Spotify vs Apple Music on real reviews
Run the analysis in AppLens to get a rating-anchored verdict, each app's top complaint topics, and where one app wins. Or compare your own app against Apple Music.