Best Music Streaming Service of 2026

Spotify is a pioneer in music streaming and is arguably the best-known service. It offers several curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist, and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations, an AI DJ, audiobooks and podcasts. After years of waiting, Spotify has rolled out lossless music for no extra charge.

Spotify is great if you're seeking a solid all-around service, especially one that lets you make, browse and share playlists for any occasion. The company's year-end Wrapped is an institution and it has spawned "best of" imitations from most of the company's competitors. The service even introduced on-demand stats so you don't need to wait till year's end. Also, the ad-supported free version of Spotify is the best free music streaming service.

Spotify has undergone big changes in the last few years and which now includes 15 hours of audiobooks a month, and the new Page Match feature is a boon to people who swap between reading and then listening to the audiobook. While the company supposedly has a book-free tier for $11, it's not available to new users, though people can sign up for the audiobooks-only plan for $10 a month. With all of the added features, the service now costs $13 in the US, £13 in the UK and AU$16 in Australia, and the student rate will set you back $7 per month.

At two dollars less than Spotify, Apple Music offers quite a lot for the money, including 100 million tracks and iOS and Android compatibility. The service runs second to Spotify in terms of subscribers, but surpasses its rival in that it has hi-res lossless and spatial audio albums, plus the classical music app at no extra charge. In terms of the user experience there isn't much to it, a choice of music or podcasts, and I feel that the interface could do with a bit of sprucing up.

Though it makes the most sense if you're an Apple user, Music is an option if you're listening on a PC, Android, or have invested in smart speakers -- including those from Google. If you own an Apple HomePod, Mini or Nest device, you can summon Apple Music tracks with your voice. The service also features a ton of curated playlists, many handcrafted by musicians and tastemakers, although the service lacks the robust sharing options (or some of the cool add-ons) available to Spotify users. 

If you're looking to move to Apple Music from its main rival Spotify, then Apple has released a tool which enables you to swap your libraries from one to the other.

Though Tidal quietly did away with its free service, it also scrapped its $20 Hi-Fi Plus tier in favor of an all-inclusive $11 plan instead -- this means hi-res music for everybody. It's worth noting that the service is (still) replacing its proprietary MQA files with hi-res FLAC for better compatibility.

The service also boasts a larger library than than most competitors, on paper at least, of 110 million tracks.

If you're an audiophile, a fan of urban music, or a mix of both, then Tidal offers a great catalog and a very attractive price.

While Amazon Prime Music comes "free" as part of a Prime membership, users can choose to upgrade to Music Unlimited for audiobooks (one title a month) and higher-quality music streams. At $12 for Prime members, or $13 if you don't have Prime, Unlimited offers an expanded catalog plus Atmos audio mixes which can be played on Dolby Atmos soundbars, Android or iOS devices, and the Amazon Echo Studio. In terms of usability, the Music Unlimited interface is also more powerful than before with playlists, genres and podcasts all accessible from the main page.

Qobuz's streaming service offers a wealth of music in hi-res, and you don't need a special hardware decoder to listen to it. The service offers two main plans: Studio Premier ($13 monthly or $130 yearly) and the $180 annual Sublime Plus. If you're a student, its new $5-a-month plan is a great value. Uniquely, the streaming service offers its own hi-res download store, and if you sign up for Sublime, you get a discount on purchases.

In 2025, the company added Qobuz Connect, which enables users to stream from the app to their compatible hi-fi, and takes on similar functionality from Tidal and Spotify.

At 100 million tracks, Qobuz's streaming catalog rivals Tidal's and Spotify's in number, and based on our tests, its catalog of more-obscure artists is now pretty impressive. Excellent sound quality at a decent price? Qobuz is our favorite service for serious music lovers who also want to be able to purchase tracks.

YouTube Music ($11 a month) is the successor to Google Play Music, and if you sign up for the ad-free YouTube Premium at $14 a month, you get YouTube Music for free. The good news is that YouTube Music is a mostly impressive service (the lower bit rate of 256Kbps is mildly disappointing), but Google has retained the predecessor's music locker system enabling you to upload new tracks. In even better news, YouTube Music offers a clean interface with over 100 million tracks to choose from. YouTube Music offers well-curated radio stations that play endlessly and are updated often. The service also has the ability to make playlists out of YouTube music clips, which makes it a worthy option. Lastly, the Apple HomePod has joined Google's Nest devices in enabling users to set YouTube Music as the default.

French stalwart Deezer has been operating in the US since 2016, and it has a lot to offer, including a free tier (mobile only) and an impressive 120 million tracks. It has more subscribers than some others on this list, thanks in part to its previous affiliation with Cricket Wireless. The main Premium plan is $12 a month, and users are also able to upgrade their audio quality within the app. Deezer also offers a couple of great features, and was the first service to let users upload their catalogs from competitors at no extra charge.