Spotify vs Amazon Music
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Spotify is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.1. Spotify wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Amazon Music on 1.
Music fans who want great recommendations on every device they own
Prime members and Alexa households who want music without another big bill
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Spotify | Amazon Music |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Music & Podcasts | Music & Podcasts |
| Category rank | #1 of 11 | #9 of 11 |
| Developer | Spotify | Amazon |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Spotify better than Amazon Music?
Spotify is the better app overall, scoring 8.9 to 8.1. Spotify wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Amazon Music on 1.
Which is cheaper, Spotify or Amazon Music?
Spotify: Free with ads; Premium Individual $12.99/month in the US after a free trial. Amazon Music: Free with ads; Unlimited is $12.99 a month, $11.99 with Prime; family $21.99. On value for money, Spotify scores higher.
Do Spotify and Amazon Music work on the same devices?
Only Spotify runs on Linux.
Which is more private, Spotify or Amazon Music?
Amazon Music scores higher on privacy (6.8/10). App Store label: no tracking, but purchases, location, contact info, your content, searches, identifiers, usage and diagnostics may be linked to you.
Strengths and weaknesses
Spotify
- Best-in-class recommendations and playlists
- Works on nearly every phone, speaker, console and car
- Free tier lets you listen without paying
- Free tier has ads and playback limits on mobile
- Premium now costs more than Apple Music in the US
- Its App Store label lists data used to track you
Spotify is still the best all-round music app. Discover Weekly, daylist and the new Prompted Playlist keep surfacing songs you'll actually like, and Spotify Connect hands playback between phone, speaker and car without fuss. Premium now includes lossless audio, but it also costs more after the 2026 US price rise. The free tier still works, with ads and the tracking that pays for them. Get it if discovery and device support matter most.
Full Spotify review
Amazon Music
- Prime members get ad-free music at no extra cost
- HD and spatial audio at no extra charge
- Unlimited includes an Audible audiobook each month
- Prime's music is shuffle play, not full on-demand
- Lots of data is linked to your Amazon account
- Busy app that mixes music, podcasts and books
Amazon Music makes the most sense if you already pay for Prime. Prime gets you ad-free music and top podcasts in shuffle mode, and Unlimited adds 100 million songs on demand, HD and spatial audio, offline listening and one Audible audiobook a month, for a dollar less than non-members pay. There's a free tier with ads too. The app mixes music, podcasts and audiobooks, so it can feel busier than Spotify.
Full Amazon Music review
