The Best Music Streaming Services of 2026

Deezer subscription plans provide access to exclusive content, including live performances and original podcasts. For those looking for hi-res audio, Deezer’s premium HD audio plan is a great option, priced between Tidal's two options. It also boasts one of the simplest, most intuitive interfaces of the services we tested. Deezer’s free tier is present but limited: you can’t choose your tracks or listen offline, and the audio quality is lower than what paying users enjoy. But you can listen to music, podcasts, and radio for free.

Deezer’s library isn’t the largest, but it does boast most major artists and a wide slew of indies. If you’re a fan of discovering smaller artists, Deezer could be for you. If you care about how much these services pay artists, Deezer pays less than Tidal, but much more than Spotify.

Get the Deezer app on Apple iTunes Get the Deezer app on Google Play

Spotify Premium has been one of the most popular music streaming services around for years. It’s great for discovering new music and podcasts. Its Discover Weekly playlist automatically based on your listening habits is eerily good at finding new music you’ll love.

During testing, its user interface on Android, iOS, and desktop was among the simplest to navigate. You can quickly find the music you want and easily build playlists.

Like many competitors, Spotify Premium lets you download songs, albums, podcasts, and even playlists for offline listening. Downloads take up storage space on your device, but it’s a great option if you don’t have Wi-Fi or cell service, or you’re worried about data overages.

Unfortunately, Spotify has dropped the ball on high-definition audio. In early 2021, the service announced that it would be offering a hi-fi streaming option by the end of the year. Nearly two years later, other services offer high-definition audio as standard and Spotify Hi-Fi is still nowhere in sight.

It’s also worth noting that Spotify competes with YouTube for last place on paying artists for their work. Spotify can be great for discovering new artists, but it’s not a great way to listen to those artists, for their benefit or yours.

Get the Spotify app on Apple iOS App Store Get the Spotify app on Google Play

Amazon Music Unlimited offers high-definition audio by default for all of its subscription tiers, at no additional cost. The service boasts a library of 75 million songs. Amazon Prime members can listen to 2 million of those tunes for free. Additionally, anyone with an Alexa device can listen to the service’s “top playlists and stations” for free—but can’t choose songs on demand.

Amazon Music’s pricing is competitive with other services we tested, and the discounts offered to Prime members can make it a great deal. Echo device owners also have access to a low-cost voice control-only plan, similar to Apple Voice on Siri.

Amazon offers support for Dolby Atmos Music, expanding the traditional stereo mix of most popular music into a virtual 3-D listening experience. This lets users hear select music in a more immersive way. Unfortunately, device support for spatial audio is currently only available on Amazon’s Echo Studio smart speaker.

You should also note that Amazon Music Unlimited’s catalog size is fairly limited compared to some other services in this guide, and it only offers the basics for music recommendations and custom playlists.

Get the Amazon Music Unlimited app on Apple iOS App Store Get the Amazon Music Unlimited app on Google Play

YouTube isn’t just the world’s most popular video streaming site: it’s also one of the most used search engines in the world. YouTube Music uses its subscribers’ usage history to strengthen their recommendations and discovery features. That said, not every song on YouTube is accessible through YouTube Music.

The cost of a YouTube Music subscription is in line with the pricing of the other services in this guide. There’s a discount for students and a discounted family plan for five people over age 13 at the same address.

Unfortunately, you may have trouble accessing YouTube Music on some devices. There isn’t a smartwatch app, or even a dedicated desktop app. Additionally, YouTube’s artist payouts are among the worst of any streaming music service.

Get the YouTube Music app on Apple iOS App Store Get the YouTube Music app on Google Play

Pandora’s music discovery features are the best of any music streaming service. Most services start by asking you to choose a selection of favorite artists, but Pandora skips that and builds straight off of the first track you listen to. Its algorithm is good enough that it doesn’t need the help.

Our first test album using Pandora was one that Garrett recorded: a small indie release that he uses to test most services since he knows it so well. Once the album ended, the next song that Pandora cued up fit the vibe of the album so perfectly that he couldn’t turn it off. The song that played after that was from an artist that Garrett’s producer was listening to when they recorded his album. Pandora clearly understood the vibe.

Pandora offers its ad-supported streaming radio for free. A “Plus” plan gives you ad-free radio streaming, more skips and replays, and offline listening. Its relatively new on-demand listening service, Pandora Premium, finally lets you choose the artist and songs you want to hear at will.

Unfortunately, its discovery algorithm is the only strong point. Pandora is plagued by lower-quality audio and a smaller library than other services in this guide. Not only is there no high-definition audio, but Pandora’s standard audio quality is also sub-par compared to its competition.

Get the Pandora app on Apple iOS App Store Get the Pandora app on Google Play

SoundCloud Go+ provides access to millions of songs from established and independent artists. Subscribers enjoy access to some cool features. There’s a library of podcasts, and an automated SoundCloud Weekly playlist for discovering new music. SoundCloud GO+ also offers integration with select DJ apps, though most average listeners won’t get a lot of mileage out of that.

In addition to its Go+ service, SoundCloud also offers a less expensive SoundCloud Go plan, with less music to choose from and lower quality audio. No matter which plan you choose, you’ll be able to enjoy offline listening and, better still, no ads.

Unfortunately, SoundCloud’s support for devices other than smartphones and computers is poor. Its computer web interface is also far less intuitive than other services’.

Get the SoundCloud app on Apple iOS App Store Get the SoundCloud app on Google Play

As its name suggests, LiveOne places a heavy emphasis on live content, with a wealth of original programming and exclusive performances. While this helps it stand out from other music streaming services, LiveOne can’t measure up to the libraries of studio-recorded music other services offer.

During testing, LiveOne’s web interface was sluggish and difficult to use. While the mobile app was slightly better, it still isn’t up to par. These issues make it difficult to recommend LiveOne's "PLUS" plan.

If you’re intrigued by the exclusive content, there is a free, ad-supported plan which lets users listen to concert and festival live streams, audio stations, personalized recommendations, and original content. It’s a great way to check out what’s unique about LiveOne without having to pay a dime.

Get the LiveOne app on Apple iOS App Store Get the LiveOne app on Google Play