Music sure has come a long way since you had to go dig through the bins at your local record store. You can pipe hundreds of millions of songs directly into your headphones from anywhere with an internet connection, all for the price of one CD each month. No more buying tracks or buffing out scuffs.
All of these services’ libraries pretty much mirror each other, with the phrase “over 100 millions songs” being thrown around by multiple services. The things that separate streaming services are the quality of music discovery, the experience on desktop and mobile apps, what devices you can use them with, and of course their sound quality. Most of them have free tiers, but the experience improves if you subscribe and pay a monthly fee.
It was hard work, but I spent a few weeks jamming out to my favorite tracks, judging recommendations, and crunching the numbers on subscription plans to figure out which music streaming service deserves your dollars.
If you need to upgrade your listening device, we've got guides for the Best Wireless Headphones, Best Wirefree Earbuds, and Best Cheap Headphones.
Updated July 2025: Updated pricing and subscription details for several services, upgraded Deezer from honorable mentions to a full recommendation, removed details about removed features to make room for news about different removed features.