Spotify vs SoundCloud: Which is the best music app in 2025?
The music industry is growing every day. There are many music apps available online. The most popular music platforms are Spotify and SoundCloud, with millions of users worldwide. Both platforms provide high-speed and accurate music streaming and create a connection between people and music; both are popular and provide their users with different music streaming experiences. As you know, music is one of almost everyone’s favorite things. In this article, you’ll learn about Spotify vs. SoundCloud and all the information about them.
What is Spotify?
Spotify has a wide catalog and offers an easy-to-use interface. Its main focus is on popular music and high-quality sound. It only shares self-generated content. Spotify integrates music streaming and playlist creation, along with cross-platform sharing. It allows individuals to create and share playlists, and these playlists are shared by other users through other channels.
What is SoundCloud?
SoundCloud focuses on free music, but also allows users to upload music of their choice. Soundcloud is a site that provides user-generated content. Various musicians and producers use Soundcloud to showcase their music. SoundCloud also offers the ability to comment. We compare all music streaming platforms, so be sure to check out these differences: Spotify vs YouTube Music and Spotify vs Amazon Music.
Prices & plans
Let’s take a look at Spotify’s pricing plans. It offers $11.99 per month for one and $19.99 per month for a tribe of six. And, there’s the idea of a student discount for $5.99 per month.
Among SoundCloud’s premium services, the first is SoundCloud GO, while GO+ costs $4.99 per month and $9.99 per month, respectively. SoundCloud also offers free music listening and uploading services.
| Spotify Plans | Prices | SoundCloud Plans | Prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes | Free | Yes |
| Individual | $11.99/month | Go | $4.99/month |
| Duo | $15.99/month | Go+ | $9.99/month |
| Family | $19.99/month | Pro | $12/month |
| Student | $5.99/month | Pro Unlimited | $24/month |
Spotify also has a free plan, but its many restricted features make the platform fun and flexible. They earn more from contributions and reward creators with their copyright commission. Spotify also has a wider reach than Soundcloud. On the other hand, Soundcloud is a great free platform, even without any paid agreements. Soundcloud allows its users to listen to and upload any music they want without any payment.
Winner: Spotify
Sound quality
Spotify’s sound quality versus SoundCloud’s sound quality is the most important consideration for music lovers, especially when using high-quality listening equipment such as headphones. Spotify offers 320 kilobits per second (Kbps). On the other hand, SoundCloud offers 128 kilobits per second (Kbps), but GO+ offers 320 kbps. Streaming quality is good, with 160 kbps for regular users, and premium quality offers 320 kbps of high-quality audio. SoundCloud offers 256 kilobits per second for premium customers and 128 for regular or free users.
Winner: Spotify
Music library
Spotify has over 100 million songs in its catalog. Almost all of the music comes from world-famous music venues. On the other hand, SoundCloud has a long history of over 200 million songs, but the songs are from independent artists. If you want to listen to famous songs, Spotify is the best platform to listen to your favorite music. If you want to listen to independent musicians, SoundCloud is the best example.
Winner: SoundCloud
Trends
Spotify is undoubtedly a very popular platform, with over 573 million monthly users and 226 million subscribers. SoundCloud, on the other hand, is another popular platform, with 130 million users and 76 million monthly listeners. Spotify is a very convenient platform for listening to popular songs. SoundCloud is a good platform to start with. Spotify offers an easy-to-use interface, and you can share your playlist with family, friends, or loved ones. It also has a feature where you can see your friends’ accounts or what they’re listening to.
Winner: Spotify
Artists’ perspectives
If you want to know the artist perspectives on Spotify vs SoundCloud, SoundCloud is the best platform for gaining listeners, fans, etc. Spotify is better for making money through mainstream and live music; Soundcloud is definitely the best platform for beginners, as you already know you can upload music of your own choosing, offer music to listeners, then build fans and start interacting with them.
Soundcloud also has a reviews or comments section where you can write your critiques of songs or anything else you’d like to discuss. Spotify isn’t as easy to use as Soundcloud. Spotify is best suited for professional musicians.
Winner: SoundCloud
Music discovery
Spotify offers excellent features in terms of generating radio airplay based on the songs it offers. Spotify offers you discoveries every week. Spotify offers 30 songs and builds a weekly playlist. You can use it wirelessly to trace the same tracks to a collection, musician, or anything else. You can also check out what your friends and family are listening to. Soundcloud also offers good features for analyzing songs, such as the research tab; you know what song is trending. You can also find that song through tags, etc. You can also follow someone if you like their music, and you’ll receive notifications for new songs that user uploads, among other things.
Winner: Spotify
Listen offline
Now you’ll learn about Spotify’s listening methods versus SoundCloud’s. Both allow users to listen to songs offline or without an internet connection once they’ve downloaded the music. On Spotify, premium users use offline mode, while SoundCloud allows users to download songs for free and listen to them without an internet connection.
Winner: Draw
Song lyrics
Spotify offers a lyrics section, while Soundcloud doesn’t. Additionally, Spotify also offers an area where you can find more information about the songs.
Winner: Spotify
Applications and customer experience
In terms of user experience, Spotify users have a better experience than SoundCloud users. Its strengths are its ease of use, and various components help make the app easy to navigate. You can easily add or find friends, create playlists, and so on. The Spotify mobile app resembles many desktop apps and is easy to adopt. Almost all desktop apps are mobile apps.
On the other hand, the SoundCloud mobile app also has excellent features, but you can use SoundCloud through the search engine. Spotify is better for the public, but SoundCloud also offers better features; you can get your favorite songs from any musician. On SoundCloud, you can also create a corner of your favorite songs.
Winner: Draw
Social integration
SoundCloud provides audio services to its users, and its best feature is that it allows you to upload your audio to others. It will allow you to like the song, comment on your thoughts, and much more, but Spotify manages live music platforms with the creation of Listbox. It will allow you to use its content as if you couldn’t upload your own choice.
Winner: Spotify
Final Verdict: Which is the best?
| Characteristics | Spotify | SoundCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Prices and Plans | ✔ | |
| Sound Quality | ✔ | |
| Music Library | ✔ | |
| Trends | ✔ | |
| Artist’s Perspective | ✔ | |
| Music Discovery | ✔ | |
| Listen Offline | ✔ | ✔ |
| Lyrics | ✔ | |
| Applications | ✔ | ✔ |
| Social Integration | ✔ |
I hope you now understand the information regarding Spotify vs Soundcloud. Both offer excellent services, but Spotify is a good platform for those who want to listen to songs from a distance, for users who want the best quality songs, for those who find new musicians, and for Listbox. Secondly, Soundcloud is suitable for contemporary artists who want to share their music with a wide audience. It also allows users to give feedback to increase their confidence and listen to new artists. Soundcloud is accessible to anyone.
