Music streaming is more competitive than ever with so many options for users! Back in the day, ask anyone, and they would say Spotify is the only option but that has long changed.
Today, Spotify has some healthy competition and YouTube Music is one name that stands out. It is strong contender in 2026 with its massive library and powerful set of features.
So it’s only natural for music streamers to wonder which one is best in 2026. That’s why in this guide, we will compare these two services (YT Music & Spotify) to help you choose the right option for you!
1. Plans and Pricing
Spotify offers the following plans:
- Free Tier
- Individual (1 user)
- Duo (2 users)
- Family (6 users)
Premium Individual costs $11.99 a month while the Duo plan has a cost of $16.99. And if you go with the Family plan, it will cost you $19.99.
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All the premium plans come with offline downloads, no ads, and unlimited skips. Also, the Duo and Family plans come with shared playlists which is not something you get with the Individual plan.
YouTube Music also has multiple plans:
- Free Tier
- Individual (1 user)
- Family (5 users)
As for the YT Music, the individual plan costs $10.99 while the family plan costs $16.99 a month. Also, YT Music’s Family Plan only covers 5 users while the Spotify Family plan can be used by 6 users.
The free tier of Spotify comes with ads, no offline listening and a limited skips quota. So a user only gets to listen to shuffled music which can be off-putting for many. Similarly, YouTube Music also has ads but does allow unlimited skips for the free users.
2. Music Library
Both streaming services have 100+ million tracks in their library. So as far as variety is concerned, both platforms have huge numbers.
Spotify focuses on official releases from global artists. On the other hand, YouTube Music relies more on user uploaded content. This includes both official releases and unofficial tracks from YT’s video ecosystem.
Another factor to consider is the podcasts, and that’s where Spotify truly shines. Latest data shows Spotify has 7+ million podcasts, while YT music’s offering doesn’t even come close.
Also, the quality of the podcasts on YouTube Music can be inconsistent, as it also allows user uploaded content. Meanwhile, the podcast quality on Spotify is always high quality and consistent.
To conclude, the strength of Spotify is in its reliable library of official releases. So, you can expect well-organized albums directly from the artists. So, for those who want a dependable audio only experience, Spotify remains the king.
Meanwhile, YT Music is all about rare remixes, covers, and even unofficial tracks you have never heard of! The inclusion of unofficial uploads can mean inconsistent sound quality and metadata.
3. Streaming Quality & Compatibility
Let’s face it: The streaming quality is as important as the library size! Although neither platforms offer high definition audio, Spotify still has the upper hand against YT Music.
On the Premium Spotify plans, you can stream the audio tracks up to 320kbps but it is capped at 256kbps on YouTube Music.
Another thing to consider is the device compatibility & that’s where Spotify takes the lead again. If you are going to stream on usual devices (smartphones/PC or tablet), then both are fine.
But for streaming on smart speakers, smart TVs or smart assistants, Spotify is the only option. A good example of this is that you can stream on Alexa via Spotify. However, you can’t do the same with YouTube!
So, Spotify takes a slight lead over YouTube Music in terms of streaming quality. But if you really want lossless quality, then you will need to look for other options besides these two.
4. Music Discovery & Personalization
When choosing a music streaming service, users also consider music discovery + personalization. A quick look at Spotify shows it has an AI based recommendation system refined over the years.
Spotify offers recommendations via: Discover Weekly, Daily Mixes and release radar. The platform also focuses heavily on music behavior, which results in more accurate and diverse recommendations.
YouTube Music is also no slouch in this regard, as it uses the Google AI to do the magic. However, the recommendations often repeat old tracks rather than pushing new tracks. Also, YT Music is still a new player, which means the recommendation features are not as refined.
In this department, the clear winner is Spotify as it offers reliable music discovery and personalization.
Conclusion
After considering all the factors like library, pricing, music discovery and streaming quality, the winner is Spotify. The only department where YouTube Music takes the lead is pricing. However, the difference in pricing is very negligible, and Spotify also offers tons of other features.
It’s also worth putting it out there that YouTube Music is still new when compared with Spotify. So, it will likely take a few more years for the YouTube Music to step up its game and give some serious competition to Spotify.