Deezer is a popular music streaming service based in France. It is free to use with ads, and it has over 73 million tracks in its library, as well as 30,000 radio channels.
One of the most common complaints people have with Deezer, however, is that its discovery algorithm is pretty bad.
Many users complain that Deezer’s Flow feature, which suggests new songs based on what you’ve listened to in the past, is just awful.
Not only does it often include songs that don’t fit with your prior listening history, but many users complain that it always presents the same tracks, in the same order, with few new songs and artists featured.
Also, the catalog is decent but not that vast if you’re interested in specific sub-genres.
Another problem with Deezer is that you can’t upload MP3 tracks from your mobile phone to the app for playback. You can only do so on the web version.
Regardless of why you are interested in a Deezer alternative, this article is for you. Today, I will show you the 15 best Deezer alternatives for listening to music, podcasts, and music radio stations.
Let us get into it.
The 15 Best Deezer Alternatives
1. Spotify
Spotify is, without a doubt, the leading music streaming service in the world (not including the Chinese and Indian markets), with 35 percent of music streamers having a subscription to Spotify.
Deezer has some benefits over Spotify, such as a somewhat cheaper family plan and better sound quality. However, there is a reason Spotify is so popular.
Spotify, for example, has one of the largest selection of podcasts in the industry. If the selection of podcasts at Deezer does not satisfy your needs, Spotify very well may.
However, the main reason to prefer Spotify to Deezer is that Deezer just does not do as good of a job with recommending music that you might like. Their discovery features and algorithm can be frustrating; many users report that after a while, it just starts recommending the same music already recommended earlier.
Spotify has a wider catalog overall. It’s more international too, and even though Deezer is headquartered in France, Spotify’s French user base has overtaken Deezer, which probably says something.
Spotify is free, but Spotify Premium offers streaming with no ads and unlimited skips. It also offers music streaming in higher resolution, though it is not exactly a hi-fi experience.
Spotify Premium costs the same as Deezer Premium, at $9.99/month in the US. Check the pricing page for more information, and keep in mind that in many countries, Spotify Premium is much cheaper than $9.99/month.
Read this post to explore the best Spotify alternatives.
2. Apple Music
Apple Music is the second most popular music streaming service (again, not including the Chinese and Indian markets), with 19 percent of streamers having a subscription.
Apple Music has a slightly larger selection of tracks available for playback, with 75 million tracks to choose from in many genres.
Although you can use Apple Music on any device, it is a great option if you have a lot of Apple devices. For example, you can listen to music and podcasts from your Apple Watch.
Sometimes, you don’t want to carry your phone with you but don’t mind wearing your watch. Perhaps you don’t have any pockets and would like to listen to your favorite songs and podcasts while you walk around the house, doing housework and tidying up, or while exercising.
Apple also allows you to add your own music to your library on mobile and sync your library on all of your devices, something Deezer does not allow you to do.
One reason to use Apple instead of Deezer is that Apple gift cards are more readily available at discounts at many chain stores and supermarkets. When they’re available at discounts, you can buy the card and use it for your Apple Music subscription to save money.
In addition, you can get Apple Music as part of an Apple One subscription. An Apple One subscription, which costs only $14.99/month, includes not only Apple Music but also Apple TV+, Apple Arcade (over 100 games), Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and an iCloud subscription (check Apple One for updated pricing information).
If you don’t want to pay for an Apple One subscription, you can get Apple Music alone for $9.99/month, with a three-month free trial. Check this page for updated pricing information in your country.
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3. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an interesting choice because it works quite differently than Deezer and other famous music streaming services.
First, however, let’s examine the number of songs available on SoundCloud vs Deezer.
Back in 2019, SoundCloud announced that more than 200 million songs were added to SoundCloud and were available for streaming, up from 125 million songs back in 2016. That number has likely grown since 2019, however.
Compare that to Deezer, which only has 73 million tracks.
As you can see, SoundCloud has many more songs available (at least 3x the amount Deezer has). What gives?
To understand why SoundCloud has a larger selection, it is important to understand how SoundCloud works. Most of the tracks available on SoundCloud were uploaded by individual users.
That includes professional artists, amateur artists, DJs, wannabe singers, small bands, and the like. Some of these songs are remixes or based on previous songs, including mashups, and quite a few fall into a gray area when it comes to copyrights.
That’s what sets SoundCloud apart from Deezer, and that’s why it has so many more tracks. However, that’s a great thing for many users, as it allows you to listen to unique, individual music that you might not find on Deezer.
For example, you may come across small bands or small-time artists whose music resonates with you. Perhaps you enjoy a very specific niche, such as a particular kind of religious or metal music, and you can’t find it on Deezer.
This diversity is what makes SoundCloud so unique. It is just a different business model. Instead of providing music from the major labels, it allows users to upload their unique music.
That is why you will find a lot of music on SoundCloud that is not available on any other streaming service.
Another reason to use SoundCloud is that it has so many podcasts. You will find many niche podcasts covering specific topics that you might not find elsewhere.
The app itself is not the most user-friendly compared to others, and the sound quality could be improved.
SoundCloud is free to use. However, it does offer premium plans, which start at $4.99.
While the $4.99/month plan will remove ads, you will need to upgrade to the $9.99/month plan for higher quality audio and access to the full catalog. Check out the pricing page for updated information.
Discover the best alternatives to Soundcloud in this post.
4. Qobuz
Qobuz is a great alternative to Deezer if you are interested in hi-fi music. Qobuz is a high-fidelity music streaming platform, which means you will be able to listen to music at a much higher resolution, with few distortions and great quality.
Qobuz is not free, but it is not terribly expensive either. With plans starting at just $12.49/month (check Qobuz for updated pricing information), it is just slightly more expensive than Deezer for much better quality.
There are a few different quality levels on Qobuz, but the highest is 24-Bit (up to 192kHz). In my personal experience, the sound quality on Qobuz is excellent, even when listening on my plain old Android device, and the listening experience is rich and subtle.
Qobuz might not have the best selection available compared to Deezer, but it still has over 70 million tracks for you to choose from. A free trial is available, so if you are looking for a hi-fi alternative to Deezer, start your 30-day free trial and see how you like the sound quality.
5. Amazon Music
Amazon Music is the third most popular music streaming service (not including China and India).
It has a free version with a certain number of stations and top playlists, but to get access to the full catalog of over 75 million tracks, you will need to sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited or Amazon Music HD.
Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Music HD are similar, but Amazon Music HD provides tracks in lossless high-resolution quality, making it a great alternative to Deezer if you are an audiophile.
It is also only $7.99/month for Prime members, but if you are not a Prime member, it will be $9.99/month.
One thing to consider is that if you are already an Amazon Prime member, you might not need to sign up for an extra subscription in the first place. As an Amazon Prime member, you get access to Amazon Prime Music, which includes two million music tracks and thousands of playlists.
Of course, two million tracks is nothing close to the 70 million range. However, the selection is decent, so if you only listen once in a while, it might work for you.
Also, as an Amazon Prime member, you will get access to other perks, like free two-day or one-day shipping and access to Amazon Prime Video.
Here are some useful links pertaining to Amazon Music:
- Differences between Amazon Music Free, Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Music HD, and Amazon Music Prime
- Amazon Music Unlimited updated pricing
- Amazon Music HD updated pricing
6. YouTube Music
Not everyone automatically thinks of YouTube when considering which music streaming service to sign up for, but it is a great option.
I’d like to make a distinction here. YouTube has plenty of music available for streaming on the regular YouTube app or website, but it also has a separate app and website called YouTube Music.
You don’t have to download the YouTube Music app to listen to music on YouTube, as many of the songs available on YouTube Music are available on the regular YouTube app as well.
However, downloading the YouTube Music app allows you to focus only on music. You can also pick artists you like, and, in general, YouTube Music has better discovery features.
YouTube is just as good as Deezer in terms of selection. Unless you like a very specific sub-niche, you’ll find all the major songs on YouTube.
If you are using the regular YouTube app, you can find playlists and standalone songs, as well as music channels. You can also find entire albums by typing an artist’s name into the search bar — those albums are often generated by YouTube.
YouTube Music is free, and unlike Deezer, it allows you to skip as many songs as you want, with no limitations, even on the free versions.
The downside of the free YouTube Music version is that when you close the app, the song will stop playing. However, you can sign up for YouTube Premium, which will remove all ads and allow you to continue playing videos and music (on the regular app and on YouTube Music) when you exit the app or turn your screen off entirely.
YouTube Music is actually the fifth most popular music streaming app, with a market share of six percent.
If you’ve used Google Play Music in the past, you may be surprised to find out it no longer exists. Instead, it has migrated to YouTube Music, and trust me, YouTube Music provides a much better experience.
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7. TIDAL
TIDAL is another great alternative to Deezer if you’re interested in high-fidelity music. Although Deezer does have a hi-fi plan, TIDAL generally has better sound quality overall (this is especially true if you have special hi-fi speakers and headphones).
In terms of selection and app layout, I’d say they’re pretty much similar.
8. Napster
Napster is not what it used to be. Back in the day, years ago, it was software you could use to find and download songs that other users have shared, including songs that were not licensed for free distribution.
These days, Napster is a decent alternative to Deezer, with millions of songs and an excellent selection of radio stations to listen to. It has a free thirty-day trial, so head over to check updated pricing information and start listening.
9. Pandora
Pandora is probably one of the best alternatives to Deezer if you’d like to focus more on radio stations as opposed to just label music. It has a free plan, which includes personalized stations and podcasts.
Pandora’s free plan allows you to skip as many times as you want, unlike Deezer, which only allows six skips per hour on the free plan. In addition, Pandora’s premium plans start at just $4.99/month, half the price of Deezer’s premium plan.
The $4.99/month plan will not only take away all ads but will also allow you to download music for offline listening. Check the Pandora website for updated pricing information.
The thumbs up/thumbs down feature helps you get more personalized music and makes discovery better. When you don’t like a track, just give it a thumbs down so Pandora knows not to recommend similar music in the future.
Check out more Pandora-like services.
10. Huawei Music
If you have a Huawei phone, Huawei Music might be a good app to use for finding new music tracks, discovering global hits, and finding radio stations to listen to.
Huawei Music is not available in all regions, even if you have a Huawei phone, and the exact content selection will also vary by region.
One of the cool things about Huawei Music is the Party Mode app. What that does is allow you to connect many phones in the same room together via the Party Mode app so that all the phones play the same song simultaneously, amplifying the sound, even without any speakers.
That makes Huawei Music a good alternative to Deezer for party music.
11, 12, & 13. Tencent Music Group: QQ, Kugou, & Kuwo (China)
Tencent is a company that has three music streaming apps aimed at the Chinese market. I’m including them in this list because they actually have many more users than any other streaming service in the world.
If you’re looking for a Chinese alternative to Deezer, look no further than Tencent Music. The three apps are:
14 & 15. JioSaavn & Gaana (India)
JioSaavn is an Indian music streaming service, with songs in English, Bollywood Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and more. It’s an excellent alternative to Deezer if you’re looking to stream Indian Music.
In addition to music, you can listen to podcasts. For unlimited downloads, hi-fi audio, no ads, and exclusive content check the updated Pro pricing page.
A larger music streaming service is Gaana that gives you more music options to try.
Wrapping It Up: What Is The Best Deezer Alternative?
If you’re unsatisfied with Deezer, consider switching over to Spotify.
There’s a reason it’s so popular. That’s because not only does it have a great selection of tracks and podcasts, but it has a great user interface and awesome discovery features, allowing you to find new artists and songs.
Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing. I started my first e-commerce company in college, designing and selling t-shirts for my campus bar crawl using print-on-demand. Having successfully established multiple 6 & 7-figure e-commerce businesses (in women’s fashion and hiking gear), I think I can share a tip or 2 to help you succeed.