Amazon Music vs Spotify
Amazon Music Unlimited is the better value if you already have Prime and an Echo speaker. Spotify has better recommendations and works with more devices.
- Individual
- $12.99/mo
- Duo
- Not offered
- Family
- $21.99/mo
- Student
- $5.99/mo
- Max quality
- Ultra HD up to 24-bit/192 kHz
- Lossless
- Yes
- Hi-res
- Yes
- Catalog
- 100M+ tracks
- Free tier
- Limited, with ads; Prime includes a shuffle tier
- Podcasts
- Yes
- Lyrics
- Yes
- Social
- Limited
- Artist payout
- Pro-rata
- Individual
- $12.99/mo
- Duo
- $18.99/mo
- Family
- $21.99/mo
- Student
- $6.99/mo
- Max quality
- Lossless up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz
- Lossless
- Yes
- Hi-res
- No
- Catalog
- 100M+ tracks, large podcast and audiobook library
- Free tier
- Yes, with ads
- Podcasts
- Yes
- Lyrics
- Yes
- Social
- Jam, Blend, shared playlists
- Artist payout
- Pro-rata, 1,000-stream minimum per track
Price
Amazon Music Unlimited is $12.99 a month without Prime, and a dollar less with Prime (iTechGuides). The Family plan is $21.99 (Amazon). Spotify is $12.99 for one person.
Prime also includes Amazon Music Prime at no extra cost, but it's mostly shuffle play. Unlimited is the full on-demand service.
Price calculator
Not checked yet: SoundCloud. Left out until we confirm current prices.
US prices, checked Sep 26, 2026. Yearly figure is 12 months at the monthly rate.
Sound quality
Amazon Music Unlimited includes Ultra HD streams up to 24-bit/192 kHz and spatial audio. Spotify's lossless tops out at 24-bit/44.1 kHz (Spotify). On paper, Amazon wins.
Catalog
Both have more than 100 million songs. Unlimited also includes one Audible audiobook a month (Amazon), while Spotify gives Premium users 15 hours of audiobook listening a month. Spotify has the larger podcast library.
Features
Amazon Music is the natural choice on Echo speakers and Fire TV, where Alexa voice control works best. Spotify's recommendations, playlist sharing and Jam are better, and Spotify Connect works on more third-party speakers and cars.
Verdict
Pick Amazon Music Unlimited if you have Prime, use Alexa at home, and want hi-res sound for less. Pick Spotify if you care most about discovery, podcasts, and sharing music with friends.