Shazam Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 4 Free
Shazam alternatives: SoundHound, SongRec, AcoustID, AudD and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•2 min read•Audio & Music
Verdict:Shazam is a free app, so most people searching for an alternative want one of three things: no Apple ownership, an open-source option, or a way to put song recognition inside their own project. For a phone replacement, SoundHound is the direct swap; its page promises free streaming of any song and links to iOS and Android stores. For desktop Linux, SongRec is GPL-3.0 and can listen to your microphone or speakers, or check an audio file; macOS is not officially supported. AcoustID solves a different problem: it fingerprints music files so you can tag a library, and non-commercial use is free after registering an app, but it will not identify a song playing in a cafe. Developers wanting to build their own feature have two commercial paths. AudD offers 300 free requests, then plans from $5 for 1,000 requests; ACRCloud advertises SDKs and a free trial but lists no price. The trade-off is polish. Shazam is built into iPhone controls, car systems and music apps, and none of these replace that integration. Switch if you want an app from a different company, a tool you can run yourself, or an API you control. Otherwise Shazam's price of nothing is hard to beat.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SoundHound | Free (The page says to stream any song free; no paid tier named) | iOS, Android | Another free identify-a-song app | Docs only |
| SongRec | Free (Open-source client; no price) | Linux, Windows (build from source) | Linux desktop and open-source users | Docs only |
| AcoustID | Free (Free for non-commercial applications after you register an application) | Web API | Tagging a local music library | Docs only |
| AudD | Free (300 free recognition requests for new accounts, no credit card); paid from $5 per month, Base plan with 1,000 requests; $0.005 per request above that | API | Adding recognition to your own app | Docs only |
| ACRCloud | See pricing page | API, iOS SDK, Android SDK | Commercial recognition in a product | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You want another free phone app to identify songs (SoundHound is the pick)
- You run Linux and want open-source recognition (SongRec is the pick)
- You need to tag a folder of unnamed music files (AcoustID is the pick)
- You are building recognition into your own product (AudD is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Shazam features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Shazam today: Free (Free app per the Shazam site) (Shazam pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
SoundHound
Compared with Shazam: Free app for iOS and Android whose page says to stream any song free. Similar quick listen-and-identify use, but without Apple's tie-in.
Price: Free (The page says to stream any song free; no paid tier named) (SoundHound pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Another free identify-a-song app.
SongRec
Compared with Shazam: GPL-3.0 Rust client for Linux that identifies songs from a file, microphone or speakers. No phone app and no macOS support, but it is open source and free.
Price: Free (Open-source client; no price) (SongRec pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Linux, Windows (build from source). GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 2k GitHub stars · latest release 0.8.0 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Linux desktop and open-source users.
AcoustID
Compared with Shazam: Open-source fingerprint service that identifies music files, free for non-commercial applications once you register. It names tracks from files rather than live listening, so it suits library cleanup.
Price: Free (Free for non-commercial applications after you register an application) (AcoustID pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web API. Open source (license not named on acoustid.org) (open source).
Best for: Tagging a local music library.
AudD
Compared with Shazam: API for developers: 300 free recognition requests on a new account, then plans from $5 a month for 1,000 requests. It is infrastructure, not an app, so you build the interface.
Price: Free (300 free recognition requests for new accounts, no credit card); paid from $5 per month, Base plan with 1,000 requests; $0.005 per request above that (AudD pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: API. Proprietary.
Best for: Adding recognition to your own app.
ACRCloud
Compared with Shazam: Developer SDKs and APIs with a free trial button and humming recognition listed. Pricing is by quote, and it is meant for products, not casual use.
Price: See pricing page (ACRCloud pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: API, iOS SDK, Android SDK. Proprietary.
Best for: Commercial recognition in a product.
Which one to pick
- You want another free phone app to identify songs: SoundHound
- You run Linux and want open-source recognition: SongRec
- You need to tag a folder of unnamed music files: AcoustID
- You are building recognition into your own product: AudD
Limits of this review
Docs-only for SoundHound, SongRec, AcoustID, AudD, ACRCloud: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Shazam. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Shazam, SoundHound, SongRec, AcoustID, AudD, ACRCloud. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.