TIDAL Alternatives 2026: 5 Options, 3 Free
TIDAL alternatives: Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Navidrome and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•2 min read•Audio & Music
Verdict:People leave TIDAL because of price, catalog fit or app habits, not because the service is poor. Tidal prices have changed several times, so confirm the current monthly price before comparing. Spotify is the mainstream swap: it has a free ad-supported tier, and Premium Individual shows $12.99 a month after a two-month trial for new users. Apple Music is paid only, at $11.99 for Individual, with a first month free. Deezer prices at $11.99 monthly or $9.00 monthly on its yearly option and lists a free column on its offers page, so check what the free tier includes. Qobuz is the closest match if you care about lossless and high-resolution albums; verify its current price because only dated figures were visible. Navidrome is the different route: a GPL-3.0 music server that streams the files you own to your phone, so the monthly bill goes away but the whole streaming catalog goes with it. The trade-off is catalog versus cost. Every paid service here has similar prices, so switching rarely saves money unless you move to free listening with ads or to your own files. Stay if you value sound quality and artist payouts. Leave if you want free tier access or a bigger app ecosystem.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | Free (Free, ad-supported service exists; the Premium page does not list its features); paid from $12.99 per month, Premium Individual after the trial (Student $6.99, Duo $18.99, Family $21.99) | iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS | Free listening with ads | Docs only |
| Apple Music | Paid from $11.99 per month, Individual (Student $6.99, Family $19.99); first month free for new subscribers | iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Web | Apple device owners who want one app | Docs only |
| Deezer | Free (The offers page shows a Free column but the extracted text did not show which features it includes); paid from $11.99 per month, Premium (annual option $9.00 a month billed $107.99); one month free trial | iOS, Android, Web | Cheaper annual billing | Docs only |
| Navidrome | Free (Free under the GPL v3; music (and audiobook) libraries only) | Self-hosted, Web browser | Your own library with no subscription | Docs only |
| Qobuz | See pricing page | iOS, Android, Web | Hi-res fans comparing paid catalogs | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free, ad-supported way to listen (Spotify is the pick)
- You own a large music library and want no subscription (Navidrome is the pick)
- You use Apple devices and want one app (Apple Music is the pick)
- You want high-resolution catalogs from another vendor (Qobuz is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on TIDAL features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
TIDAL today: See pricing page (TIDAL pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Spotify
Compared with TIDAL: Has a free ad-supported tier, while TIDAL's pricing page could not be read. Premium Individual lists at $12.99 a month after a trial, so you trade a free option for TIDAL's lossless focus.
Price: Free (Free, ad-supported service exists; the Premium page does not list its features); paid from $12.99 per month, Premium Individual after the trial (Student $6.99, Duo $18.99, Family $21.99) (Spotify pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. Proprietary.
Best for: Free listening with ads.
Apple Music
Compared with TIDAL: Individual plan at $11.99 a month with a first month free. No free plan, though; it fits Apple device owners and matches TIDAL on being a paid-only service.
Price: Paid from $11.99 per month, Individual (Student $6.99, Family $19.99); first month free for new subscribers (Apple Music pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Apple device owners who want one app.
Deezer
Compared with TIDAL: Premium lists at $11.99 a month, or $9.00 a month billed yearly, with a one-month trial. It shows a free column on its offers page, so it can start free before you commit.
Price: Free (The offers page shows a Free column but the extracted text did not show which features it includes); paid from $11.99 per month, Premium (annual option $9.00 a month billed $107.99); one month free trial (Deezer pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Cheaper annual billing.
Navidrome
Compared with TIDAL: GPL-3.0 and free to self-host. It plays your own music files, so it replaces the subscription but not TIDAL's catalog, which you lose entirely.
Price: Free (Free under the GPL v3; music (and audiobook) libraries only) (Navidrome pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web browser. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 24.4k GitHub stars · latest release v0.64.2 (Sep 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Your own library with no subscription.
Qobuz
Compared with TIDAL: Paid high-resolution service like TIDAL. Its official pricing page was unreachable, and older reviews put Studio around $12.99 a month, so verify the current price before switching.
Price: See pricing page (Qobuz pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Hi-res fans comparing paid catalogs.
Which one to pick
- You want a free, ad-supported way to listen: Spotify
- You own a large music library and want no subscription: Navidrome
- You use Apple devices and want one app: Apple Music
- You want high-resolution catalogs from another vendor: Qobuz
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Navidrome, Qobuz: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from TIDAL. 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: TIDAL, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Navidrome, Qobuz. 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.