Spotify vs Apple Music in India: Which One Should You Actually Pay For?
These two cost almost the same in India, which is unusual and useful — it means you can pick on merit rather than budget. The difference comes down to two things: what devices you own, and whether you want to be recommended music or go and find it yourself.
Head to head
| Spotify Premium | Apple Music | |
|---|---|---|
| SubsHub price | From Rs 59/month | From Rs 55/month |
| Lossless audio | Not on standard tiers | Included |
| Spatial audio | No | Yes, on supported tracks |
| Discovery | Best in class | Decent, more editorial |
| Cross-platform | Excellent everywhere | Best on Apple, workable on Android |
| Podcasts | Very deep, including Indian shows | Separate Apple app |
Pick Spotify if…
- You want to be handed new music. Discover Weekly and Release Radar are still the best recommendation engines in the category, and nothing Apple does matches them.
- You use Android, Windows, a smart speaker, a PlayStation, a car head unit — Spotify runs properly on all of it.
- You listen to podcasts in the same app.
- Playlists and sharing are part of how you use music socially.
Pick Apple Music if…
- You are on iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods. The integration — Siri, handoff, the Watch app, CarPlay — is genuinely better than anything a third-party app can do.
- You already have an iTunes library. It sits alongside the streaming catalogue instead of being stranded.
- You listen on wired headphones and care about lossless.
- You prefer human-curated editorial to algorithmic feeds.
The lossless caveat worth knowing
Apple Music’s lossless is a real advantage on paper. In practice, standard Bluetooth earbuds compress the audio before it reaches you, so the lossless file never arrives lossless. To hear the benefit you need wired headphones or a wired DAC. If you listen exclusively on wireless earbuds, treat lossless as a tiebreaker, not a reason.
Spatial audio is the more noticeable of the two, and it does work on AirPods.
What about YouTube Music?
Worth mentioning because it comes free with YouTube Premium. If you already watch a lot of YouTube, you may effectively be getting a music service you have not noticed. We worked through that decision in Spotify vs YouTube Premium.
All three are on the music subscriptions page, along with Gaana Plus if your listening is mostly Bollywood and regional.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper in India, Spotify or Apple Music?
They are close enough that price should not decide it — Apple Music from Rs 55 and Spotify from Rs 59 at SubsHub prices.
Which has better sound quality?
Apple Music on paper, because lossless and spatial audio are included. On standard wireless earbuds the difference is largely inaudible.
Which is better for discovering new music?
Spotify, clearly. Its recommendation engine is the strongest reason people stay with it.
Does Apple Music work well on Android?
It works, but the app is noticeably less polished than on Apple devices. On Android, Spotify is the safer pick.
Can I move my playlists between them?
Not natively — you need a third-party transfer tool, and the match is rarely perfect. Factor that in before switching after years on one service.