Music · alternatives
Alternatives to Shazam
19 music tools sit alongside Shazam in this directory. Below is what separates each from Shazam on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 19
- With a free tier
- 9
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Shazam starts at
- Free
Why people look past Shazam
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Shazam entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Shazam publishes a single plan, Shazam at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Song identification app that can match hummed or sung melodies, from SoundHound AI
- Sold on a Free with ads; no consumer subscription, company revenue comes from enterprise voice AI licensing model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
Free digital audio workstation bundled with macOS and iOS, with no paid tier or upgrade path of its own
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
Avid digital audio workstation with four tiers gated by track count and simultaneous I/O rather than by feature
- Sold on a Per user per year model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
- 4 tiers to Shazam's 1.
Free, browser and mobile-based collaborative DAW, with optional Pro and Max membership tiers for sample libraries and extras
- Sold on a Per user per year model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
- 3 tiers to Shazam's 1.
Pioneer DJ’s library management and performance software, sold on annual subscription tiers gated by connected hardware
- Sold on a Per user per year model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
- 4 tiers to Shazam's 1.
DJ mixing software sold as Pro and Suite tiers, with a free Lite edition and hardware unlocking on supported controllers
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel.
- 3 tiers to Shazam's 1.
Every Shazam alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shazam (this page) | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases; funded as an Apple Music discovery funnel | 1 | |
| SoundHoundIf you want a competing recognition app that can also identify hummed or sung melodies without a match in a database | Free | Free with ads; no consumer subscription, company revenue comes from enterprise voice AI licensing | 1 | vs Shazam |
| GarageBand | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Shazam |
| Pro Tools | Free | Per user per year | 4 | vs Shazam |
| BandLab | Free | Per user per year | 3 | vs Shazam |
| rekordbox | Free | Per user per year | 4 | vs Shazam |
| Serato DJ | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs Shazam |
| Traktor Pro | Free | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Shazam |
| MuseScore | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 3 | vs Shazam |
| Soundtrap | Free | Per user per month | 5 | vs Shazam |
| Dorico | On request | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Shazam |
| LANDR | On request | Per user per month, separate mastering and distribution subscriptions | 4 | vs Shazam |
| Sibelius | On request | Per user per year, or one-time purchase with a separate upgrade plan | 3 | vs Shazam |
| DistroKid | On request | One-time purchase | 4 | vs Shazam |
| TuneCore | On request | Per year, subscription or pay-per-release | 5 | vs Shazam |
| Splice | On request | Per user per month, credit-based | 3 | vs Shazam |
| CD Baby | On request | One-time purchase plus ongoing commission | 3 | vs Shazam |
| Bitwig Studio | $99/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Shazam |
| Cubase | $99.99/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Shazam |
| Studio One | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Shazam |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Shazam badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (9)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- SoundHound , Free
- GarageBand , Free
- Pro Tools , Free
- BandLab , Free
- rekordbox , Free
- Serato DJ , Free
- Traktor Pro , Free
- MuseScore , Free
What you would be giving up
Shazam is most often brought in for someone hearing an unfamiliar song in a shop, cafe or on the radio and wanting to identify it instantly, a user wanting identified songs automatically saved into an apple music library or playlist, someone using the offline tagging queue while without signal, resolving matches later, a listener browsing shazam trending charts to discover what is being identified most in their city. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Shazam is broadly right and the question is cost, the Shazam pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Music category lists everything the directory holds, and best music tools ranks them.
Shazam runs on ios, android, web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Shazam alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Shazam?
- 19 other music tools are listed in this directory, led by SoundHound, GarageBand, Pro Tools, BandLab. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Shazam?
- 9 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: SoundHound, GarageBand, Pro Tools, BandLab, rekordbox.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Shazam?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Shazam?
- Shazam is most often brought in for someone hearing an unfamiliar song in a shop, cafe or on the radio and wanting to identify it instantly, a user wanting identified songs automatically saved into an apple music library or playlist, someone using the offline tagging queue while without signal, resolving matches later, a listener browsing shazam trending charts to discover what is being identified most in their city. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Shazam?
- None of the music tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Shazam alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Music, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Shazam against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Shazam covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every music tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Music category, 19 tools beside Shazam. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.