Deezer vs Spotify

Deezer and Spotify are both full-catalogue European services, from Paris and Stockholm. The difference is how the money is divided, what the app includes and what you pay. Deezer launched an artist-centric payment model in 2023 and undercuts Spotify on most Dutch plan prices. Spotify has a free plan in the Netherlands, podcasts and audiobooks, and a documented lossless ceiling.

Editor Sebastiaan Smits

Published Last reviewed How we review

Choose Deezer if

you want a payment model designed to reward the artists and music fans value most, like a personal Flow mix and lyrics, and want to pay less per month for a single or family plan.

Read the Deezer review

Choose Spotify if

you want to listen free in a country where Deezer Free is not offered, want podcasts and audiobooks in one app, or want lossless audio up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz on Premium.

Read the Spotify review

Deezer and Spotify side by side

 DeezerSpotify
Company Deezer SA Spotify AB
Headquarters Paris, France Stockholm, Sweden
Founded 2007 2006
Jurisdiction EU (France) EU (Sweden), US-listed
Where the data sits EU EU (Sweden)
Pricing Free tier / from about €11.99/month Free with advertising / Premium subscription
Entry-level list price (vendor site, checked 30 September 2026) Premium: EUR 11.99/month, or EUR 107.99/year (Netherlands offers page) Premium Individual: EUR 13.99/month after a one-month free trial (Netherlands price page)
Free tier or trial Free tier Free tier
Certifications and checks GDPR GDPR
Source code Closed source Closed source
Usually replaces Spotify, Apple Music Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music
Position in our Music Streaming guide #1 of 12 #6 of 12

Both are listed in our European Music Streaming guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries, except the list price, which is quoted from each vendor's own pricing page (see Sources below); how we check it is described in the editorial process.

Where Deezer and Spotify differ

Across the five points below, Deezer has the edge on 2 points, Spotify on 2 points and one is a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.

Where the subscription goes

Deezer says it launched the first comprehensive artist-centric streaming model in 2023, designed to better reward artists and the music fans value most, and in 2025 extended artist-centric payments to publishing with Sacem. Spotify shares data behind its royalty payments on its Loud and Clear site. For a listener choosing on how royalties are shared, Deezer has made the more deliberate change.

Edge: Deezer

Catalogue and extras

Spotify lists over 100 million tracks, 7 million podcast titles and 700,000 audiobooks across 184 markets, and Dutch Premium includes 12 hours of audiobooks a month. Deezer offers music, podcasts and radio in more than 180 countries, plus lyrics with translation and SongCatcher, but its pages we checked give no track count. For breadth beyond music, Spotify is ahead.

Edge: Spotify

Listening for free

Spotify's Dutch site offers a free plan without a credit card. Deezer Free is ad-supported but, per its support page, available only in a dozen countries including the United States, Germany, France, Belgium and the UK; its offers page for the Netherlands says it is not available. Free users get six skips an hour outside certain playlists, and lyrics are paid only.

Edge: Spotify

Lossless audio

Both now stream lossless to paying users. Deezer's features page offers HiFi lossless sound as a benefit for paying subscribers without stating a bit depth. Spotify documents Premium lossless as equivalent to up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC on compatible devices. On mainstream headphones the practical difference is small, so this round is level unless you need the stated specification.

No clear winner on this point.

Price

On the Dutch price pages Deezer Premium costs EUR 11.99 a month against Spotify Premium Individual at EUR 13.99. Deezer Duo is EUR 15.99 against EUR 19.99, Family EUR 19.99 against EUR 23.99 and Student EUR 5.99 against EUR 6.99. Deezer also sells Premium yearly at EUR 107.99. Both give new users a free first month.

Edge: Deezer

When neither Deezer nor Spotify fits

Listeners who pay for sound above everything else may prefer another route. Qobuz lists FLAC at 24-bit up to 192 kHz and sells downloads, and TIDAL's listing promises 24-bit/192 kHz and Dolby Atmos on all plans. Both need good equipment to show the gain, and neither offers a free plan.

Deezer vs Spotify: questions

Deezer says it introduced a new monetisation model in 2023, artist-centric streaming, designed to better reward artists and the music fans value most, and extended it to publishing with Sacem in 2025. Spotify publishes the data behind its royalty payments on its Loud and Clear site. Deezer is the one that changed the formula.

Only in some countries. Deezer's support page lists Deezer Free in the United States (mobile only), Brazil, Germany, France, Canada, the UK, the UAE, Belgium, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Ukraine. Elsewhere, including the Netherlands, the offers page lists paid plans only. Spotify's free plan is offered in the Netherlands.

Deezer, on the Dutch price pages: Premium EUR 11.99 a month against EUR 13.99 for Spotify, and Family EUR 19.99 against EUR 23.99. Paying Deezer yearly brings Premium to EUR 107.99. Prices vary by country, so compare the pages for yours before switching.

Deezer's terms name DEEZER S.A., 24 rue de Calais, Paris, and its investor site says it was founded in Paris in 2007. Spotify's privacy policy names Spotify AB in Stockholm as data controller and allows processing outside the EU/EEA under safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

Sources

Facts, prices and plan details on this page were checked on the vendors' own websites on . Prices and plans change; the vendor's current page is authoritative.

More head-to-head comparisons

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