Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Funkwhale VS YouTube Music

Compare Funkwhale VS YouTube Music and see what are their differences

Funkwhale logo Funkwhale

Funkwhale is a modern, self-hosted, free and open-source music server

YouTube Music logo YouTube Music

YouTube Music is a streaming app primarily designed for Android and iOS mobile devices. The app lets individuals search for music from their favorite artists, enjoy playlists, and access 30 million musical tracks.
  • Funkwhale Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-24
  • YouTube Music Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-18

Funkwhale features and specs

  • Federation
    Funkwhale supports the ActivityPub protocol, allowing users to connect with other instances and share music across a decentralized network.
  • Open Source
    Funkwhale is fully open-source, which means anyone can audit the code, contribute to its development, and fork it for their own needs.
  • Privacy
    Being a self-hosted solution, Funkwhale offers greater privacy and control over your data compared to commercial streaming services.
  • Community-Driven
    As an open-source project, Funkwhale benefits from community feedback and contributions, which can lead to a more user-focused development.
  • Customizable
    Users can customize their instances to fit specific needs, from appearance to functionality, making it a very flexible choice.
  • No Advertisements
    Funkwhale does not include any advertisements, offering an uninterrupted listening experience.

Possible disadvantages of Funkwhale

  • Technical Complexity
    Setting up and maintaining a Funkwhale instance requires a certain level of technical expertise, which might be challenging for non-technical users.
  • Server Costs
    Self-hosting a Funkwhale instance involves costs associated with server hosting and maintenance.
  • Limited Music Database
    Unlike major streaming services, the music available on Funkwhale is only as extensive as the tracks uploaded by its users and participating instances.
  • Dependency on Federation
    While federation is a strong feature, its effectiveness depends on the number and quality of other instances connected to the network.
  • Lack of Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to mainstream services, Funkwhale may lack integration with popular third-party applications and devices.
  • Support and Documentation
    While the community is active, the level of professional support and extensive documentation might not match that of commercial services.

YouTube Music features and specs

  • Extensive Library
    Access to a vast collection of music tracks, including official releases, remixes, covers, and user-generated content.
  • Seamless Integration with YouTube
    Easily switch between watching music videos on YouTube and listening to audio tracks in YouTube Music.
  • Smart Recommendations
    Utilizes Google's algorithms to suggest music based on your listening history, location, and time of day.
  • Offline Playback
    Download songs, albums, or playlists for offline listening with a YouTube Music Premium subscription.
  • Ad-Free Experience
    Enjoy an ad-free listening experience with YouTube Music Premium.
  • Background Play
    Allows music to play in the background while using other apps or when the screen is off, available with a Premium subscription.

Possible disadvantages of YouTube Music

  • Subscription Cost
    YouTube Music Premium requires a monthly fee for access to premium features like offline playback and ad-free listening.
  • Limited Availability
    Service may not be available in all countries or regions.
  • Data Usage
    Streaming high-quality music videos can consume a large amount of data, which could be costly without a good data plan.
  • User Experience Variations
    The user interface and experience may vary across different devices and operating systems.
  • Mixed Content Quality
    Some user-generated content may have lower audio quality compared to official releases.
  • Less Customization
    Fewer features for playlist customization and music organization compared to other services like Spotify.

Analysis of Funkwhale

Overall verdict

  • Yes, many users find Funkwhale to be a good platform.

Why this product is good

  • Funkwhale is an open-source, decentralized, and customizable music streaming platform. It allows users to host their own server or join existing ones, promoting community and user autonomy. It supports integration with a variety of clients and applications, providing a flexible experience. The platform respects user privacy and avoids advertisements, which many users appreciate.

Recommended for

  • Users who prioritize privacy and open-source solutions.
  • Music enthusiasts looking for a decentralized streaming platform.
  • Communities or individuals interested in hosting their own music server.
  • People seeking an ad-free music streaming experience.

Analysis of YouTube Music

Overall verdict

  • Yes, YouTube Music is generally considered a good music streaming service.

Why this product is good

  • Catalog
    YouTube Music offers a vast catalog of songs, albums, live performances, and covers, thanks to its integration with YouTube.
  • Features
    It includes features like personalized playlists, a smart search function that handles lyrics and descriptions, and an easy-to-use interface.
  • Integration
    The service integrates well with YouTube, allowing users to switch easily between video and audio versions of tracks.
  • Offline playback
    YouTube Music Premium offers offline playback and ad-free listening, which is a significant advantage for many users.

Recommended for

  • Users who enjoy a wide variety of music, including lesser-known covers and live performances.
  • People who appreciate the integration between audio and video, especially for music videos.
  • Listeners looking for a service with strong personalization features.

Funkwhale videos

Les Tutos: Docker No. 9: Funkwhale - Music streaming server

YouTube Music videos

YouTube Music Review vs Spotify and Apple Music | Best music streaming app in 2020?

More videos:

  • Review - Youtube Music Premium - A Complete Review
  • Review - YouTube Music App New UI & Features | Review vs Spotify and Apple Music

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Funkwhale and YouTube Music)
Music Streaming
28 28%
72% 72
Audio & Music
28 28%
72% 72
Music
0 0%
100% 100
Music Player
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Funkwhale and YouTube Music

Funkwhale Reviews

Best Spotify Alternatives In The World [Top 10] 2024
Funkwhale is a leading choice among open-source enthusiasts seeking alternatives to mainstream music smooth platforms like Spotify. Funkwhale allows users to maintain complete control over their personal music libraries, free from concerns about content disappearance.
35 Open-source Free Music and Audio Streaming Servers (Self-hosted)
Funkwhale is a music server and player designed for small to medium communities. It also serves as a social platform for music and podcast enthusiasts to discover new content.
Source: medevel.com
List of Top Free Open Source & Self Hosted Application for Media Streaming
Funkwhale โ€“ Modern, web-based, convivial, multi-user and free music server. BSD-3-Clause Python/Django

YouTube Music Reviews

Spotify Vs. Others 29 Music Apps-which One is The Better?
First of all, to choose the better one music service among 32 music apps, you must explore about it as one of the most critical factors in choosing a the better music app on the basis of size and diversity of its music library. Spotify Premium APK boasts an extensive collection of over 100 million songs, playlists, and podcasts. In comparison, Apple Music offers a similar...
Best Spotify Alternatives In The World [Top 10] 2024
YouTube Music combines an extensive music catalog with millions of videos, making it a powerful platform for music discovery. Its user-friendly interface offers mood-based playlists, while offline listening and background playback improved convenience.
12 BEST Android Music Player In 2023 [Android MP3 Players]
Some people convert YouTube music videos into MP3 audios using YouTube converters. This way they do not need to pay money to listen to their favorite tracks. But this creates problems for the musicians and the producers who need to be paid for their work.
10 best music players for Android Auto
YouTube Music officially replaced Google Play Music in late 2020 so it replaces Google Play Music here as well. YouTube Music is a decent overall music streaming service. You can also upload your own songs to the service for playback and download songs in case you drive somewhere without great cell service. The UI on Android Auto is about the same as all the others and works...
9 Best Free Music Download Sites in 2022
YouTube Music is one of the largest websites on the Internet. Many people use it as a music media service. It contains almost all types of music. It's where you can listen to official singles, remixes, live performances and videos. But getting free downloadable songs from YouTube is tricky. There are a lot of copyrighted music on it that cannot be downloaded directly. If you...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, YouTube Music should be more popular than Funkwhale. It has been mentiond 179 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Funkwhale mentions (38)

  • Ask HN: Feedback on this proposed funding model for supporting musicians?
    For context: I recently set up a Funkwhale[0] instance [1] for Communick subscribers, where people can upload their music collection, stream on mobile/web and share with their friends. That's useful already and can be thought of as a replacement to the original Google Play Music, but I guess that those with large music collections will either just play from their dedicated devices or self-host a service like... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Favourite music streaming service?
    I use my own service, but have heard great things about https://funkwhale.audio/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What 'selfhosting' solution is for me?
    I run Funkwhale. I can listen to my songs online from the browser, or on my phone using the Subsonic protocol (I use an app called dsub on Android). Source: over 2 years ago
  • I don't want streaming music, I just want to stream my music
    For multi-room-audio, I use Iris+Mopidy+Snapcast [2] alternative frontend to my Funkwhale library. [1]: https://funkwhale.audio/ [2]: https://github.com/jaedb/Iris. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Looking for a simple audio hosting solution with comments
    I hear funkwhale can also do comments. Worth checking it out too. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

YouTube Music mentions (179)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Funkwhale and YouTube Music, you can also consider the following products

Spotify - Map shows when two people play same song at same time

SoundCloud - Enjoy music & follow favourite artists

Deezer - Deezer is a music streaming app created in France. It is available in 180 counties and gets 16 million users a month. 6 million of the users have paid subscriptions. Read more about Deezer.

Navidrome - Music Server and Streamer compatible with Subsonic/Airsonic.

Apple Music - Apple Music app combines your personal iTunes library with Apple's music subscription service. Music you have purchased from the iTunes store, or synced over from other sources, is available in the "Library" tab. Read more about Apple Music.

Bandcamp - Discover amazing music and directly support the artists who make it.