Software Alternatives & Startups

Last.fm VS Parse

Compare Last.fm VS Parse and see what are their differences

Last.fm

The world's largest online music service. Listen online, find out more about your favourite artists, and get music recommendations, only at Last.fm

Rating
0 reviews
Parse

Build applications faster with object and file storage, user authentication, push notifications, dashboard and more out of the box.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Last.fm seems to be a lot more popular than Parse. While we know about 2622 links to Last.fm, we've tracked only 21 mentions of Parse.

social mentions
2,622 vs 21
Music popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 185

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Last.fm
Parse
Website last.fm parseplatform.org
Pricing —
Open source
Company Startup from the United Kingdom —
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Last.fm 5 features
Parse 5 features
  • Personalized Recommendations
    Last.fm offers music recommendations tailored to the user's tastes based on their listening history.
  • Scrobbling
    The service tracks the music a user listens to across various platforms and devices, helping create a comprehensive listening profile.
  • Community Features
    Users can join groups, participate in discussions, and share music tastes with others, fostering a sense of community.
  • Discover New Music
    Last.fm helps users discover new artists and songs that they might like, making it easier for them to expand their musical horizons.
  • Visual Insights
    The platform provides graphs and charts that offer visual insights into a user's listening habits and trends over time.

Possible disadvantages

  • Subscription Costs
    Access to some of Last.fm’s advanced features requires a subscription, which might not be ideal for all users.
  • Data Privacy Concerns
    The extensive tracking of listening habits may raise privacy concerns for some users.
  • Interface Complexity
    The user interface can be somewhat complex and cluttered, which might be challenging for new users to navigate.
  • Platform Dependency
    Its effectiveness relies on integration with other music services, meaning it is less useful if it doesn’t sync well with the user’s primary music platform.
  • Limited Offline Features
    Without an active internet connection, many of Last.fm's features become inaccessible, limiting its utility.
  • Open Source
    Parse Platform is open-source, which means it is free to use and can be customized to fit the needs of your application without any licensing fees.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Parse provides a wide range of built-in features such as a robust database system, real-time notifications, user authentication, cloud functions, and file storage, reducing the amount of development work needed.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Parse supports multiple platforms including iOS, Android, JavaScript, .NET, and more, enabling easier development across different types of applications.
  • Community and Documentation
    There is a strong community around Parse with extensive documentation and numerous tutorials, which can help developers quickly resolve issues and learn best practices.
  • Unified Backend
    Parse allows developers to manage database, server code, and user authentication in one unified platform, simplifying backend management.

Possible disadvantages

  • Self-Hosting Complexity
    While Parse is open-source, it requires self-hosting, which involves managing and maintaining your own server infrastructure, adding operational complexity.
  • Performance
    Depending on your server setup and scaling needs, you might encounter performance issues, especially for high-traffic applications, requiring constant monitoring and fine-tuning.
  • Limited Scalability
    Parse might not be as scalable as other backend solutions like Firebase, particularly for apps that need to handle massive amounts of data and users.
  • Initial Setup Time
    The initial setup of a Parse server and its environment can be time-consuming and challenging, particularly for those without DevOps experience.
  • Feature Limitations
    While Parse offers a rich feature set, some advanced features available in other modern backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms may lack, necessitating custom development.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Last.fm
Parse

Overall verdict

  • Last.fm is considered a good platform for music enthusiasts who want to explore new music and understand their listening habits better. Its powerful scrobbling feature and community elements make it a valuable tool for music discovery.

Why this product is good

  • Last.fm is a music recommendation and discovery service that provides personalized music suggestions based on a user's listening habits. It allows users to track their music listening history, provides insights and statistics, and helps discover new music through recommendations and a rich community-driven database.

Recommended for

  • Music lovers seeking personalized recommendations.
  • Listeners who want to track and analyze their music habits.
  • Individuals interested in discovering new artists and songs.
  • Users who enjoy engaging with a community of music enthusiasts.

Overall verdict

  • Parse is a good choice for developers looking for a flexible and scalable backend solution that can be deployed on their own servers or using cloud services. It is particularly beneficial due to its active community and extensive documentation.

Why this product is good

  • Parse is a popular open-source backend-as-a-service framework that simplifies app development by handling server-side components, freeing developers to focus on front-end development. It offers features like push notifications, cloud functions, social media integration, and a real-time database.

Recommended for

  • Developers who want an open-source solution with the freedom to self-host.
  • Teams building mobile or web applications that require a robust backend service.
  • Projects that need strong support for relational data and real-time functionalities.
  • Developers looking to avoid the overhead of writing custom backend code.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Last.fm 2 videos + Add
Parse 0 videos + Add

DO NOT USE last.fm website review (BAD WEBSITE)

More videos

  • - Music I Listened to in 2018 [last.fm]

No Parse videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Last.fm
Parse
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Last.fm and Parse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Last.fm no reviews yet
Parse no reviews yet

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Last.fm 2622 mentions
Parse 21 mentions
  • 'Death to Spotify': the DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the app
    We used to have very good discoverability platforms, e.g. https://last.fm . Then streaming came along and destroyed everything. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • The day I canceled my Spotify subscription
    I switched to https://qobuz.com, mainly for the high audio quality (it goes up to 192kHz 24bit, which is worth it for me as I have the necessary equipment to make use of this), but it also supports "Spotify quality" i.e. Mp3 quality/320... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Mr. Bungle - Nananana (lost fake song)
    Hi, anyone remember that song? I remember I downloaded it from ares and I liked it but unfortunately it wasn't by mr bungle, it was just mislabelled (like the toxic cover). If anyone has it around I would like to hear it again! On... Source: almost 3 years ago

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  • Supabase Alternatives 🔄 in 2025 😼
    Parse deserves mention primarily for its historical significance as the precursor that inspired the entire backend-as-a-service space. Founded in 2011, Parse pioneered many concepts that we now take for granted in modern BaaS platforms. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • The 2024 Web Hosting Report
    Backend as a Service (BaaS) goes back to early 2010’s with companies like Parse and Firebase. These products integrated everything a backend provides to a webapp in a single, integrated package that makes it easier to get started and... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • How to set up a Parse Server backend with Typescript
    Parse Server is a great way to quickly spin up a backend for your project. Parse is a Node based utility that sits on top of ExpressJS. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

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Alternatives to Last.fm and Parse

When comparing Last.fm and Parse, you can also consider the following products.