Comparison

SubStreamer vs MusicBee Remote

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SubStreamer

Access and stream your personal music library from a Subsonic-compatible server on your mobile device. Enjoy offline playback, personalized mixes, and detailed listening analytics without ads or subscriptions.

Highlights
  • Stream and download music library
  • Offline listening with background processing
  • Personalized smart mixes
  • Listening analytics and scrobbling
  • Playlist and library management
  • Background playback with lock screen controls
  • Open source
Features
Read full description

Your music. Your server. Everywhere you go. Substreamer turns your Subsonic-compatible server into a personal streaming service. Browse, play, and download your entire music library on iPhone and iPad — free, with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Verified with Navidrome, Subsonic, Gonic, Nextcloud Music, and Ampache. Also compatible with Airsonic-Advanced, Funkwhale, Supysonic, and other Subsonic API servers. STREAM & DOWNLOAD Stream in full quality or choose a bitrate that suits your connection. Download albums and playlists for offline listening with background queue processing and automatic recovery. Substreamer switches to offline mode automatically when your server is unreachable. TUNED IN — SMART MIXES Personalised playlists powered by your listening history. Time-of-day mixes, deep cuts from similar artists, decade time machines, genre blends, favorites radio, and a custom mix builder — all generated from your own library, not an algorithm trained on someone else's taste. LISTENING ANALYTICS See your play history, top artists, albums, and songs, most active listening hours, activity heatmaps, and listening streaks. Scrobbles queue locally when you're offline and sync automatically when you reconnect. Exclude specific albums or artists so one-off plays don't skew your stats. LIBRARY MANAGEMENT Browse by album, artist, or playlist. List and grid views with alphabetical quick-scroll for large libraries. 5-star ratings and favorites sync with your server. Create and manage playlists, reorder tracks, or save your current queue as a new playlist. PLAYBACK Background playback with full lock screen and notification controls. Adjustable playback speed, shuffle, and repeat. Share albums or playlists with configurable links. BEAUTIFUL & PRIVATE Light, dark, and system themes with custom accent colors. Album art color extraction for immersive detail views. No tracking, no analytics, no account required — your music stays between you and your server. OPEN SOURCE Substreamer is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Browse the code, report issues, or contribute at github.com/ghenry22/substreamer.

About

MusicBee Remote

Control your MusicBee player remotely from your iOS device. Manage playback, view track information, access your library, and even edit metadata. Offers a premium subscription for enhanced features and an ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Playback controls
  • Now playing artwork and info
  • Lyrics support
  • Rate songs
  • Edit upcoming tracks
  • Browse library
  • Edit metadata tags
Features
Read full description

MusicBee Remote application allows you to control MusicBee player using your iOS device. Application requires MusicBee Remote plugin to be installed on PC. You can download latest version for free at https://getmusicbee.com/addons/plugins/199/musicbee-remote-for-ios/ Plugin requires MusicBee v.3.0 or higher. Player can be downloaded at https://getmusicbee.com/downloads/ MAIN FEATURES: ◉ Playback controls (play, pause, next, previous, volume change, shuffle, repeat, playback progress) ◉ Now Playing track artwork and info ◉ Lyrics support ◉ Rate song with stars or Last.fm love ◉ View and edit Upcoming Tracks list ◉ Browse Artists, Albums, Genres or Songs from library ◉ Enqueue or play the tracks from library ◉ Browse and play existing playlists PREMIUM FEATURES: ◉ Control playback from device lock screen ◉ View detailed information about Now Playing track ◉ Edit metadata tags for current track ◉ Customize app accent colors ◉ No ads ◉ Premium support LEGAL: Terms of Use: http://topdan.iblogger.org/legal/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: http://topdan.iblogger.org/legal/privacy-policy/ SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: • Premium subscription provides additional in-app functionality and benefits. • Once the subscription with a trial, if offered, is activated, you can use it for 7 days for free and cancel at any time. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription.

Screenshots

SubStreamer4 screens
MusicBee Remote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SubStreamer at none against MusicBee Remote's 6. SubStreamer also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.0 vs 3.7). MusicBee Remote's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MusicBee Remote sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. SubStreamer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SubStreamer holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 141 and 42 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of SubStreamer's written reviews are positive against 57% of MusicBee Remote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, MusicBee Remote fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SubStreamer versus MusicBee Remote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubStreamerMusicBee Remote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (141 ratings) — better3.7 (42 ratings)
Positive reviews72.2% of reviews — better56.8% of reviews
Number of ratings141 — better42
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.413.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB19 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperGaven HenryDaniil Zubach

Customer experience

SubStreamer

All ratings141 ratings
Positive73.8%
Neutral10.6%
Negative15.6%
Written reviews205 reviews
Positive72.2%
Neutral10.2%
Negative17.6%

MusicBee Remote

All ratings42 ratings
Positive61.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive56.8%
Neutral15.9%
Negative27.3%

User reviews

SubStreamer

From 141 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Beautiful and modern UI design
  • ⚡ Clean, intuitive interface
  • 🎵 Excellent Navidrome server compatibility
  • 📱 Works seamlessly with self-hosted music servers
  • 🔄 Reliable background playback functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent playback failures and stalling
  • 🐛 Random crashes during playback
  • 🐛 Scrobbling not working reliably
  • 🐛 Large file playback issues (10MB+)
  • 🐛 AirPlay/Apple TV streaming broken

MusicBee Remote

From 42 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Works well for iPhone
  • 👍 Works well for PC
  • 👍 Clean and responsive interface
  • 👍 Excellent interface
  • 👍 Really convenient

Room to improve

  • 💰 Greedy pricing model
  • 💰 Subscription required
  • 💰 High one-off payment
  • 💰 Ads present
  • 💰 Expensive premium version

Bugs and requests

SubStreamer

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • Songs fail to play without double-pressing play button
  • Playback stops with 4 seconds remaining in track
  • Skipping back crashes the app
  • Large files (10MB+) require pause-then-play to start
  • Scrobbling fails despite server support
Show 13 more
  • AirPlay to Apple TV doesn't work
  • Time display incorrect for songs over 1 hour
  • Metadata loads too frequently, causing lag
  • App freezes when pulling down menu on player screen
  • Radio tab causes app freeze
  • Occasional non-responsive behavior
  • Crashes when switching between songs on cellular
  • Image optimization never completes on large libraries
  • Duplicate songs appear in multi-disc albums
  • Offline folder structure doesn't match server
  • Bluetooth playback sometimes plays two songs simultaneously
  • SSL support issues in older versions
  • Slow metadata loading from server

Requested features

18 requests
  • CarPlay support for in-car use
  • Traditional Chinese language support
  • Simplified Chinese language support
  • All-songs library view (not just albums/artists)
  • Lyrics API integration
Show 13 more
  • Replay gain support
  • Smart playlists for yearly recaps
  • Batch download for offline music
  • Display codec and bitrate information
  • Better shuffle/random playback options
  • Improved pull-down gesture for minimizing player
  • Unified offline music view with filters
  • Song sorting options in playlists
  • Album art display in more views
  • Radio station support visibility fix
  • Genre sorting capability
  • Lock screen playback controls
  • Queue clearing functionality

MusicBee Remote

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Fails to connect to network
  • Connection failed
  • Display still shows old artist/title
  • App crashes randomly
  • Keeps telling me connection unsuccessful
Show 1 more
  • Subscription not working

Requested features

18 requests
  • Option to switch audio output to phone
  • Ability to browse specific folders
  • Support for more than one subfolder level for playlists
  • Ability to stream to smart speakers
  • Option to start AutoDJ based on song choice
Show 13 more
  • Right-click option to clear playlist and start AutoDJ
  • Support for adding a song to a playlist
  • UI improvements (e.g., bottom tab navigation)
  • Apple TV version for displaying album art
  • iPad landscape mode support
  • Ability to search by composer
  • Editability of ratings
  • Full standalone app functionality
  • More features in the future
  • Better controls for the player
  • View of entire recording/disc playing with complete track info
  • Option to choose artist and album
  • Display album image in library

In-app purchases

None

SubStreamer

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

MusicBee Remote

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Subscription$1.491 Month
  • Premium Subscription7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time4
  • Disable Ads$0.99
  • Access to Lock Screen Controls$0.99
  • Detailed Track Information$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Premium$34.99

Questions

Is SubStreamer free?
SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MusicBee Remote free?
MusicBee Remote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SubStreamer or MusicBee Remote?
SubStreamer is rated higher. SubStreamer averages 4.0 out of 5 from 141 ratings, while MusicBee Remote averages 3.7 from 42 ratings.
Do SubStreamer or MusicBee Remote have ads?
MusicBee Remote shows ads; SubStreamer does not.
Which is updated more often, SubStreamer or MusicBee Remote?
SubStreamer ships an update every 2 weeks, and MusicBee Remote fortnightly. Most recently, SubStreamer was updated on October 10, 2026 and MusicBee Remote on October 12, 2026.

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