DMB Hub vs Play Dead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DMB Hub
This app is a comprehensive resource for fans of a specific band, offering live show tracking, historical data, and interactive games. It allows users to follow setlists in real-time, explore the band's entire live catalog, and track their personal concert history and achievements. Engage with other fans through trivia and prediction games.
- Live show alerts and real-time setlist tracking
- Comprehensive live catalog browsing and search
- Detailed song statistics and performance history
- Personalized show history and attendance tracking
- Achievement-based 'Stubs' and 'Passport' collectibles
- Setlist prediction and trivia games
- Venue-specific stamp collection
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DMB Hub from antsmarching.org: if you're a DMB fan, you must have this app. Version 4.0 is a ground-up redesign of the whole thing. The Hub is your home base. Live show alerts, On This Day history, trending forum threads, breaking news - everything happening in the DMB world, in one feed. Open it daily to see what's new. Live show mode. DMB Hub knows when a show is happening. Follow the setlist in real time, right down to your Lock Screen, place your ShowFlow votes song by song, and dig into stats as each song drops. It's the best way to follow a show you're at - or one you wish you were. Tour Central is where it gets deep. The band's entire live catalog - every year, tour, song, venue, and setlist - built for browsing, with Advanced Search to find any show fast. Tap a show and you're in: setlist, stats, posters, fan photos, ticket stubs. Upload your own from the show while you're still in the parking lot. Song details that matter. Tap any song on any setlist and get the full picture - how many times played, last performance, show gap, tour rarity, fan sentiment. When was this song last played? Has it ever been played at this venue? Is a liberation coming? All right there. Your DMB journey. Log in with your Ants account and track your show history, attendance, and personal stats. See which songs you've never caught live, which venues you've hit the most, and how you stack up against friends in Head-to-Head mode - or the entire Ants community. Share your DMB Story - a personalized narrative of your history with the band. Hub Stubs. Earn achievement Stubs based on the shows you've seen and your tour superlatives, and watch your progress toward the next one. Passport. Collect stamps at venues on show nights, then hunt down hidden spots with the compass in Hunt Mode. Fill your pages and climb the leaderboard. The Setlist Game. Predict what the band will play, compete with friends, and form leagues. Get your picks in from anywhere - no more rushing home before the deadline. Season standings, all-time stats, and bragging rights included. Trivia. Play solo, challenge your friends, or join live hosted Trivia events and answer against the clock. Made for every iPhone, including a two-column layout on the open iPhone Duo. Terms of Use: https://antsmarching.org/tos.php
Play Dead
Access a vast library of officially remastered live Grateful Dead concert recordings. Discover previously unreleased shows and exclusive hi-res audio, with new content added weekly. Stream across devices and enjoy the band's live legacy.
- Official Grateful Dead live recordings
- Hi-res remastered audio
- Exclusive 'Dead Drop' releases weekly
- Previously CD-only shows now streaming
- Vault organized by year
- Cross-device listening with Apple CarPlay support
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Play Dead is the official Grateful Dead streaming app, offering unprecedented hi-res access to the Grateful Dead Vault of live recordings. For the first time, the band’s live legacy is brought together in a single official streaming service, with newly transferred and mastered recordings from the original sources. Previously unreleased shows - called Dead Drops - will be available every Tuesday, augmenting the catalog of official live Grateful Dead releases, many of which have never been available on any streaming service. The Vault Unlocked Exclusive Hi-Res Recordings Access new high resolution transfers, mastered for the first time and available exclusively on Play Dead. Dead Drops Every Tuesday Previously unreleased recordings added, every Tuesday, curated by Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux, mastered for the first time by David Glasser. CD-Only Releases, Now Streaming Shows previously available only on CD from box sets and Dave’s Picks are now streaming for the first time -only on Play Dead- in higher-than-CD-quality. The Vault by Year Live recordings are presented in order of performance date for the first time in the band’s history. Play Dead brings together three decades of live recordings into a single, evolving app designed for both longtime Dead Heads and those who just got on the bus. Listen Anywhere Listen and resume listening across devices, including Apple CarPlay. Subscription Subscriptions available starting at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Official Access to the Grateful Dead Vault Created for Grateful Dead Productions and Rhino Entertainment, longtime stewards of the Grateful Dead catalog. Built by nugs, the leading platform for live music. For nugs Subscribers Play Dead is also available as an add-on to nugs. PlayDead Payment and Auto-Renewal Terms: Play Dead offers auto-renewing monthly and annual subscriptions to stream music from the Play Dead catalog. Two subscription types are available, monthly (30 days) and annual (365 days). All subscriptions auto-renew. A Play Dead monthly subscription is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for new users. Plans auto-renew at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year after the first year. Payment will be charged to the iTunes Account at the time of your purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Accounts 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 users Account Settings after purchase. Terms of Use at http://nugs.net/terms.aspx Privacy Policy at http://nugs.net/privacy.aspx
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: DMB Hub at free with in-app purchases against Play Dead's subscription. DMB Hub also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Play Dead's advantage is chart position (#123 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. DMB Hub sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Play Dead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
DMB Hub holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 238 and 94 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of DMB Hub's written reviews are positive against 64% of Play Dead's.
DMB Hub ships an update weekly, Play Dead monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DMB Hub | Play Dead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (238 ratings) — better | 4.3 (94 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 84.1% of reviews — better | 64.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 238 — better | 94 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | — | #123 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple TV — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 88 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | antsmarching.org | nugs.net enterprises, LLC |
Customer experience
DMB Hub
Play Dead
Bugs and requests
DMB Hub
Reported bugs
7 issues- App crashes frequently
- Live setlist not working
- Show streams not playing
- App won't open
- Data not transferring between categories
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- Hub page not loading after notification
- Countdown timer incorrect
Requested features
3 requests- Tutorial for old app users
- Integration with Sonos
- Option for single setlist notification
Play Dead
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DMB Hub
- One Month Ants+ Subscription$2.991 Month
- One Year Ants+ Membership$29.991 Year
Play Dead
- Monthly$9.991 Month
- Yearly$99.991 Year









