Comparison

DEADSHOWZ vs DeadSpread

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

Head to head
About

DEADSHOWZ

Explore a comprehensive Grateful Dead concert database with advanced search capabilities. Find shows by venue, song, date, or guest artist, and create custom playlists. Stream concerts directly from the app.

Highlights
  • Searchable Grateful Dead concert database
  • Multi-criteria search with AND/OR/NOT qualifiers
  • Custom playlist creation
  • Track attended shows
  • Song, venue, and artist statistics
  • Direct concert streaming
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

DEADSHOWZ 2.0 is the most powerful Grateful Dead concert reference tool ever to fit in your pocket — more than 2,350 shows spanning 1965 to 1995, searchable from any angle! Stack any search criteria you want: song, venue, city, state or country, date or year, guest artist, setlist position, one song into another, bustouts, shows you attended, your favorites. Combine them with AND, OR and NOT. Every show at Madison Square Garden. Every one that featured Bertha. Every one on a Tuesday. Or all three at once — and the count updates as you build, before you ever run the search. Long-press any song, venue, city, state or guest artist to open its Deep Dive — total performances, first and last, peak year, most-played songs, segue partners, bustout gaps, and every song that debuted or was played for the last time there. Tap a count and you get the shows behind it, and Back brings you right back to where you were. Found something interesting? Send it into Search with its conditions already filled in and keep narrowing. Winterland in '77 becomes Winterland in '77 including Playing In The Band in two taps. Mark the shows you attended, tag your favorites, and build playlists in any order you like. Send a playlist, your Favorites, or your Attended list to a friend with one tap — no account, no server, straight from you to them. Make it yours: twelve backgrounds, six typefaces, your own text color and size, and alignment settings for nearly every list. And where a recording exists, you can stream the whole concert with a single tap — a handy bonus atop the deepest Grateful Dead reference tool in your pocket. Recordings come from public archives, are never stored on your device, and what's available varies from show to show. No subscription, no ads, no account required, nothing ever collected. Just good, clean, musical fun! Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow called DEADSHOWZ "a very worthy venture celebrating the music of our lives." We're sure you're gonna agree... ...Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile!

About

DeadSpread

Access and stream a vast collection of live concert recordings from bands like the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic. Download your favorite shows to enjoy offline. Discover music from various other jam bands.

Highlights
  • Stream live concert recordings
  • Download shows for offline playback
  • Access archive.org content
  • Discover Widespread Panic shows
  • Explore other jam band artists
Features
Read full description

Stream & download archive.org Grateful Dead Shows and PanicStream.com Widespread Panic shows along with others like Bloodkin, Drivin N Cryin, Jupiter Coyote, Moonshine Still and more.

Screenshots

DEADSHOWZ4 screens
DeadSpread4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DeadSpread at Free against DEADSHOWZ's $2.99. DeadSpread also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 months). DEADSHOWZ's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#159 vs unranked). On review sentiment, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

DeadSpread is free to download; DEADSHOWZ costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DeadSpread holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DeadSpread has 101 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of DEADSHOWZ's written reviews are positive against 90% of DeadSpread's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DEADSHOWZ ships an update every 6 months, DeadSpread every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
DEADSHOWZ versus DeadSpread: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDEADSHOWZDeadSpread
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (15 ratings)4.8 (101 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews90.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15101 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#159 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB28 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperSYKODELIC, LLCWalter Sanders

Customer experience

DEADSHOWZ

All ratings15 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

DeadSpread

All ratings101 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative5.0%

In-app purchases

None

DEADSHOWZ

No in-app purchases

None

DeadSpread

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DEADSHOWZ free?
DEADSHOWZ costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DeadSpread free?
DeadSpread is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DEADSHOWZ or DeadSpread?
DeadSpread is rated higher. DEADSHOWZ averages 4.3 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while DeadSpread averages 4.8 from 101 ratings.
Do DEADSHOWZ or DeadSpread have ads?
DeadSpread shows ads; DEADSHOWZ does not.
Which is updated more often, DEADSHOWZ or DeadSpread?
DEADSHOWZ ships an update every 6 months, and DeadSpread every 6 days. Most recently, DEADSHOWZ was updated on September 10, 2026 and DeadSpread on September 21, 2026.

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