shelf.fm vs Heard Music
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
shelf.fm
Explore music by label and release year, offering a clean interface without promotional content. It syncs with your Apple Music account without altering it, requiring an Apple Music subscription to use.
- Full-featured alternative to stock music app
- Explore music by label and release year
- Simple, helpful interface
- No promoted top-40 music or hype
- Syncs with Apple Music account
- Does not alter Apple Music account
Read full descriptionHide full description
A full-featured alternative to the stock Apple Music app. ¶ While you listen, check out other stuff that came out on the same label that year. ¶ Simple, helpful interface free of promoted top-40 music and hype ¶ Syncs with, but will not mess with, your Apple Music account ¶ An Apple Music account is required (free 90-day trial available)
Heard Music
Log, rate, and share albums to build a personal music taste profile. Discover new music by following friends and seeing what they're listening to in real-time. Connect with a community of music lovers.
- Log albums from Spotify's catalog
- Rate albums in half increments
- See friends' real-time listening
- Explore community-logged albums
- Build Top 5 albums and artists
- Like and react to friend logs
Read full descriptionHide full description
Heard is the music app for people who actually listen. Log the albums that mean something to you. Rate them, write notes, and build a profile that reflects your real taste — not just what an algorithm thinks you like. Follow friends and see what they've been spinning. Discover albums through the people you trust, not a recommendation engine. What you can do: • Log any album from Spotify's entire catalog • Rate albums in half increments from 0.5 to 5 • See what your friends are listening to in real time • Explore the most logged albums in the Heard community • Build your Top 5 albums and artists on your profile • Like and react to your friends' logs • Get notified when friends follow you or log something new Music is more meaningful when shared. Start logging.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Heard Music at 12 against shelf.fm's 2. shelf.fm's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, rating, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for shelf.fm against 5.0 for Heard Music. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heard Music has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | shelf.fm | Heard Music |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 103 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Chris Marstall | Christopher Bible |
Customer experience
shelf.fm
Heard Music
In-app purchases
shelf.fm
No in-app purchases
Heard Music
No in-app purchases
