Comparison

Finamp vs Shelv Player

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

Head to head
About

Finamp

This application serves as a mobile interface for Jellyfin, enabling users to stream and manage their music library. A key function is the ability to download tracks for offline playback, ensuring uninterrupted listening experiences.

Highlights
  • Jellyfin music streaming
  • Offline song downloads
  • Mobile music player
  • Music library management
  • Translation support
Features
Read full description

Finamp is a free Jellyfin music player. It allows you to stream and download the music you own. It has a modern but thought-through design, a ton of features, is customizable, and respects your privacy! You need access to a Jellyfin server (https://jellyfin.org) or you won't be able to use Finamp at all! Finamp comes with a bunch of features, including these: - Gapless playback - Shallow library browsing, to quickly get into your music - Volume normalization (aka "ReplayGain") for tracks and albums - Lyrics, time-synced lyrics, and even word-by-word cue highlighting - Flexible transcoding options -Including automatic downmixing & lossless transcoding to FLAC, for maximum compatibility - Dedicated offline mode with automatic connectivity detection - A powerful download system that does it all - Download individual tracks, albums, entire artists & genres, or your whole library - Download all your favorites in one go - Download the newest additions to your library - Transcode all downloads to take up less space on your device - Customizable download locations - And keeps all of these downloads up-to-date automatically as things change on the server - Advanced playback options: - Use the "Next Up" sub-queue to append multiple tracks to play next (and keep appending!) - Choose between shuffling or playing in order - Choose if you want to play now, next, or after everything else - ...for everything! - Apple CarPlay support - Desktop & Tablet Support with a split-screen layout - A Customizable Home Tab - List views & grid views with adjustable density - Adaptive app color theme based on your system colors - Easily switch to a previous queue from hours or days ago - A radio feature that always keeps the music playing with something related - And you get to choose between 5 different modes to cater to *your* listening habits - AudioMuse integration (https://github.com/NeptuneHub/AudioMuse-AI) for an enhanced radio mode powered by sonic analysis - You'll have to set up AudioMuse and install the AudioMuse Jellyfin plugin to use this in Finamp - Solid customization options, including tabs that can be hidden and reordered - Support for several languages - Jellyfin 11.8+ & 12+ compatibility - and a lot more! Have a feature request or want to report a bug? Head over to our GitHub and open an issue there: https://github.com/finamp-app/finamp/issues Finamp is a third-party client for Jellyfin, we have no official ties to the Jellyfin project, but want to see the Jellyfin community thrive. Install Finamp today to enjoy your music, on your terms. Thank you for using Finamp!

About

Shelv Player

Stream your personal music library with a native client. Enjoy offline listening, smart playlists, and synced lyrics. This app offers advanced queue management and cross-device synchronization for a seamless listening experience.

Highlights
  • Offline music downloads
  • Smart playlist generation
  • Global search with lyrics
  • Transcoding support
  • Advanced queue management
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

Shelv is a native music player for Navidrome and Subsonic-compatible servers. Stream your own music library, download it for offline listening, add radio stations, and enjoy smooth playback with gapless, transcoding and smart pre-cache. Shelv also includes mixes, synced lyrics, queue sync and listening insights. Features: - Smart Mixes - Instant Mix - Infinity Mix - Random Albums - Shuffle All - Radio Stations - Offline Downloads - Full Library Download - Listening Insights - Synced Lyrics - LRCLIB Support - Gapless Playback - Transcoding - Smart Pre-cache - Queue Sync - Scrobbling - ReplayGain - Multiple Servers - AirPlay & CarPlay - iCloud Sync Shelv requires your own Navidrome or Subsonic-compatible music server.

Screenshots

Finamp4 screens
Shelv Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Shelv Player at 5.0 against Finamp's 4.6. Shelv Player also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Finamp's advantage is ratings volume (224 vs 7) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shelv Player holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Finamp has 224 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Finamp's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shelv Player's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Finamp ships an update monthly, Shelv Player every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Finamp versus Shelv Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFinampShelv Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (224 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings224 — better7
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB25 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperJames HarveyVasco Kugler

Customer experience

Finamp

All ratings209 ratings
Positive88.0%
Neutral5.3%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews194 reviews
Positive75.8%
Neutral11.3%
Negative12.9%

Shelv Player

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Finamp

No in-app purchases

None

Shelv Player

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Finamp free?
Finamp is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shelv Player free?
Shelv Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Finamp or Shelv Player?
Shelv Player is rated higher. Finamp averages 4.6 out of 5 from 224 ratings, while Shelv Player averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Finamp or Shelv Player have ads?
Neither Finamp nor Shelv Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Finamp or Shelv Player?
Finamp ships an update monthly, and Shelv Player every 2 weeks. Most recently, Finamp was updated on October 24, 2026 and Shelv Player on October 24, 2026.

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