Comparison

SubSonify vs Narjo

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

Head to head
About

SubSonify

Access your self-hosted music library offline on iOS devices, including Apple Watch and CarPlay. Enjoy instant browsing, downloads, and Siri integration. A free tier offers limited daily playback, with a Pro version removing the cap.

Highlights
  • Offline library access
  • Background syncing
  • Download albums and playlists
  • CarPlay integration
  • Standalone Apple Watch playback
  • Siri voice commands
  • Adjustable crossfade and quality settings
Features
Read full description

SubSonify is a native iOS client for self-hosted music servers: Navidrome, Airsonic, Ampache, gonic, LMS and anything else that speaks the Subsonic API. Your library, offline, in CarPlay, on Apple Watch, and one "Hey Siri" away. There is no tracking in it, and the only server the app talks to is yours. Free is the whole app at ten songs a day; Pro only removes the cap. WHAT IT DOES • Full offline library. The app keeps a local copy of your library, so browsing and search are instant and work with no signal. It syncs in the background; there is no offline mode to switch on. • Downloads. Keep albums, playlists or single songs on the device. They survive reboots and keep playing when your server is down. • Auto-download. Point it at your starred songs or any playlist and new additions download on their own. • CarPlay. Browse, search and play from the car screen, with artwork, queue, Up Next, shuffle and repeat. • Apple Watch. Standalone playback: stream over Wi-Fi or LTE, or sync tracks to the watch and leave the phone at home. • Siri. "Hey Siri, play [artist] on SubSonify" plays from your server. Artists, albums, songs, playlists, or "play something" to shuffle the library. Shortcuts too. • Song Radio. Start a radio from any song, and save the result as a playlist. • Internet radio. If your server has stations configured, they show up. If not, the section stays hidden. • Crossfade and quality. Adjustable crossfade, plus separate stream quality for Wi-Fi and cellular: FLAC at home, transcoded on mobile data. SERVERS AND LOGIN Tested against Navidrome, LMS, Ampache and gonic. On servers with OpenSubsonic API keys, SubSonify logs in with a key, so your password is never stored on the device. Everywhere else it uses the salted-token authentication every Subsonic server has supported for years. Credentials live in the iOS Keychain and go to your server and nowhere else. WHAT IT COLLECTS Nothing. There is no account to create, and the app ships without an analytics SDK or a crash reporter. Listening history, playlists, downloads and settings stay on your device and your server. The app makes two kinds of connections: to your server, and to Apple for purchases. The one exception is internet radio: stations stream straight from the broadcaster, who can see your IP address. FREE AND PRO Free means ten songs a day with every feature included: downloads, offline playback, CarPlay, the watch app, sync, search and playlists. Pro removes the cap and does nothing else. If ten songs a day is enough, the app costs nothing, ever. Pro is available monthly, yearly, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. The yearly plan starts with a free week. Prices are shown in the app in your local currency. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of that period. Manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Privacy policy: https://subsonify.app/privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ The music in the screenshots comes from the SubSonify demo server: Creative Commons tracks by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and Broke For Free, used under CC BY. More at https://subsonify.app

About

Narjo

Stream your personal music library from various servers or local storage. Enjoy lossless playback, synced lyrics, and extensive library exploration. Cast to multiple devices and customize your listening experience with a powerful equalizer and offline downloads.

Highlights
  • Connect to Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, Plex
  • Lossless playback and gapless support
  • Real-time synced lyrics with translation
  • Browse by artist, album, genre, decade, folder
  • UPnP/DLNA casting and Sonos support
  • 10-band graphic equalizer
  • Offline downloads and full offline mode
Features
Read full description

Your music. Your server. Brought to life. Narjo is a beautiful, powerful player for the music you already own. Connect directly to Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, or Plex and enjoy lossless playback, synced lyrics, deep customization, and immersive animated artwork wherever you listen. No Narjo account. No ads. No behavioral tracking. Just your collection, your way. CONNECT YOUR LIBRARY • Navidrome, Subsonic, Jellyfin, Emby, and Plex • Add multiple servers and switch between them instantly • Automatically switch between home and remote addresses as your network changes • Client certificates (mTLS), custom headers, reverse proxies, Cloudflare Tunnels, and self-signed certificates • No server? Local Library mode plays music stored directly on your device ARTWORK THAT MOVES • Bring covers to life with animated artwork in Now Playing and album views • Display animated artwork on the Lock Screen on supported devices and system versions • Play animated WebP covers from your library • Add custom video artwork to individual songs or complete albums • Dynamic interface colors inspired by the current artwork PLAYBACK, DONE RIGHT • Lossless FLAC and ALAC, plus MP3, AAC, WAV, and AIFF • Gapless playback and customizable crossfade • BPM-aware AutoMix transitions with a smooth adaptive fallback • ReplayGain normalization with clipping protection • Separate streaming and download quality for Wi-Fi and cellular • Smart pre-caching for smooth, responsive playback • 10-band equalizer with 18 presets, custom presets, Simple and Advanced modes, and Equalizer APO import LYRICS THAT KEEP UP • Synced lyrics with real-time, line-by-line highlighting • Lyrics from your server, embedded tags, LRC files, and LRCLIB • On-device translation into your preferred language • Adjustable timing, text size, and alignment REDISCOVER YOUR COLLECTION • Browse artists, albums, songs, genres, decades, and folders • Recently Played, Recently Added, Most Played, and Time Capsule • Song, Artist, and Album Radio • Smart playlists, favorites, hearts, and 5-star ratings • Fast library-wide search • Optional AudioMuse-AI for similar songs and Song Path • Optional Lidarr integration for discovering and adding music OFFLINE AND AROUND THE HOME • Download songs, albums, and playlists • Auto-download and smart playlist downloads • Full Offline Mode when no connection is available • Favorites, ratings, play counts, and scrobbles sync when you reconnect • AirPlay, Sonos, and speaker groups • Bit-perfect UPnP/DLNA casting with native DSD passthrough on compatible renderers • Navidrome Jukebox mode MAKE NARJO YOURS • Dark, Light, and System themes with customizable accent colors • Personalize the player, Home screen, tab bar, and artwork presentation • Sleep timer and configurable swipe gestures • Sport Mode can match playback to your target running BPM EVERYWHERE YOU LISTEN • iPhone and iPad • Apple TV for big-screen listening • Apple Watch with volume and playback controls, library browsing, Up Next, and offline playback • CarPlay • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Siri and Shortcuts • Available in 11 languages PRIVATE BY DESIGN Narjo connects directly to your server. Your credentials stay securely stored in the Keychain. Narjo contains no advertising and does not use your activity for cross-app behavioral tracking. A compatible server account is required for server features. Availability may vary by server, configuration, device, operating system, and audio renderer. Your collection deserves a player as expressive as the music itself. Download Narjo and hear—and see—your music in a new way. TERMS & PRIVACY Terms of Use: https://narjomusic.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://narjomusic.com/privacy

Screenshots

SubSonify4 screens
Narjo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SubSonify at 5.0 against Narjo's 4.4. SubSonify also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 11 days) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). Narjo's advantage is ratings volume (31 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. SubSonify sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Narjo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SubSonify holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Narjo has 31 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of SubSonify's written reviews are positive against 82% of Narjo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SubSonify ships an update every 2 days, Narjo every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SubSonify versus Narjo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSubSonifyNarjo
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.4 (31 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better82.4% of reviews
Number of ratings131 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDoubleFauArturo Yumpo

Customer experience

SubSonify

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Narjo

All ratings31 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.1%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive82.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative11.8%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

SubSonify

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$44.99
2 purchases

Narjo

Subscriptions1
  • Narjo Pro Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Narjo Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is SubSonify free?
SubSonify is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Narjo free?
Narjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SubSonify or Narjo?
SubSonify is rated higher. SubSonify averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Narjo averages 4.4 from 31 ratings.
Do SubSonify or Narjo have ads?
Neither SubSonify nor Narjo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SubSonify or Narjo?
SubSonify ships an update every 2 days, and Narjo every 11 days. Most recently, SubSonify was updated on September 27, 2026 and Narjo on September 29, 2026.

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