Comparison

Play Dead vs LiveVault

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

Head to head
About

Play Dead

Access a vast library of officially remastered live Grateful Dead concert recordings. Discover previously unreleased shows every week, including rare CD-only releases now available in high-resolution audio. Listen across your devices with seamless playback.

Highlights
  • Official Grateful Dead live recordings
  • Hi-res remastered audio
  • Exclusive 'Dead Drops' weekly
  • CD-only releases now streaming
  • Vault organized by year
  • Cross-device listening
  • Apple CarPlay support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

About

LiveVault

Explore thousands of historic live Grateful Dead performances with this mobile streaming player. Discover new shows, browse by era, and curate your personal library of legendary concerts with gapless playback.

Highlights
  • Thousands of historic live Grateful Dead shows
  • Explore shows by era and year
  • Gapless audio playback
  • Robust song catalog
  • Personal library for favorite shows
  • On This Day discovery feature
Features
Read full description

Explore live Grateful Dead performances with LiveVault. Browse shows by date and era, discover performances of your favorite songs, and stream recordings hosted by the Internet Archive. LiveVault is free. Browse and play music without an account. Sign in to use Live Guide and My Trip, with no payment card or subscription required. FIND THE SHOW See shows performed on today's month and day, browse by year and era, and explore a curated catalog of 166 songs with their live performances. CHOOSE THE TAPE Inspect up to ten same-date recordings with SBD, AUD, or MTX labels, ratings, reviews, and download counts, then pick the one you want to hear. Choosing a source changes the recording and setlist. PRESS PLAY Full-show playback with background audio, lock-screen controls, queue and seek, and resume from your saved position. LIVE GUIDE Follow one shared daily episode built around the recordings. Narration alternates with selected Archive-hosted recordings in a visible timeline. Narration is AI-generated and may contain errors. Guide availability depends on the published episode catalog. Free with sign-in. MY TRIP Keep a personal listening trail across shows, songs, venues, years, and milestones, and revisit what you discover. You can turn listening-history collection off in settings. Free with sign-in. YOUR LIBRARY Save favorites, write notes, and build playlists. Previously saved shows remain playable on the device where you saved them. LiveVault is an unofficial, third-party streaming client. Music streams from the public catalog hosted by the Internet Archive (archive.org). LiveVault is not affiliated with the Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead Productions, Rhino, nugs.net, the Internet Archive, or any artist. Recording availability varies. AI-generated context may contain errors. Privacy Policy: https://www.livevaultapp.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.livevaultapp.com/terms

Screenshots

Play Dead4 screens
LiveVault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: LiveVault at 5.0 against Play Dead's 4.3. LiveVault also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 64%) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Play Dead's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months) and chart position (#114 vs unranked). On price, ads, 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

Both are free to download. Play Dead sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. LiveVault asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LiveVault holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 93 and 25 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Play Dead's written reviews are positive against 100% of LiveVault's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Play Dead ships an update every 4 weeks, LiveVault every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Play Dead versus LiveVault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlay DeadLiveVault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (93 ratings)5.0 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings93 — better25
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#114 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB59 MB
Age rating17+12+
Developernugs.net enterprises, LLCLiveVault App, LLC

Customer experience

Play Dead

All ratings92 ratings
Positive80.4%
Neutral8.7%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative21.4%

LiveVault

All ratings20 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Play Dead

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Yearly$99.991 Year
None

LiveVault

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Play Dead free?
Play Dead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LiveVault free?
LiveVault is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Play Dead or LiveVault?
LiveVault is rated higher. Play Dead averages 4.3 out of 5 from 93 ratings, while LiveVault averages 5.0 from 25 ratings.
Do Play Dead or LiveVault have ads?
Neither Play Dead nor LiveVault shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Play Dead or LiveVault?
Play Dead ships an update every 4 weeks, and LiveVault every 3 months. Most recently, Play Dead was updated on October 25, 2026 and LiveVault on October 23, 2026.

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