Comparison

Narjo vs Sonora

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

Head to head
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, DroppedNeedle, and SoulSync integrations for requesting music on your own server 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

About

Sonora

This app provides a smooth and native mobile interface for accessing and streaming your self-hosted music library. Browse artists, albums, and playlists with a fast search and enjoy your personal collection anywhere.

Highlights
  • Browse artists, albums, songs, and playlists
  • Fast and clean interface
  • Search personal music collection
  • Stream music on the go
  • Native iPhone experience
Features
Read full description

Sonora is a polished Navidrome client for iPhone that brings your self-hosted music library anywhere. Browse artists, albums, songs, and playlists with a fast, clean interface built for everyday listening.  Search your collection in seconds, stream your personal library on the go, and enjoy a music experience designed to feel simple, smooth, and native on iPhone. Sonora is built for self-hosted music lovers who want their own library without giving up a great mobile experience. Your music. Your server. Your way.

Screenshots

Narjo4 screens
Sonora4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sonora at none against Narjo's 2. Sonora also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Narjo's advantage is ratings volume (36 vs 4) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Narjo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Sonora asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Narjo against 4.0 for Sonora. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Narjo has 36 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Narjo's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sonora's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Narjo versus Sonora: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNarjoSonora
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (36 ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews78.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings36 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperArturo YumpoGRANT JAMES MADISON

Customer experience

Narjo

All ratings36 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral2.8%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative14.3%

Sonora

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

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Narjo

Subscriptions1
  • Narjo Pro Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Narjo Lifetime$29.99
None

Sonora

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Narjo free?
Narjo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sonora free?
Sonora is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Narjo or Sonora?
Narjo is rated higher. Narjo averages 4.1 out of 5 from 36 ratings, while Sonora averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Narjo or Sonora have ads?
Neither Narjo nor Sonora shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Narjo or Sonora?
Narjo ships an update every 2 weeks, and Sonora every 2 weeks. Most recently, Narjo was updated on October 21, 2026 and Sonora on October 5, 2026.

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