Comparison

Nautiline vs Crate for Plex

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

Head to head
About

Nautiline

Stream your music library from an OpenSubsonic server with a modern, intuitive interface. Enjoy features like offline downloads, gapless playback, synced lyrics, and seamless integration with your iOS device.

Highlights
  • Offline caching and downloading
  • Gapless playback
  • Synced lyrics
  • CarPlay and Siri integration
  • Sleep timer
  • ReplayGain support
Features
Read full description

Nautiline is a modern OpenSubsonic client with a beautiful interface and solid media handling, so you can focus on your music. Listening & Playback: • Cache & Download Files ‣ Songs are automatically cached as you listen with no extra data used ‣ Manually download files for offline listening ‣ Automatically save your whole library • Gapless Playback • Seeking in Transcoded Files ‣ Save bandwidth without sacrificing the listening experience • Internet Radio • Offline Browsing & Searching • Synced Lyrics ‣ Direct from your server • ReplayGain ‣ Automatically apply the right track/album gain • Sleep Timer Remote Access: • Set Custom Headers • Multiple URLs for home and away access iOS Integration: • CarPlay • Siri • Music Haptics

About

Crate for Plex

A native, unofficial music player for your Plex Media Server, designed for iPhone and Apple Watch. Enjoy your owned music library with features like offline listening, crossfade, and queue management without subscriptions or ads.

Highlights
  • Plex music library browsing
  • Offline listening
  • Apple Watch app
  • Crossfade playback
  • Queue management
  • Smart caching
Features
Read full description

Your Plex music library, finally given the iOS music player it deserves. Crate is a native, unofficial music player for your Plex Media Server, built for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Pay once. No subscription. No ads. No tracking. Just your music, played beautifully. ON IPHONE - Browse your entire library — albums, artists, playlists - Now Playing reimagined with crossfade, queue, lyrics, and hearts - Stations built from your own library — Hits, Heart Beats, On Repeat, and more - Discover view to rediscover albums you'd forgotten you loved - Download albums for offline listening - Smart caching keeps recently-played tracks ready offline - Pick up where you left off — Crate restores your last session on launch - Light and dark modes that actually look like iOS IN THE CAR - Full CarPlay app — Home, Library, Discover, Stations, and Search - Top Picks and recent albums the moment you connect - Hands-free with Siri: "Hey Siri, play House in Crate" - Ask Siri for a playlist, an artist, or a station, or say "I like this song" to heart it ON IPAD - A layout built for the big screen, in both orientations - Lyrics alongside the artwork, the way they should be ON APPLE WATCH - A real watchOS app — browse, download, and play from your wrist - Doubles as a remote when your iPhone is the one playing - Download albums directly to your watch - Phone-optional playback with AirPods THE FUNDAMENTALS, DONE RIGHT - Gapless playback with crossfade between tracks - Volume matching, so quiet albums and loud ones sit at the same level - Lossless FLAC playback on iPhone (Apple Watch auto-transcodes for compatibility) - Stream quality control, with Data Saver and Low Data Mode respected automatically - Shuffle with no repeats - Hearts to track what you love - Queue management you can actually use WHAT'S NOT INSIDE - No subscription - No ads - No tracking - No login wall to a service that isn't yours Crate connects directly to your own Plex Media Server. Your music. Your server. Your player. REQUIREMENTS Crate requires a Plex Media Server with a music library and a free Plex account. Plex Pass is not required. Crate is an unofficial third-party application and is not made by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Plex Inc.

Screenshots

Nautiline4 screens
Crate for Plex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nautiline at Free against Crate for Plex's $3.99. Nautiline also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (84 vs 6). Crate for Plex's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On rating, ads and device support 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

Nautiline is free to download; Crate for Plex costs $3.99 up front. Nautiline sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Crate for Plex asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Nautiline against 4.7 for Crate for Plex. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nautiline has 84 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of Nautiline's written reviews are positive against 75% of Crate for Plex's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nautiline ships an update every 2 weeks, Crate for Plex every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Nautiline versus Crate for Plex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNautilineCrate for Plex
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.7 (84 ratings)4.7 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews88.2% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings84 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.4
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGledtoneDarren Ebbing

Customer experience

Nautiline

All ratings81 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.9%

Crate for Plex

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Nautiline

One-time1
  • Nautiline$10.00
None

Crate for Plex

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nautiline free?
Nautiline is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Crate for Plex free?
Crate for Plex costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nautiline or Crate for Plex?
Nautiline and Crate for Plex are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 84 and 6 ratings respectively.
Do Nautiline or Crate for Plex have ads?
Neither Nautiline nor Crate for Plex shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nautiline or Crate for Plex?
Nautiline ships an update every 2 weeks, and Crate for Plex every 2 months. Most recently, Nautiline was updated on October 25, 2026 and Crate for Plex on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons