Comparison

Mellow FM vs Plinth Music

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

Head to head
About

Mellow FM

Features
Read full description

Mellow FM is a radio app that automatically plays music suited to your current moment. Time of day, activity, weather, season — the app reads multiple contexts to deliver the perfect soundtrack. Crisp jazz for your morning commute, ambient for late-night work, chill for a rainy afternoon. No need to pick a song or search. Just press play, and music that fits the moment starts flowing. [Context-Aware Selection] Combines time of day, motion detection (walking, running, driving), weather, and season to select the perfect tracks from the Apple Music catalog in real time. [Gets Smarter Over Time] Every skip or full listen teaches the app your preferences. Over time, music gets closer to what you love in the same time and situation. [Simple Gesture Controls] • Tap the logo — Play / Stop • Tap the artwork — Pause / Resume • Swipe left — Skip • Swipe up — Request a song • Swipe down — Settings panel [Song Request] Craving a specific track? Swipe up to open the request panel, search by artist or title, and add it to the queue. [Sleep Timer] Set a timer from 5 to 120 minutes using the slider. Music fades out automatically when you're ready to sleep. [Weather-Based Music (Optional)] Enable "Weather-Based Music" in settings to match your local weather conditions. [Now Playing Support] Control playback from the Lock Screen and Control Center. CarPlay supported. • Requires an active Apple Music subscription for music streaming. • Location access is only requested when Weather-Based Music is enabled. • All personal data stays on your device. Mellow FM is ad-free and tracking-free. A quiet radio that focuses entirely on your music experience.

About

Plinth Music

This app is a local music player for users who own their music files. It offers album browsing with full artwork, AI-powered playlist generation based on listening history, and automatic metadata enrichment. It supports various audio formats and file transfers over Wi-Fi.

Highlights
  • Local music playback
  • Album browsing with full artwork
  • AI-powered playlist generation
  • Automatic metadata enrichment
  • Gapless playback and crossfade
  • CarPlay support
  • Wi-Fi file transfer
Features
Read full description

Plinth is a local music player for people who actually own their music. Buy it once — no subscription, no account, no cloud required. ALBUM BROWSING Browse your library as albums were meant to be seen. Full artwork, flip through your collection with a swipe. The way music discovery should feel. AI DJ Plinth builds your next queue from your actual listening history. Five providers to choose from: Claude, OpenAI, and Grok with your own API key, or Apple Intelligence and Ollama fully on-device. You pick who's listening. LIBRARY Plinth scans your tags — ID3, FLAC, ALAC — then fills the gaps automatically from multiple music databases. Missing artwork, artist photos, genre? Found and fixed. Duplicate tracks and incomplete albums surface in one place so your library stays clean. PLAYBACK Gapless playback, crossfade, lockscreen controls, and CarPlay support. IMPORT Transfer files from Mac over Wi-Fi — no cable, no drama. FORMATS FLAC · ALAC · WAV · AIFF · MP3 · M4A · AAC Your library. Your hardware. Your rules.

Screenshots

Mellow FM3 screens
Plinth Music4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Mellow FM at Free against Plinth Music's $9.99. Plinth Music's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Mellow FM is free to download; Plinth Music costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mellow FM ships an update every 2 months, Plinth Music every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mellow FM versus Plinth Music: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMellow FMPlinth Music
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating—4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYoshiyuki KoyamaArtem Trukhanov

In-app purchases

None

Mellow FM

No in-app purchases

None

Plinth Music

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mellow FM free?
Mellow FM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Plinth Music free?
Plinth Music costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Mellow FM or Plinth Music have ads?
Neither Mellow FM nor Plinth Music shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mellow FM or Plinth Music?
Mellow FM ships an update every 2 months, and Plinth Music every 10 days. Most recently, Mellow FM was updated on October 7, 2026 and Plinth Music on October 14, 2026.

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