Crate for Plex vs Hathor Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Plex music library browsing
- Offline listening
- Apple Watch app
- Crossfade playback
- Queue management
- Smart caching
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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.
Hathor Player
This app elevates your Plex music library with a beautiful and fast interface. Enjoy synced lyrics, offline downloads, CarPlay support, and explore new releases and discoveries. It also offers engaging music-based games and detailed listening statistics.
- Plex music library playback
- Synced lyrics and crossfade
- Offline listening downloads
- CarPlay and podcast support
- Music discovery games
- Detailed listening stats
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Hathor is a music player built for your Plex library: your albums, playlists and podcasts, in a beautiful, fast app made to last. YOUR MUSIC, BIG • Play from your Plex server, at home or away, FLAC included • Synced lyrics, waveform, crossfade, play queue • Downloads for offline listening • CarPlay, podcasts and radio stations from around the world • A lively Home: your artists, genres and decades on stage EXPLORE • New releases from your artists, as soon as they're out • The albums missing from your discography, and a Wishlist so you never forget one • Top podcasts and radio stations in your country COLLECTIONS • Billboard, Grammy, Oscars: every album in your library becomes a card • A Hall of Fame for your three favorite cards, card styles and finishes to unlock • Grading: send a card for inspection and get its grade out of 10, sealed in its slab • Binders to arrange your cards your way DISCOVERIES • A new album every 30 minutes, drawn at random from the 100,000 most-played albums • Each ticket is revealed with its rarity, and becomes a card once the album joins your library BLIND TEST • Intro, Mashup, Cover, Lyrics, Your library, Feat finder and By ear • Solo, or with friends on the same Wi-Fi: multiple choice or buzzer, from their own phones STATS & HISTORY • Your top artists, tracks, albums and genres, and how they move • Your listening profile, streaks and full history Everything about your Plex server stays free, forever: library, playlists, downloads, CarPlay, podcasts, radio, lyrics. No ads, no tracking. HATHOR+ AND HATHOR PASS Hathor+ (one-time purchase) unlocks for life 8 charts, all 7 Blind Test games, full stats and history, colors, app icons and library health. Hathor Pass (monthly or 6-month subscription) includes all of Hathor+, plus a ticket every 10 minutes (up to 30 in reserve), Chrome, Showcase and Pop card styles, 3 gradings at once, custom binders and the chart of the month, yours for life. After your 6th paid month, Hathor+ is yours for good. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Hathor requires a Plex Media Server with music. No server yet? "Try without a server" lets you explore everything with a demo library. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://bastiencah.github.io/hathor-app/privacy.html Hathor is not affiliated with Plex Inc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Hathor Player at Free against Crate for Plex's $3.99. Hathor Player also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.4). Crate for Plex's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On 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
Hathor Player is free to download; Crate for Plex costs $3.99 up front. Hathor Player sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Crate for Plex asks for nothing beyond the download.
Crate for Plex holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Crate for Plex's written reviews are positive against 67% of Hathor Player's.
Crate for Plex ships an update every 2 months, Hathor Player every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Crate for Plex | Hathor Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (7 ratings) — better | 4.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #126 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.4 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Darren Ebbing | Bastien Cahan |
Customer experience
Crate for Plex
Hathor Player
In-app purchases
Crate for Plex
No in-app purchases
Hathor Player
- Hathor Pass monthly$3.991 Month
- Hathor Pass 6 months$17.996 Months
- Hathor+$8.99
Questions
Is Crate for Plex free?
Is Hathor Player free?
Which has better reviews, Crate for Plex or Hathor Player?
Do Crate for Plex or Hathor Player have ads?
Which is updated more often, Crate for Plex or Hathor Player?
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