# play vs SubStreamer

The clearest difference is price: SubStreamer at Free against play's $4.99. SubStreamer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5). play's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and chart position (#56 vs unranked). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

SubStreamer is free to download; play costs $4.99 up front. play sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. SubStreamer asks for nothing beyond the download.

play holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 432 and 144 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 73% and 72% positive.

play ships an update every 3 weeks, SubStreamer every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | play | SubStreamer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.5 (432 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playsub-music-streamer/id955329386/reviews)** | [4.0 (144 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **432** | 144 |
| Positive reviews | **72.5% of reviews** | 72.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#56** | — |
| Size | 28 MB | 55 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | [Michael Hansen](https://appshunter.io/developer/955329385) | [Gaven Henry](https://appshunter.io/developer/925249622) |

## What reviewers say

### play

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playsub-music-streamer/id955329386)

**Currently charting:** #56 Top Paid · Music (US App Store)

Stream your self-hosted music library to various devices with customizable audio settings. Enjoy lossless playback, gapless transitions, and a powerful equalizer. Browse your collection by folders, artists, or albums, and cache music for offline listening.

**Highlights:** Stream Subsonic-hosted music, Lossless and gapless playback, 10-band customizable equalizer, Crossfade and replay gain, Browse by folder, artist, album, Offline caching of music, Supports multiple servers

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Generous Tip | $1.99 | one-time |
| Amazing Tip | $3.99 | one-time |
| Unbelievable Tip | $8.99 | one-time |
| Mind-blowing Tip | $49.99 | one-time |
| Unparalleled Tip | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth playback
- 👍 Customizable UI
- 🔒 No tracking
- 🎨 Detailed song/album info
- 💡 Useful features (EQ, crossfade, etc.)

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔋 Battery drain
- 🤔 Confusing navigation/UI
- ⚠️ Buggy CarPlay integration

**Reported bugs**

- Songs not playing properly
- Library desyncing issues
- Freezing during database sync
- Inconsistent behavior when switching networks

**Requested features**

- Repeat single track option
- Automatic theme switching
- Batch download/caching
- Apple Watch support
- Improved CarPlay experience


### SubStreamer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/substreamer/id1012991665)

Access and stream your personal music library from a Subsonic-compatible server on your mobile device. Enjoy offline playback, personalized mixes, and detailed listening analytics without ads or subscriptions.

**Highlights:** Stream and download music library, Offline listening with background processing, Personalized smart mixes, Listening analytics and scrobbling, Playlist and library management, Background playback with lock screen controls, Open source

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Beautiful and modern UI design
- ⚡ Clean, intuitive interface
- 🎵 Excellent Navidrome server compatibility
- 📱 Works seamlessly with self-hosted music servers
- 🔄 Reliable background playback functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent playback failures and stalling
- 🐛 Random crashes during playback
- 🐛 Scrobbling not working reliably
- 🐛 Large file playback issues (10MB+)
- 🐛 AirPlay/Apple TV streaming broken

**Reported bugs**

- Songs fail to play without double-pressing play button
- Playback stops with 4 seconds remaining in track
- Skipping back crashes the app
- Large files (10MB+) require pause-then-play to start
- Scrobbling fails despite server support

**Requested features**

- CarPlay support for in-car use
- Traditional Chinese language support
- Simplified Chinese language support
- All-songs library view (not just albums/artists)
- Lyrics API integration


## Frequently asked questions

### Is play free?

play costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is SubStreamer free?

SubStreamer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, play or SubStreamer?

play is rated higher. play averages 4.5 out of 5 from 432 ratings, while SubStreamer averages 4.0 from 144 ratings.

### Do play or SubStreamer have ads?

Neither play nor SubStreamer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, play or SubStreamer?

play ships an update every 3 weeks, and SubStreamer every 2 weeks. Most recently, play was updated on October 26, 2026 and SubStreamer on October 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*