Top hi-res and lossless music streaming compared

About Top hi-res and lossless music streaming compared

Hi-res and lossless music streaming rewards comparison on the grounds that matter here: what the monthly plan costs, which formats the service actually serves, and where that plan runs. This ranking sets out 7 services on exactly those terms. The main trade-off sits between price and format range, because some services stop at lossless audio while others push into hi-res and spatial. Another split runs through the list between services that keep a free tier and those that do not, and the length of whatever trial is offered. Figures appear in the currency each brand publishes, so comparing prices only works inside a single currency and the local rate is the one that matters at checkout. Read the formats first, then the price, then confirm the service runs where you live. The order below follows those signals.

How we picked

Scores for this category weigh what readers ask about most when sound quality is the reason for subscribing: what the monthly plan costs, which formats the service actually serves, and where the plan runs. Price and format range count together rather than one sitting above the other, since a cheaper plan that stops at lossless solves a different problem from a costlier one that adds hi-res. A free tier, the length of any trial, whether offline downloads are included, and how many support routes a brand offers also feed the order. Figures come from each brand's own published material: subscription and pricing pages, help-centre articles on audio quality, availability pages, and terms or legal pages for company details. No service here was tested in person, so every claim traces back to what a brand states, and where a detail is not published the gap is left open rather than filled in. Partners are listed ahead of everyone else when a ranking includes them; none of the services here is a partner, so the order runs on score alone.

Our top picks

1. 1. Deezer

   Deezer earns a place in this ranking with a monthly plan of €11.99, a free tier, a trial of 30 days, offline downloads and a student discount. Formats are the limit: standard and lossless, so anyone after hi-res or spatial audio should look higher up the list, at Spotify, Qobuz or Tidal. It is the costlier of the two euro plans here, IDAGIO being the other, and help runs through help centre and community, which means no live chat. Qobuz, ranked next in this ranking, does list hi-res audio and its own student discount, but there is no free tier to fall back on.

   • Plan price per month: €11.99
   • Free trial length: 30 days
   • Free tier: Yes

   Pros

   • A free tier streams with advertising, so you can listen before paying anything.
   • Premium opens with 30 days free, so a look at the paid plan costs nothing to start.
   • Audio reaches hi-fi quality, which gives listeners with the right gear something to aim for.
   • Offline downloads keep music playing without a WiFi or network connection.
   • A student discount gives students a cheaper route into the paid plan.

   Cons

   • The free tier carries advertising, so free listening is not uninterrupted.
   • The free stretch runs 30 days before Premium starts billing at €11.99, so your decision window is brief.
   • Support runs on help centre and community only, so getting help means going through a help centre or the community.

2. I2. IDAGIO: best for top-pick

   IDAGIO opens this ranking because it puts lossless streaming on a monthly plan of €9.99 and keeps a free tier for anyone who wants to look before paying, with a trial of 14 days on the paid side. Its formats, standard and lossless, sit a step below the hi-res services, and offline downloads and a student discount are both included. Tidal, ranked next in this ranking, goes further with hi-res and spatial audio, while Spotify and Qobuz also list hi-res. The gap worth weighing is help: support runs on help centre and email, so there is no live chat when a file will not play on your kit.

   • Plan price per month: €9.99
   • Free trial length: 14 days
   • Free tier: Yes

   Pros

   • Premium Audio is €9.99 when billed annually, so the price of a paid plan is stated plainly.
   • A 14 day trial comes with the paid subscriptions, so a tier can be tested before paying.
   • Saved music plays without a connection on mobile, so listening survives a commute or a flight.
   • There is a free tier as well as a student discount, so listening can start at no cost.

   Cons

   • Support runs on help centre and email only.
   • Lossless quality sits outside the free tier, so the higher fidelity option needs a subscription.
   • The student discount is limited to students, so other listeners pay €9.99 when billed annually for Premium Audio.

3. 3. Tidal

   Tidal holds a high place in this ranking on format range: standard, lossless, hi res and more. A monthly plan of $11.99 covers it, and the service runs across 61 countries including Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, so availability is rarely the sticking point. Offline downloads and a student discount are part of the offer, and the company behind it is TIDAL Music AS. IDAGIO, ranked above, stops at lossless audio, which is the whole gap between the two. Spotify, ranked next in this ranking, also lists hi-res but not spatial audio, and its monthly plan, $12.99, is higher in US dollars.

   • Plan price per month: $11.99
   • Offline downloads: Yes
   • Student discount: Yes

   Pros

   • Sound quality reaches the top tiers Tidal publishes on the subscription a reader already pays for, so fidelity is not a reason to buy a second plan.
   • Offline downloads are listed for the Android app and the iOS app, which covers the phone platforms most listeners carry.
   • Eligible students can take a reduced rate, which is the only discount Tidal describes.
   • Billing details come from TIDAL Music AS, the same company that runs the service, so subscription questions stay in one place.

   Cons

   • Entry cost is $11.99 a month for Tidal Individual, and the reduced student rate is the only saving Tidal sets out.
   • The lower rate is limited to eligible students, so everyone else stays on $11.99 a month.
   • Support runs through help centre, email, chat and more, with no phone line listed for readers who would rather speak to someone.

4. 4. Spotify

   Spotify sits near the top of this ranking because it pairs hi-res audio with a free tier: standard, lossless and hi res, plus offline downloads and a student discount. The monthly plan is $12.99, which is the same US dollar figure nugs charges, so price does not separate the two and formats decide it. A trial of 30 gives room to test the lossless switch on real hardware. Against Tidal, ranked above in this ranking, spatial audio is the missing piece. Against nugs, ranked next, Spotify has the free tier while nugs answers with spatial audio at the same price.

   • Plan price per month: $12.99
   • Free trial length: 30 days
   • Free tier: Yes

   Pros

   • One plan carries several audio quality settings, so moving up does not mean buying a second subscription
   • Offline downloads save thousands of songs to the device, or let Offline Backup do it automatically
   • Audiobooks are part of the plan rather than sold as a separate subscription
   • Eligible students pay less than the $12.99 a month Premium Individual price
   • The trial runs 30 days at no charge before the first payment

   Cons

   • Support runs on help centre and community, so there is no phone line or live chat route to a person
   • The trial lasts 30 days, so a long listen is needed before you judge whether $12.99 a month earns its place
   • The $12.99 price on Premium Individual is what everyone pays, apart from eligible students who get a discount

5. 5. nugs

   nugs is in this ranking for its format list, standard, lossless, hi res and more, which covers hi-res and adds spatial audio, at a monthly plan of $12.99. The catch is entry: there is no free tier, so a trial of 7 days is the low cost look before you commit. Offline downloads are included, and the service has been trading since 1993. Spotify, ranked above in this ranking, charges the same US dollar figure and keeps a free tier; nugs answers with spatial audio instead. Deezer, ranked next, lists a monthly plan of €11.99 in euro but stops at lossless.

   • Plan price per month: $12.99
   • Free trial length: 7 days
   • Free tier: No

   Pros

   • The 7-day trial is long enough to browse the archive and judge the stream before you pay anything.
   • The monthly nugs plan costs $12.99 and covers standard streaming across the catalogue.
   • Subscribers can build custom playlists and save audio for offline streaming on the mobile device.
   • The service has run since 1993 on concert shows and livestreams, with agents on hand in chat while a show is live.

   Cons

   • There is no free tier, so free listening stops when the 7-day trial ends.
   • Offline downloads are offered on the mobile device, so desktop listeners get nothing to save for later.
   • Past the trial the full stream costs $12.99 a month, and hi-res subscriptions cost more.

6. 6. Qobuz

   Qobuz is in this ranking because it serves standard, lossless and hi res, includes hi-res audio, and offers offline downloads, a student discount and a trial of 30 days. Its monthly plan is £10.83 in pounds, a currency the rest of the list does not use, so line it up against your own bill rather than against the euro and US dollar plans here. There is no free tier, which leaves the trial as the cheap way in. Audiomack, ranked next in this ranking, closes the list with a free tier and formats that stop at lossless.

   • Plan price per month: £10.83
   • Free trial length: 30 days
   • Free tier: No

   Pros

   • Playback spans standard, lossless and hi-res, so the higher quality files are included rather than held back for an upgrade.
   • A 30-day free trial gives you proper time with the service before any payment.
   • Downloads work offline, so your library travels with you beyond a connection.
   • A student discount is available, which trims the cost while you are studying.

   Cons

   • There is no free tier, so the trial is the only way to hear the service before you pay.
   • The Studio rate of £10.83 a month comes with an annual, non-refundable commitment paid as a single upfront payment, so a short stay leaves you paying for time you will not use.
   • Support runs on email, chat, help centre and more, so every question is answered in writing rather than by phone.

7. 7. Audiomack

   Audiomack completes this ranking with a free tier, offline downloads and the formats standard and lossless on its paid offering, run by Audiomack Inc. It is a lighter proposition than the service above it: Qobuz, ranked just higher in this ranking, adds hi-res audio and takes its monthly plan in British pounds. Help is the trade-off. Support runs on email and help centre, so there is no live chat and no community board when a download will not appear on a device. Worth considering when a free tier matters most and lossless is enough.

   • Free tier: Yes
   • Offline downloads: Yes
   • Legal entity: Audiomack Inc.

   Pros

   • A free tier is included, so subscribing is a choice rather than a condition for listening.
   • Paid subscribers can save any song, album or playlist for offline listening, which covers flights, commutes and patchy mobile data.
   • A subscription runs to the end of the payment cycle already paid for, after which the account returns to the free tier.
   • Audiomack Inc. is named in both the terms and the privacy policy, so the operator behind the service is identifiable.

   Cons

   • Audiomack Inc. applies the data storage and privacy laws of the United States, so readers elsewhere see no local regime described in its documents.
   • Offline downloads sit with the paid suite, so a free-tier listener who travels has nothing saved for the journey.
   • Help arrives by email and through a self-serve help centre, so answers take written time rather than arriving in a spoken conversation.

What to look for

Formats decide the plan, price only ranks it

Look at the audio formats a service serves before the price tag, because hi-res and spatial audio are what separate the services in this category. Qobuz streams standard, lossless and hi res, while a list that stops at lossless answers a different need entirely.

Entry price, in its own currency

The monthly plan is the easiest figure to check, but only inside a currency. Spotify lists $12.99 and nugs lists $12.99, both in US dollars and level with each other, which leaves formats rather than cost to make the choice. Figures in euro or pounds need converting before they mean anything beside those.

Whether a free tier exists and how long the trial runs

A free tier shows you what the app feels like before you pay, and a trial shows whether the sound holds up on your own equipment. Spotify pairs a free tier with a trial of 30 days, while Qobuz has no free tier to lean on. Read both before signing up.

Where the plan actually runs

Availability is listed market by market and coverage is not the same on every service. Tidal runs across 61 countries including Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, so check that list against your own country rather than assuming a global service. Where an account has to work matters as much as what it costs.

How you get help

When a hi-res file will not play, the route to a person matters. Deezer sends help through help centre and community, so a live chat window is not part of the deal. A service offering chat and a community board alongside email and a help centre gives you more ways to ask the same question.

Downloads, student pricing and the small print

Offline downloads are included across the services here, and student discounts appear at IDAGIO, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz and Spotify. Those two features often settle a subscription more than a small price gap, especially if you listen away from wifi or travel often.

Frequently asked questions

Top hi-res and lossless music streaming compared by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Mexico
• Poland
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV