Spotify is the better choice for music streaming and discovery, offering a vast library, adjustable audio quality, and social features tailored to music lovers. WhatsApp excels as a secure messaging platform with voice and video calling capabilities, suitable for personal and business communication.
| Attribute | Spotify | |
|---|---|---|
| Music Library Size | Over 100 million tracks, 6.5 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks | Vast library of songs, including top hits and new releases. Users can select specific song segments, up to 15 seconds for photos and 60 seconds for videos. |
| Audio Quality | Offers five audio quality settings: Automatic, Low (24kbps), Normal (96kbps), High (160kbps), and Very High (320kbps - Premium only) | Uses Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec for improved call quality. MLow codec offers two-times-better quality than Opus. Divides raw audio into low and high-frequency bands for separate encoding. |
| Offline Playback | Premium users can download up to 10,000 songs per device for offline listening on up to 5 devices. Downloads require re-authentication every 30 days. Free users can download podcasts only. | Voice messages up to 30 minutes long when recording directly within the app, and up to 16 MB for pre-recorded audio files. |
| Social Features | Offers social media integration, in-app sharing, collaborative playlists, 'Spotify Codes', 'Friend Activity', 'Spotify Jam' for real-time listening sessions, and 'Spotify Blend' for shared playlists. | Focus on private, end-to-end encrypted messaging between known contacts. Lacks public profiles or discovery feeds. Social features include Status updates, group chats, and media sharing. |
| Messaging Features | Messaging feature being removed to focus on other features. | Instant messaging and voice messaging. End-to-end encryption. Disappearing messages (24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days). |
| Data Usage | One hour of streaming at Normal quality consumes approximately 40 MB of data. | Text messages: ~0.01MB. Images: 100 KB to 1 MB. Videos: 2 MB to 10 MB. Voice calls: 0.5 MB to 1 MB per minute. Video calls: 2.5 MB to 15 MB per minute. |
| Platform Availability | Not available | Android, iOS, iPadOS, KaiOS, macOS, Windows, Windows Phone, Wear OS, Meta Quest. WhatsApp Web supports all major desktop browsers except for Internet Explorer. |
| Subscription Cost | Not available | No subscription fees since 2016 for standard use. Business subscriptions range from $50 to $500 depending on BSP and usage. Premium subscriptions range from $5 to $15 per month. |