Both Spotify and YouTube Music have free ad-supported versions of their service, whereas Apple Music does not, meaning if you really don't want to pay, Apple Music won't be for you. Of course, both Spotify and YouTube Music have some pretty hefty limitations on their free version, the biggest of which coming from YouTube music. If you want to use YouTube Music in the background on your phone, you need to pay for it, which kind of makes the free version useless for most people.
Spotify clocks in at $9.99 a month for a single user, which matches both Apple Music an YouTube Music, and all three services have family plans for $14.99 as well. Plus, the Spotify student play is $4.99 and includes an ad-supported tier of Hulu, which is a nice touch, and Apple Music also has a student plan for $4.99.
YouTube Music has no student plan but does offer YouTube Premium for $11.99 a month, which includes everything you get in YouTube Music, plus a bunch of perks for regular YouTube. This like YouTube Originals, add-free videos, playing videos and music in the background, and a few more features. It's pretty smart because if you're paying $9.99 for YouTube Music already, the extra $2 a mo
nth for additional perks is pretty enticing.
Final thoughts
All three services have their perks and downfalls, so it's hard to pick a winner. In the end, I have decided to stay with Apple Music, mainly because I'm pretty entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. If you're an Apple user and have a ton of Apple devices, Apple Music is likely a bit better for you. Being able to use Siri to control your music is great, and having all your playlists, music selections, and everything else synced across devices is great.
That being said, if you're brand new to streaming and looking to make the dive into service for the first time, I would recommend Spotify. The app is beautifully designed and makes everything so simple. Sharing music with your friends, creating playlists, and music discovery has never been made more simple.
Lastly, don't discount YouTube Music if you're a YouTube fan — the service is the newest and it's getting better all the time. It stands out when it comes to a variety of content because it can offer unique remixes and fan-created content you can't find anywhere else. If you already use YouTube a lot, YouTube Music will likely fit your life pretty well.