Best Shazam Alternatives for iOS and Android (2026)

You don’t have to use Shazam to find that song stuck in your head. Three free alternatives each beat Shazam at a specific job: lyrics on the screen, voice control, or pure speed. Pick by what matters most to you.

#Why Look for a Shazam Alternative?

Shazam works fine for one thing: tap, listen, get a song name. But it stops there. Many song lookups also call for something Shazam doesn’t do well: showing the lyrics, identifying a hummed tune, or running fast on a low-end phone.

According to the Wikipedia entry for the Shazam app, Apple acquired Shazam in 2018 and folded its engine into iOS, which is why iPhone owners now get free Music Recognition in Control Center. That move pushed third-party developers to compete on extra features, and the alternatives below kept iterating on lyrics, voice input, and pure speed. The standalone Shazam app has barely changed since. Picking one of these alternatives is about adding what’s missing, not switching tools entirely.

The alternatives below all use audio fingerprinting too. The technology is mature enough that the recognition gap between competitors is small. The real difference is what each app does after it identifies the song. That’s where you should pick.

If you also use streaming heavily, our Spotify alternative guide covers complementary apps that pair well with these recognizers.

#Musixmatch: Best for Lyrics Lovers

Musixmatch is the pick if you care about seeing lyrics in real time. The app does double duty: identify songs and overlay synced lyrics on whatever is playing.

Floating lyrics is the standout feature. Turn the toggle on, and lyrics appear directly on top of your Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Music app while a song plays. Shazam can show you a song name and a static lyric block, but it doesn’t pin lyrics over a video the way Musixmatch does.

Musixmatch matches lyrics on most mainstream pop and rock tracks released after 2010. Older indie songs from the 90s and early 2000s miss more often. According to Musixmatch’s about page, the catalog covers more than 8 million tracks, which explains why rare or unreleased songs are the ones most likely to come up empty.

The free tier gives you identification, lyrics, and clip sharing.

Premium runs $3.99/month and unlocks word-by-word sync. That’s karaoke mode where each word highlights as it’s sung. Worth it only if you sing along often.

The real advantage stays simple: Musixmatch is the one music app that puts synced lyrics on screen while a video plays.

Download: Google Play | App Store

#SoundHound: Best for Voice Commands

SoundHound is for hands-free identification. It’s the closest thing to a voice-first music app you can install today.

The big sell is voice control. Say “OK Hound, identify this song” and it tags what’s playing. Say “OK Hound, play Far Away by Nickelback,” and it queues the song from a connected service.

SoundHound’s voice recognition holds up on both iOS and Android, even in a moderately noisy coffee shop. It understands most requests with espresso machines and chatter in the background.

The humming feature is the second reason to install it. Hum the chorus of a song into the mic, and SoundHound tries to match it from melody alone, and it handles a hummed pop or rock chorus well. According to SoundHound’s company page, the company has been training its sound-matching engine since 2005, which explains why melody recognition feels more polished than newer competitors.

Unlike Shazam, SoundHound has a built-in player. Identify a song, tap the orange button, and it plays through Spotify or YouTube without leaving the app.

Pricing: Free with ads. Premium is $7.99/month or $79.99/year. The paid tier removes ads and adds unlimited tag history.

Download: Google Play | App Store

#Beatfind: Best for Pure Speed (Android Only)

Beatfind strips out the fluff. One job: identify songs as fast as possible.

On a recent Android phone, Beatfind identifies most songs within a couple of seconds, noticeably quicker than Shazam on the same hardware. Pre-1990 jazz cuts are the kind of track it’s most likely to miss.

The visual feedback is unique: the app pulses your phone’s flashlight to the song’s beat. It’s a gimmick, but it makes house parties more fun.

The downsides are real. Beatfind is Android-only, the ads pile up, and the search button at the bottom of the screen sometimes slides under a banner. The core identification holds up, and the app loads noticeably faster than Musixmatch on a mid-range device.

If you’re already using your Android phone for music creation through apps like GarageBand for Android, Beatfind pairs well as a quick reference tool when you want to look up a sample.

Pricing: Free with ads. No premium tier.

Download: Google Play

#How Do These Apps Stack Up Against Shazam?

Use this table to skim the differences before installing anything.

Feature	Shazam	Musixmatch	SoundHound	Beatfind
Song recognition	✓	✓	✓	✓
Synced lyrics	Basic	✓ (Synced)	✗	✗
Floating lyrics	✗	✓	✗	✗
Voice commands	✗	✗	✓	✗
Hum to identify	✗	✗	✓	✗
Average ID time	4-5 sec	3-4 sec	4 sec	Under 3 sec
Platform	iOS + Android	iOS + Android	iOS + Android	Android only
Free tier	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Premium price	$1/month	$3.99/month	$7.99/month	n/a

If you only need song names, your iPhone already has Shazam-style Music Recognition built into Control Center since iOS 14.2. No app install needed. The third-party picks earn their place by doing more than that.

#Picking the Right Shazam Alternative

Pick Musixmatch if you want lyrics on screen. The free tier handles most casual use, including slideshows with music on iPhone.

Pick SoundHound if you prefer voice. The “OK Hound” command set feels natural once you remember the trigger phrase. The humming feature actually works for songs you can hum but can’t name, and it’s the only one of the three that handles that input at all.

Pick Beatfind if you want a no-frills Android tool that loads fast and gets out of your way. It’s also handy when you’re adding multiple sounds in TikTok and need to confirm the original artist of a sample before crediting them.

Pick none of the above if you only ever tag a few songs a year on an iPhone. The built-in Music Recognition is enough.

All three integrate with Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. None lock you into their ecosystem the way Shazam pushes Apple Music links by default. The recommendation isn’t “switch from Shazam”; it’s “install the one whose extra feature matters to you.” If your streaming app is the bigger problem, our Pandora not working guide covers another common service-side fix.

#Bottom Line

Install Musixmatch first if you sing along, SoundHound first if you hum more than you remember lyrics, and Beatfind first if you’re on Android and want speed. None of these replace Shazam wholesale, and you don’t need them to. They each do one thing better, and on a phone that already has free Apple Music Recognition baked in, that’s enough reason to keep one of them around.

If lyrics are your main reason for opening any music app, Musixmatch is our specific recommendation: it’s the only one that will overlay synced words on a YouTube video on your phone right now.

#Frequently Asked Questions