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WaveFlow
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Comparison

WaveFlow vs streaming

Renting access to everything, or owning what you love.

WaveFlow 2.0.1 and WaveFlow Server 2.2.1, next to five services facts read on November 8, 2026

The short answer

A streaming service gives you a catalogue that runs past a hundred million tracks on the services that publish a figure, suggestions that learn from you and nothing to look after, for about 12 euros a month in France. WaveFlow does none of that: it plays the files you own, for free, as well as they were recorded, and they stay yours whatever happens to a subscription, a catalogue or an account. Streaming wins on what you can discover; owning wins on what you keep. Plenty of people do both.

What matters

Eight points that separate owning your files from renting access to a catalogue. Each side gets a sentence, and the better one on that point is marked. Where it depends on you, it is a tie.

  1. What you can play

    WaveFlow

    What you own: your files, your rips, your purchases.

    Streaming Better here

    Over a hundred million tracks on Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL, from the day you sign up.

  2. Finding new music

    WaveFlow

    Daily Mix, On Repeat and mood radio from your own library, and a plugin that lists new releases from your artists.

    Streaming Better here

    Personal mixes, radios and editorial playlists built to bring you music you do not know yet.

  3. What you have to look after

    WaveFlow

    You buy, rip, tag and back up your files yourself.

    Streaming Better here

    Nothing to manage: search, press play, on every device.

  4. What it costs

    Tie

    WaveFlow

    The player is free; the music costs what you choose to buy, once.

    Streaming

    About 12 euros a month for one person in France, every month you listen.

  5. Sound

    Tie

    WaveFlow

    As good as your files, up to high resolution and DSD, with bit-perfect output.

    Streaming

    Lossless on four of the five, high resolution on three; quality varies by track.

  6. When you stop paying

    WaveFlow Better here

    Everything: the files are yours, the player keeps working.

    Streaming

    On the services that say so, downloads stop playing and catalogue songs leave your library.

  7. Music no service has

    WaveFlow Better here

    Live recordings, out-of-print albums, your own rips: if you have the file, it plays.

    Streaming

    The service's catalogue, plus some of your own files where it allows them: local files on Spotify, an uploaded or synced library on Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube Music, each with its limits.

  8. Account and listening data

    WaveFlow Better here

    No account, and an offline mode that turns off the online features.

    Streaming

    An account is required, and suggestions are built from what you play.

TallyWaveFlow 3Streaming 3Tied 2

Five services, side by side

Read on each service's own pricing, plans and help pages on November 8, 2026. Prices are for one person, per month, in France, at the regular price after any trial.

WaveFlow and five streaming services: price, catalogue and what each one offers
PointWaveFlowSpotifyApple MusicDeezerTIDALYouTube Music
Price per month (France)FreeOpen source, no account.€12.14a month€11.99a month Not confirmedNo current French price could be read from the service's own pages. Not confirmedNo current French price could be read from the service's own pages. Not confirmedNo current French price could be read from the service's own pages.
Catalogue announcedThe music you own100 million+ tracks100 million+ tracksNo figure given110 million+ tracksNo figure given
Free plan
YesEverything is free: no subscription, no account.
YesWith ads; only podcasts can be downloaded.
NoNo free plan; a few radio stations play without one.
YesWith ads; limited skips on mobile outside some playlists.
No
YesWith ads, no background play and no downloads.
Lossless
YesFLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF and DSD.
YesUp to 24-bit / 44.1 kHz on Premium.
Yes
Yes
Yes
NoAAC or Opus up to 256 kbps; lossless is not mentioned.
High resolution (above CD)
YesAs high as your files go, with exclusive output on every system.
No
YesUp to 24-bit / 192 kHz; above 48 kHz needs an external DAC.
YesFLAC up to 24-bit / 192 kHz since October 2026, depending on the track.
YesFLAC up to 24-bit / 192 kHz.
No
Offline listening
YesYour files are on your disk; offline mode turns off the online features.
Yes10,000 tracks per device on 5 devices; online every 30 days.
Yes
YesOn up to 3 devices.
YesIn the phone app.
YesWith Premium; online every 30 days.
Plays your own files
Yes
YesLocal files stored on the device.
YesUp to 100,000 of your songs in the synced library.
YesMP3 upload on the web, up to 2,000 tracks, paid plans only.
NoTIDAL Upload is for music you hold the rights to, not a personal library.
YesUp to 100,000 uploaded tracks, offline even without Premium.
Synced lyrics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Not confirmed
Downloads still play after you stop paying
YesThere is nothing to stop paying: the files and the player stay.
NoThe account returns to the free plan, which downloads podcasts only.
NoCatalogue songs become unavailable; music you owned before stays.
No
Not confirmed
Not confirmed

10 years of a subscription

What one person pays over 10 years for the 2 services whose French price we could read, at today's price and with no change to it.

€1,439 to €1,457

Prices change; this is today's monthly price times 120. WaveFlow is free, and the music you buy is a one-time cost that depends entirely on you, so we do not put a figure against it.

Where streaming wins

Streaming is the better choice for a lot of listeners, and we say so plainly.

  1. Catalogue: over a hundred million tracks on the services that give a figure, the day you subscribe, on every device you own.

  2. Discovery: personal mixes, radios and editorial playlists that know far more music than any one library.

  3. Nothing to manage: no files to buy, rip, tag, store or back up.

You can do both

WaveFlow does not ask you to cancel anything. Keep a subscription to discover new music, and buy the albums you want to keep: WaveFlow plays them from your disk, and WaveFlow Server sends them to your other devices, without an account with WaveFlow and without a monthly bill.

WaveFlow for desktopWaveFlow Server

Method and sources

Every fact about a service was read on its own pricing, plans, help or press pages on November 8, 2026; nothing comes from reviews or from memory. A row is yes only when an official page shows it, no when an official page rules it out, and not confirmed otherwise.

Prices are for France because a price only means something in one country. Deezer, TIDAL and YouTube Music show the price for the country a page is opened from, and ours opened outside France, so their prices are left as not confirmed rather than converted from another country. Deezer's own help article gives 11.99 euros for Premium, but for a partner offer and from figures of October 2025, so it is not counted.

WaveFlow facts come from its repository, at the 2.0.1 release.

The data behind this pageReport a mistake

Questions

  • Can WaveFlow play Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer?

    No. WaveFlow plays files you have: from your disk, from WaveFlow Server, or from a network share. A service's catalogue only plays in its own apps; several services also play some of your own files, within the limits shown in the table above.

  • Why are the prices for France?

    A price only means something in one country, and France is where we could read the regular price of Spotify and Apple Music on their own pages. Deezer, TIDAL and YouTube Music did not show a current French price from where we read them, so the page says not confirmed rather than convert one.

  • Is streaming lossless now?

    On most of them, yes: Apple Music, Deezer and TIDAL announce up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, and Spotify Premium up to 24-bit / 44.1 kHz. YouTube Music announces up to 256 kbps. WaveFlow plays your files exactly as they are, whatever they hold.

  • What happens to my downloads if I stop paying?

    Spotify's free plan downloads podcasts only, Apple Music removes catalogue songs, and Deezer's downloads stop playing offline; TIDAL and YouTube Music do not say. With WaveFlow there is no subscription to stop: your files stay where they are.

All comparisons