Deezer
Hacker ApprovedRanked 7 of 10 music streaming services by recommenders
Recommended for its quality, clear labels on AI-generated tracks, and as an alternative to Spotify. Common caveat: buggy apps, and critics call it good but far from great.
Recommended for its quality, clear labels on AI-generated tracks, and as an alternative to Spotify. Common caveat: buggy apps, and critics call it good but far from great.
30 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 73%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 1 year
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Labels and excludes AI-generated music
“they have some really neat feature. Including uploading your own MP3s and labelling of AI tracks.”
Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated” “They label AI-generated music and do not recommend them or include them in radio playlists.”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “AI Generated Music Barred from Bandcamp” “Deezer will tag it and refuse to promote it once it's tagged as such.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated” - Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Bubble Sorted Amen Break”
- Comment from 21 Apr 2026 in “Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated”
Good alternative to Spotify
“From Deezer to Spotify many years ago”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?” “Switched from Spotify to Deezer.”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What vendor you'd switch out if a better option was available?” “Deezer is a great alternative.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Disney Raising Prices Days After Confirming Ads Will Now Show Up on Every Tier” - Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Buggy, awkward apps
“The software quality was horrible. Had a lot of crashes, it often took many many seconds to change between the songs”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” “the UI was awful and confusing and once I got around it, there was a lot of my tracks that couldn't be imported”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Spotify won court order against Anna's Archive, taking down .org domain” “The Tidal and Deezer apps on Windows were absolute dogshit and would constantly bug out”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” Imports miss many tracks
“has in its onboarding flow a pretty cool "get your lists from spotify" feature. from all liked/currated songs - a few thousands - it could not match about 2.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Spotify won court order against Anna's Archive, taking down .org domain” “the UI was awful and confusing and once I got around it, there was a lot of my tracks that couldn't be imported”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Spotify won court order against Anna's Archive, taking down .org domain”
Other music streaming services people recommend
The four most recommended other music streaming services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | 299 | 732 | 29% | 12 | 10 yrs30 owners | — |
| Apple Music | 131 | 270 | 33% | 12 | 1 yr14 owners | — |
| YouTube Music | 58 | 61 | 49% | 12 | — | — |
| Tidal | 48 | 41 | 54% | 11 | 10 yrs3 owners | — |
| DeezerThis page | 22 | 8 | 73% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
What people said
29 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Deezer is a great alternative.”
“From Deezer to Spotify many years ago”
“Switched from Spotify to Deezer.”
“Tidal, Deezer or others, No.”
“You should have tried Deezer.”
“The Tidal and Deezer apps on Windows were absolute dogshit and would constantly bug out”
“It's good, but far from great.”
“Shit is extremely barren.”
“Perfect quality and it great selection.”
“Deezer does not have an equivalent of "Spotify Connect" protocol”
“Deezer on the other hand, back then (I don't know now) had just native web app that could pull music locally.”
“The software quality was horrible. Had a lot of crashes, it often took many many seconds to change between the songs”
“DSPs like Deezer do have 'artist centric' royalty systems, which I think are great.”
“I let the Deezer bot surprise me OPM and I absolutely loved it”
“They're being honest and reporting their numbers.”
“I REALLY like their web app. Fast and smooth.”
“they have some really neat feature. Including uploading your own MP3s and labelling of AI tracks.”
“they're the only one doing something about it”
“Their premium subscription is well worth the money”
“Great reason to steer clear of deezer”
“Deezer will tag it and refuse to promote it once it's tagged as such.”
“flac requires deezer or tidal credentials for now”
“Since then, not a single AI artist I've been able to spot.”
“There is one that gives a fuck rather publicly (Deezer)”
“Deezer was particularly stupid because while I had an active trial they couldn't delete my account”
“the UI was awful and confusing and once I got around it, there was a lot of my tracks that couldn't be imported”
“has in its onboarding flow a pretty cool "get your lists from spotify" feature. from all liked/currated songs - a few thousands - it could not match about 2.”
“Not sure about Linux but Deezer is decent.”
“They label AI-generated music and do not recommend them or include them in radio playlists.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.