PlayTally vs stats.fm vs Listenality
Three Apple Music stats apps built on three different ideas, compared line by line.
PlayTally builds a play log after installation and recommends regular scans. stats.fm for Apple Music explores imported listening history with social comparisons. Listenality analyses your saved library for a taste profile, then adds recaps and dated plays from your export. Choose by the data you want to explore; we have not measured an accuracy winner.
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We make Listenality. Facts about PlayTally and stats.fm come from their App Store pages, checked on 2026-09-27.
The short version
These three apps answer different questions. PlayTally answers "what plays have I logged since I started tracking?" stats.fm for Apple Music answers "what have I played most, over my whole history, and how do I compare with friends?" Listenality answers "what does my listening say about me, and what changed this week?" None of them is best at all three.
| PlayTally | stats.fm for Apple Music | Listenality | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 once, optional tips | Free; stats.fm Plus by in-app purchase | Free trial, no card; Plus about $2.92/month, billed $34.99 yearly, or $4.99 month to month |
| Availability | App Store, iOS 16 or later | App Store, iOS 15 or later | iPhone for Apple Music; Android for YouTube Music |
| App Store rating | 4.5 (381 ratings) | 3.7 (857 ratings) | Not recorded in this rating snapshot |
| Useful on day one | No, it counts from install | Core stats; lifetime stats after import | Yes, from your library in a few minutes |
| History before install | No, per its page | Yes, one-time import of Apple's history | Yes, import of Apple's privacy export |
| Ongoing tracking | Own play log; regular library scans required | See publisher tracking requirements | Device play counts plus recent-play feed; coverage and timestamp limits |
| Date ranges | Any date range | Charts and listening clocks | Weekly recap Fridays, monthly on the 1st; Plus includes year-end |
| Taste profile | Not listed | Not listed | Genres, moods, eras, personality, personal reads and roast, with song evidence |
| Social | Not listed | Compare stats with friends | Friend comparisons; shareable taste, roast and recap cards |
| YouTube Music | No | Not listed | Yes, on iPhone and Android; Takeout imports plus Android play tracking |
| Account needed | No extra account | Requires an active Apple Music subscription | Connect Apple Music |
| Data | On device and your iCloud; developer collects none | See its App Store privacy label | Read-only, except playlists you ask it to save |
PlayTally: choose it for a log built from install
PlayTally keeps its own play log. You pick any date range and see your top tracks for it. It syncs across devices with iCloud, lets you exclude white noise and sleep sounds, exports your data as CSV and makes playlists from your history. There is no subscription and the developer says it collects no data.
The trade-off is stated plainly on its page: it cannot reconstruct history from before it was installed. It also asks you to let it scan your library regularly and suggests an automated shortcut that opens it daily or weekly. It is an option for people who want a log built after setup. We have not measured its accuracy against the other apps.
stats.fm for Apple Music: choose it for a lifetime view
stats.fm for Apple Music comes from the makers of the stats.fm Spotify app. It shows most-played tracks, artists and albums, listening clocks and charts, and badges, and you can compare with friends. Core stats are free, and Plus unlocks full history and deeper analytics.
The trade-off: lifetime stats need a one-time import of your Apple Music history, so you request your data from Apple and wait before that part works. Its App Store rating is the lowest of the three.
Listenality: choose it to understand your taste
Connect Apple Music on iPhone and Listenality reads your saved Apple Music library and available add dates. In a few minutes you get top artists, genres, moods, eras, a musical personality and a roast, and every claim shows the songs behind it. From install it builds a weekly recap every Friday and a monthly recap on the 1st. The year-end recap is made in early December and is part of Plus. It also reads YouTube Music libraries.
Listenality combines device play counts and Apple’s recent-play feed for ongoing tracking. Device counts cover library tracks; the feed also picks up unsaved tracks. Coverage can have gaps, and not every play has an exact timestamp. PlayTally uses its own library-scanning log; we have not compared accuracy. For plays before install it reads Apple's privacy export, the same kind of file stats.fm uses. That file has no artist field and no track ID, so matching uses the song name and album, and the import receipt shows how many plays matched. Apple Music is supported on iPhone; the Android app supports YouTube Music.
Can you use more than one?
Yes. They do not conflict, and pairing them can make sense: PlayTally for ongoing play logging, and an export reader (stats.fm or Listenality) for the years before. Listenality changes nothing in your library, except a playlist you ask its Playlist Builder to save.
Questions
Which is more accurate, PlayTally or stats.fm?
They measure different things. PlayTally builds its own log after installation and recommends regular scans. We have not measured an accuracy winner. stats.fm shows lifetime stats from Apple's exported history. Neither can replace the other.
Does PlayTally show my old Apple Music history?
No. Its App Store page says it tracks its own data and cannot reconstruct playback history from before it was installed.
Do stats.fm and Listenality both need Apple's data export?
Only for history from before install. stats.fm uses it for lifetime stats. Listenality works from your library without it and uses it to add dated plays from before install.
Which of the three is cheapest?
PlayTally is a one-time $2.99. stats.fm for Apple Music is free to start with Plus by in-app purchase. Listenality has a free trial, then Plus at about $2.92/month, billed $34.99 yearly, or $4.99 month to month in the US.
Do any of them work with YouTube Music?
Listenality reads YouTube Music libraries on iPhone and Android, imports older plays from Google Takeout, and tracks new plays on Android after setup. PlayTally is Apple Music only, and stats.fm's Apple Music app does not list YouTube Music.
Listenality supports Apple Music and YouTube Music on iPhone, and YouTube Music on Android.
Get ListenalitySources and checked dates
- PlayTally: Apple Music Stats, App Store page (checked )
- stats.fm for Apple Music, App Store page (checked )