Best Music Tracking Apps in 2026: Last.fm, RateYourMusic & More
The best music tracking apps in 2026: Last.fm, ListenBrainz, RateYourMusic, Musicboard, Discogs, and Achriom compared. Free options, scrobblers, and the one with AI.
The best music tracking app depends on what listening means to you. Last.fm is best for automatic scrobbling and historical depth; it’s been logging scrobbles since 2002. RateYourMusic is best for people who think in genres and want rigorous ratings. ListenBrainz is the free, open-source alternative to Last.fm for scrobbling without ads. Discogs is best for vinyl collectors and physical-catalog obsessives. Apple Music and Spotify libraries are native but thin as trackers. Achriom is best if you want albums tracked alongside films, books, TV, and anime, with an AI librarian that can recommend music based on the novel you just finished.
Pick Last.fm if scrobbling is the job and you want the biggest community. Pick ListenBrainz if you want free, open-source scrobbling with no ads. Pick RateYourMusic if you want opinions with teeth. Pick Achriom if you want your music understood in context with the rest of your taste.
Last reviewed: June 27, 2026.
How we picked: every app here is judged on the same six things: formats covered, platforms, whether you can export your data, AI features, privacy, and price. See the full media tracker comparison for all 17 trackers side by side.
Quick verdict:
- Best for automatic scrobbling and historical depth: Last.fm
- Best for ratings and genre taxonomy: RateYourMusic
- Best free open-source scrobbling: ListenBrainz
- Best for vinyl and physical collectors: Discogs
- Best for albums alongside your books, films, TV, and anime: Achriom
Track more than music? Achriom keeps your albums next to your books, films, TV, and anime in one library, with an AI librarian that finds the threads between them. Free to start, no card.
Start free →What a real music tracker needs to do
Listening is messier than reading or watching. A good music tracker handles:
- Logging what you actually listened to, whether scrobbled or manual
- Historical context across years, not weeks
- Ratings that mean something at the album level, not just per-track
- Discovery that isn’t purely algorithmic, ideally informed by genre history
- Connecting to the rest of your taste, if music is part of a bigger picture
Different apps solve different parts of that list.
Last.fm
Best for: Automatic scrobbling, historical listening stats, legacy depth
Last.fm has been logging what people listen to since 2002. It connects to Spotify, Apple Music, and almost every desktop and mobile player. Free; Last.fm Pro is $3/month for ad removal and family tree charts.
What it does well:
- Automatic scrobbling across services
- Decades of historical data for long-time users
- Weekly, monthly, yearly listening charts
- A still-active community of music nerds
The limitation: Track-level focus. Album and artist pages feel dated. Discovery recommendations have not kept up with streaming algorithms.
RateYourMusic (RYM)
Best for: Structured ratings, genre taxonomy, music-nerd community
RateYourMusic is the album-level equivalent of IMDb plus Letterboxd, with Discogs-level genre precision. Ratings are on a 5-star scale with decimals; genres are specific and arguably over-hierarchized. Free (ads) or $60/year subscription removes ads.
What it does well:
- Genre taxonomy that takes music seriously
- Ratings culture where people argue over 3.5 vs 4 stars
- Year-end charts that influence real discovery
- Huge coverage across genres and eras
The limitation: UI is deliberately vintage. No scrobbling. The community skews male and contrarian. Not for the casual listener.
ListenBrainz
Best for: Free, open-source scrobbling with no ads or subscription
ListenBrainz is the open-source alternative to Last.fm, built by the MetaBrainz Foundation (the same people behind MusicBrainz). It scrobbles from Spotify, Apple Music, and most major players, stores your full listening history, and shows it back to you with stats and charts. Everything is free, with no ads and no paid tier.
What it does well:
- Fully free scrobbling with no feature limits
- Open data: your listening history is yours and exportable
- Privacy-conscious alternative to ad-supported platforms
- Compatible with the same clients that support Last.fm
- Ongoing active development
The limitation: Smaller community than Last.fm. Discovery and recommendation features are thinner. The interface is utilitarian. If community charts and social listening context matter to you, Last.fm still has more of that.
Discogs
Best for: Physical collection cataloging, vinyl trading
Discogs is the authoritative database for music releases, covering every pressing, every variant, and every region. If you collect records, this is the app. Free.
What it does well:
- Release-level precision (the 1972 UK pressing vs the 2016 reissue)
- Marketplace for buying and selling
- Collection management for physical media
The limitation: Tracking listening is not the point. If you don’t own vinyl or CDs, you don’t need it.
Musicboard
Best for: Album ratings, reviews, and lists with a clean iOS-first interface
Musicboard is the most Letterboxd-like option in the album space: clean design, album-level ratings on a 10-point scale, lists, reviews, and a social feed. It launched in 2021 and has grown steadily, particularly among iOS users who want a more visual alternative to RateYourMusic. Free; a Pro tier removes limits.
What it does well:
- Clean, modern iOS interface built around albums as the primary unit
- 10-point rating scale with half-points and a structured journal
- Shareable lists and a discovery feed from people you follow
- No scrobbling required: you log intentionally, not passively
The limitation: Smaller community than RateYourMusic or Last.fm. No scrobbling or streaming service integration. Better at curated logging than automatic history.
Apple Music / Spotify Library
Best for: Passive tracking of what you streamed
The native libraries in Apple Music and Spotify automatically log what you play. Spotify Wrapped produces the viral year-end recap. Apple Music Replay does the same less publicly.
The honest read: Good at “what did I stream.” Bad at intentional curation, since it’s a byproduct of using the service, not a tracker you engage with.
Achriom
Best for: Albums as part of a cross-media library with an AI librarian
Achriom tracks albums alongside films, books, TV, and anime in one library. The librarian can answer “what should I listen to if I loved Annie Dillard” or “an album that echoes the mood of Past Lives” because it sees all of your taste, not just the music slice. Free with unlimited items and 10 AI messages a month; Pro $9.99/month for 200 a month. See the album tracker page for the scoped product pitch.
What it does differently:
- Cross-media recommendations
- 30-second Apple Music previews directly in chat for albums in your library
- Conversational discovery
- Apple Music library import (iOS)
- Private by default, with no scrobble leaderboards
Open any album and you get track previews to play, a hand-picked video essay worth your time, and a note from the librarian on how it connects to the rest of your shelves. It is the depth a scrobble count never gives you.
The limitation: No automatic scrobbling yet. Direct Last.fm and RYM imports are on the roadmap.
Want all of it in one place? Achriom tracks your albums alongside your books, films, TV, and anime, with an AI librarian that finds the threads between them. That is the part no music-only tracker can do.
Try Achriom free →Quick comparison
| App | Scope | Scrobbling | AI | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last.fm | Tracks + albums | Yes | No | Free / $3 mo |
| ListenBrainz | Tracks + albums | Yes | No | Free (open source) |
| RateYourMusic | Albums (genre-deep) | No | No | Free (ads) / $60 yr |
| Musicboard | Albums | No | No | Free / Pro |
| Discogs | Physical collection | No | No | Free |
| Apple Music Library | Streaming only | Built-in | Basic | Subscription |
| Spotify Library | Streaming only | Built-in | Algorithmic | Subscription |
| Achriom | Albums, films, books, TV, anime | Manual | AI librarian | Free / $9.99 mo |
Which should you use?
Use Last.fm if: Scrobbling is non-negotiable and you want the biggest community and the longest track record.
Use ListenBrainz if: You want scrobbling without ads or subscriptions. It does the same core job as Last.fm for free, with open data and no tracking.
Use RateYourMusic if: You think in genres, you like arguing over ratings, and you want a community of people equally invested in the question.
Use Musicboard if: You want a clean, iOS-native album journal with social sharing, closer to Letterboxd than RateYourMusic in feel. No scrobbling, but intentional logging with a 10-point rating scale and shareable lists.
Use Discogs if: You collect physical media. It’s the only tool that respects the difference between pressings.
Use Apple Music or Spotify library if: You’re okay with passive tracking as a byproduct of streaming.
Use Achriom if: Albums are part of a bigger picture for you. You want music tracked alongside films and books, and you want an AI that understands the connections.
The honest answer
- Automatic scrobbling and history: Last.fm (biggest community) or ListenBrainz (free, open-source)
- Genre taxonomy and ratings rigor: RateYourMusic
- Vinyl and physical collection: Discogs
- Native streaming logs: Apple Music / Spotify library
- Cross-media context: Achriom
Last.fm plus Achriom is a reasonable stack. Last.fm handles the automatic log; Achriom handles the understanding across media. If you want the same scrobbling setup without a subscription, swap Last.fm for ListenBrainz.
Related reading: See how your music fits the bigger picture in your personal library as an AI context window.
Related guides:
- The Best Album Tracker for People Who Also Read and Watch
- Last.fm vs RateYourMusic: Which Music Tracker Fits How You Listen?
- Best Letterboxd for Music Apps in 2026
Common questions
What is the best music tracking app in 2026?
Last.fm for scrobbling with the biggest community. ListenBrainz if you want scrobbling without ads or a subscription. RateYourMusic for genre rigor. Discogs for vinyl collecting. Achriom for cross-media tracking with an AI librarian that connects your music to your books and films.
What is the best free music tracker?
ListenBrainz is the best fully free scrobbler: no ads, no paid tier, open-source. Last.fm has a free tier with ads. RateYourMusic is free with ads ($60/year to remove them). Achriom’s free tier covers unlimited albums and 10 AI messages a month with no credit card required.
Is there a music tracker with AI?
Achriom is the music tracker built around an AI librarian. Ask for albums that match a mood or that echo a film or novel, and it answers from your actual taste across media.
Can I import my Apple Music library?
Yes, on iOS. Open the Achriom sidebar, tap Import, select Apple Music, and sign in with your Apple ID. Achriom only reads your library.
Can I import Last.fm or RateYourMusic data?
Direct imports are on the roadmap. For now, add albums via search or ask the librarian to add a list.
Does Achriom replace Last.fm?
Not directly. Last.fm is a scrobbler with historical depth; Achriom is a cross-media library with an AI librarian. Many people use both.
What is the best RateYourMusic alternative?
RYM is deliberately specific. Achriom is not a direct replacement. It’s a broader-scoped, AI-powered alternative. If genre taxonomy is the core need, RYM has no true competitor yet.