Refrain, compared

Written by the people who make Refrain, so read them with that in mind. Every page says where the other app is the better pick, and every claim about another product carries the date it was checked.

• Alternatives to Evermusic

  Evermusic's useful tier costs $19.99 a year or $59.99 outright. What to use instead depends entirely on whether your music actually needs to live in the cloud.

• Alternatives to VOX Music Player

  VOX Premium is $49.99 a year and the free tier has ads. What to move to depends on whether you are leaving over the price, the ads, or the hi-res.

• Apple Music Sync Library vs Refrain

  Putting your own MP3s in the Music app needs an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription, or a cable. Refrain needs neither.

• Cesium (Cs Music Pro) vs Refrain

  Cs Music Pro is a classic-iPod interface over your Apple Music library. Refrain is a standalone player for files you import. The difference is where the library comes from.

• Doppler vs Refrain

  Two local-only iPhone music players, one paid and one free. Doppler is the more polished player; Refrain does more to fix a library that arrived messy.

• Evermusic vs Refrain

  Evermusic streams your library from 30+ cloud services. Refrain keeps everything on the device. Which you want depends on where your music already is.

• Flacbox vs Refrain

  Flacbox is an audiophile player with cloud and media-server connections. Refrain is a free local player. If you own a DAC, this comparison probably ends with Flacbox.

• Free alternatives to Doppler

  Doppler costs around $9 after a week's trial. Here is what else plays local music files on iPhone, including what you give up by not paying.

• Free iPhone music players with no subscription

  Genuinely free music apps for your own files — no trial, no tier, no ads. There are fewer than you would expect, and here is how to tell them apart.

• Marvis Pro vs Refrain

  Marvis Pro is a deeply customisable front end for the Apple Music library. Refrain is a standalone player for imported files. They are not really competitors.

• Plexamp vs Refrain

  Plexamp needs a Plex server you run, and offline downloads need a Plex Pass — now $750 for a lifetime licence. Refrain needs nothing and costs nothing.

• The Files app vs Refrain

  Files plays an MP3 when you tap it, and that is the extent of it. No library, no queue, no lock screen controls worth relying on. Here is where it runs out.

• The best offline music players for iPhone

  Ten apps that play music files stored on your iPhone, what each one is actually for, and which to pick. Prices checked August 2026.

• VLC vs Refrain for music

  VLC plays anything and organises nothing. Refrain plays six audio formats and gives you a real library. For music specifically, that trade usually favours the library.

• VOX vs Refrain

  VOX is a hi-res player with cloud storage and streaming, at $49.99 a year. Refrain is a free local player. The split is hi-res ambition versus no subscription.

• iPhone music apps that work with no internet

  "Offline" means three different things in music apps, and only one of them survives a month in airplane mode. How to tell which you are buying.