What's the difference between ShazamKit and AudD?

ShazamKit is Apple's SDK for apps on Apple platforms and Android. It matches microphone audio against the Shazam catalog at no per-request cost. AudD is a REST API usable from any app or server, with official SDKs in eleven languages. It matches against 160 million songs and also recognizes long files with timestamps, monitors live streams 24/7, and matches your own catalog.

Can I use Shazam from my server?

ShazamKit is a client SDK; Apple doesn't offer a general REST API for sending audio from a server. AudD is built for server-side use: send a file or URL to api.audd.io and get JSON back.

Is AudD free like ShazamKit?

No. AudD is a paid service with 300 free requests on signup, then $5 per 1,000 requests, or about $2 per 1,000 on volume plans. ShazamKit has no per-request charge.

ShazamKit vs AudD: which to use for music recognition

ShazamKit is Apple’s SDK for matching audio against the Shazam catalog. AudD is a music recognition API. Both identify recorded music from a few seconds of audio.

At a glance

	ShazamKit	AudD
What it is	SDK in your app	REST API with SDKs
Platforms	iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS; separate Android SDK	iOS, Android, web, and servers; official SDKs for Swift, Kotlin, Python, Node.js, Go, Rust, PHP, Java, .NET, C, C++
Recognition from your server	No	Yes
Catalog	Shazam catalog	160 million songs
Your own audio	Custom catalogs of signatures you generate	Custom catalog upload; matches return your ID
Whole files, every track with timestamps	No	Yes, enterprise endpoint
24/7 radio and live-stream monitoring	No	Yes, $45 per stream per month
Streaming links in results	Apple Music	`song_link` for any service, plus Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, MusicBrainz on request
Cost	No per-request charge	300 free, then $5 per 1,000; about $2 per 1,000 on volume plans
Account	Apple developer account; signed developer tokens on Android	Sign up at dashboard.audd.io, one API token

Use ShazamKit when

your app runs on Apple platforms, or you’re willing to set up Apple developer tokens for Android;
microphone recognition against the Shazam catalog is all you need;
you want no per-request cost.

ShazamKit converts captured audio into a signature on the device, so the recording isn’t sent to Apple.

Use AudD when

you need the same recognition from iOS, Android, the web, and your backend;
audio arrives on your server, as uploads, files, or URLs to pages on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, SoundCloud, and other sites;
you need every song in a long file, such as a DJ mix, podcast, or video, with start and end times;
you monitor radio stations or live streams around the clock;
you need label, ISRC, and UPC for licensing or reporting (Startup plan or higher);
you want to match your own or unreleased tracks from the backend.

Using both

An app can use ShazamKit on the device and AudD on the server. For example, recognize on iPhones with ShazamKit, and send Android clips or uploaded files to AudD. TrackRadar, a track-identification tool for DJs, chains AudD, Shazam, and ACRCloud. It sends audio to AudD first, then Shazam, then ACRCloud.

Trying AudD

Get a token at dashboard.audd.io (300 free requests) and send a clip:

curl https://api.audd.io/ -F url='https://audd.tech/example.mp3' -F api_token='your-api-token'

Or use an SDK: docs.audd.io/sdks.

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