Keep Spotify for your songs. Use Hum to get the work done
Spotify is built to play the songs you love. When you need your head, that’s the problem. Hum is wordless music set up for the task in front of you, for about $5 a month on the yearly plan.
Eight ways Hum beats Spotify for focus
$5 a month against $12.99
Hum’s yearly plan works out at $5 a month. Spotify Premium Individual is $12.99 a month in the US, and we couldn’t find a yearly plan.
No lyrics, ever
Hum is wordless from the first note to the last, so there’s nothing to sing along to on page 40. We couldn’t find a Spotify setting that keeps songs with lyrics out. Its explicit filter only blocks tracks marked explicit.
No ads in the middle of a good run
Hum has no ads, on any plan. Spotify’s free plan plays ads.
Nothing to pick
Answer a few questions and your sound is set. It starts playing after the first one, so you’re not scrolling playlists while the clock runs.
A sound for each task
Four states and 19 activities, and each keeps its own settings, so reading doesn’t get the sound you code to.
A pulse you control
Switch it off, pick Low, Medium or High, or set the rate by hand up to 40 Hz, with the number on screen. We couldn’t find anything like it at Spotify.
A coach that reads your own ratings
Rate your sessions and it compares them by time of day, session length and whether you named the task first, then gives you one thing it noticed and one thing to try. We couldn’t find anything like it at Spotify.
Test it on yourself, blind
Your next 16 focus sessions play with the pulse or without it, in an order Hum keeps from you. At the end you see how the two compared, for you.
Already pay for Spotify? Keep it
Hum isn’t here to replace Spotify. Keep it for the commute, the gym and the songs you love. Use Hum for the hours you need your head: reading, writing, coding, revising.
Songs you love are the problem there. Researchers pooled 65 studies on background sound and reading, and music with lyrics got in the way more than anything else they measured. A streaming app is built to make you listen. Hum is built so you stop noticing it.
Hum vs Spotify, feature by feature
| Feature | Hum | Spotify |
|---|---|---|
| Hear the real sound with no account or email | Yes | Not found |
| No ads, on any plan | Yes | Not found |
| Every sound made for focus, rest or sleep | Yes | Not found |
| No lyrics, ever, with no setting to remember | Yes | Not found |
| A reason and the strength of the evidence for each setting | Yes | Not found |
| A coach that reads your own ratings | Yes | Not found |
| A pulse you can set by hand, with the rate shown in Hz | Yes | Not found |
| A blind test of the pulse, on you | Yes | Not found |
| Music written live as it plays | Yes | Not found |
| Nature sounds and noise you can mix yourself | Yes | Not found |
| In English, French, German, Spanish and Italian | Yes | Yes |
| Cancel from your own account | Yes | Yes |
| On your phone and your computer | Yes | Yes |
| No analytics, ad or third-party scripts | Yes | Not found |
| Price | $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year, with $1 for your first 14 days | $12.99 a month in the US, with no yearly plan listed, and a free plan with ads |
What Spotify does well
Spotify has a catalogue of songs and podcasts Hum will never match, apps on almost every device, a free plan with ads, and a Focus section with playlists such as Deep Focus. For music you want to listen to, it’s hard to beat. Hum is for music you don’t want to notice.
Questions
Is Spotify good for focus?
Its wordless focus playlists can help. But Spotify is built for songs: we couldn’t find a setting that keeps lyrics out, the free plan plays ads, and nothing sets the sound for your task or tells you what works for you. Hum is built only for focus, rest and sleep, and you can hear it free before you decide.
I already pay for Spotify. Why would I pay for Hum too?
Because they do different jobs. Keep Spotify for the songs you want to hear. Hum is for the hours you don’t want to notice the music: wordless, set up for the task, with a coach that reads your ratings. On the yearly plan it’s about $5 a month, and your first 14 days cost $1, with your money back if you change your mind.
Will Hum help me focus or sleep?
That’s what it’s built for, and you can judge it by ear before you pay. Its settings draw on research into music, noise and breathing, and the science page has the numbers. Then test it on yourself: Hum’s blind test plays your next 16 focus sessions with the pulse or without it, in an order it keeps from you, and shows you how the two compared.
You’ve read enough. Press play
Answer the first question and the sound starts, with no card to hear it. If it isn’t for you, close the tab.