If you want to play your own music on an iPhone, you sooner or later run into three names: Plexamp, VLC and - when privacy and multiple sources matter - CLAUDIO. The three could hardly be more different, because they answer the same question with three entirely different philosophies.
Transparency first: I develop CLAUDIO. This comparison still tries to do each of the three justice - the claims about Plexamp and VLC come from their official descriptions and support documents (linked below).
Short answer
- You run a Plex server and love it: Plexamp. The music player Plex develops itself, mirroring your Plex server's library directly - the premium features require Plex Pass.
- You just want to quickly play a file: VLC. Free, open source, plays practically anything from practically anywhere - but with no music library experience.
- Your music is scattered (local, iCloud, NAS, servers) and tracking is a dealbreaker: CLAUDIO. A privacy-focused player for every source - remote servers cost, though.
Plexamp: the player by Plex, for Plex
Plexamp is a music player a team has focused on for years, nothing else: true gapless, loudness leveling, soft transitions ("Sweet Fades"), a configurable preamp and EQ, CarPlay and Android Auto, plus rediscovery features for large libraries. The app itself is free.
The conditions: you strictly need a Plex Media Server and a Plex account - and the premium features (Sonic Analysis, Sonic Sage, radio and mix builders, offline downloads, bit-perfect playback) sit behind the Plex Pass subscription. Your music runs through an account-bound ecosystem of a company that changed its terms noticeably in 2025 - music streaming stayed free, but Plex sets the direction.
VLC: the universalist
VLC is free, open source and the definition of "plays everything": per its description it streams from SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS and UPnP/DLNA servers and swallows almost any format without conversion. No account, no ads, a project of the non-profit VideoLAN organization.
But VLC is a media player, not a music player: you move through folders and file lists instead of a library with albums, artists and clean metadata. Movie night and quickly checking a file are covered without buying or setting up anything - a music library with album and artist views is not something VLC ships.
CLAUDIO: every source, no data collection
CLAUDIO answers the question differently: not one server, not one file - but all your sources in one library. Local files, iCloud Drive, NAS/SMB, Jellyfin, Navidrome/Subsonic, WebDAV, SFTP, Audiobookshelf and DLNA, plus audiobooks with chapters, read-along (transcribed on device) and Knock to Resume, and podcasts whose new episodes download by themselves overnight on the charger. On the music side: a 10-band EQ, a headphone EQ built from the AutoEq measurements, ReplayGain, gapless, crossfade, synced lyrics in a view of their own, CarPlay for downloaded and local tracks (no streaming in CarPlay), an offline cache from the server. With Navidrome, Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf, favorites sync both ways, Navidrome and Subsonic count the tracks you play, and Jellyfin learns what you listened to. On top of that come widgets for the Home Screen and Lock Screen and Control Center controls, on iPhone and iPad, not on the Mac.
The second pillar is privacy: no account, no ads, no analytics - the App Store privacy label reads "Data Not Collected". Plexamp's analysis features have only a small counterpart here: no AI mixes, but a taste profile that feeds Home and Smart Shuffle. It is built on the device and can be viewed and reset - which fits the data philosophy, but is a real difference. And fair is fair: local files and iCloud Drive are free, and so are podcasts as long as you subscribe and stream. The listening features for audiobooks, podcasts and music belong to the one-time Pro, from podcast downloads to EQ, read-along and the widgets. Remote sources, along with the offline cache, CarPlay and the favorites sync, belong to Ultra (subscription) or the one-time Pro+.
Head-to-head
| Plexamp | VLC | CLAUDIO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server required | Plex Media Server + account | none | none (remote optional) |
| Sources | Plex library | files, SMB/FTP/SFTP/NFS/UPnP | local, iCloud, SMB, Jellyfin, Navidrome, WebDAV, SFTP, ABS, DLNA |
| Music library | first class | no (file browser) | yes |
| Audiobooks/podcasts | no | rudimentary | yes (chapters, read-along, sleep timer) |
| CarPlay | yes | not advertised | yes (downloaded and local tracks) |
| Offline | yes (Plex Pass) | copy files manually | yes (Ultra/Pro+) |
| Price | app free, premium via Plex Pass | free | free + Pro/Ultra/Pro+ |
| Account required | yes | no | no |
Prices and features change; check the store listings and support pages.
Who should pick what?
- Plex household, Plex Pass owned or planned: Plexamp - it is built for exactly that one library.
- Occasionally a file from the NAS or the downloads folder: VLC - nothing to buy, nothing to set up.
- Music scattered across device, cloud and servers, plus audiobooks and podcasts, with no account and no tracking: CLAUDIO.
- A pure Jellyfin or Navidrome server, one source is enough: none of the three - take a dedicated client (Jellyfin comparison, Navidrome comparison).
FAQ
Is Plexamp free? The app is, and streaming music from your own server works remotely for free too. Premium features like Sonic Analysis, mix builders and offline downloads need Plex Pass.
Can VLC manage my music library? VLC plays almost every format from almost every source, but remains a file player - browsing albums and artists through a curated library is not what it aims for.
Does CLAUDIO need a server? No. Local files and iCloud work without any infrastructure; NAS and server sources are optional (Ultra or Pro+).
Which of the three collects the least data? CLAUDIO declares "Data Not Collected" and requires no account. VLC is open source and account-free. Plexamp requires a Plex account.
Read on
Stream from a NAS without Plex? → NAS music on iPhone Tracking-free listening in general? → A no-tracking music player What the app does and what it costs? → CLAUDIO at a glance
Sources
- Plex: Plexamp product page - feature overview
- Plex: Free vs. Paid - which Plexamp features need Plex Pass
- Plex: Important 2025 Plex Updates - the 2025 pricing/feature changes
- App Store: Plexamp, VLC media player, CLAUDIO - descriptions and privacy labels
Full disclosure: I develop CLAUDIO - which is why that stood at the very top, not in the fine print. If your setup is a pure Plex household, Plexamp covers exactly that case; if you only play the odd file, VLC does the job. Everything in between is what CLAUDIO is for; it plays local files and iCloud Drive for free.