Lyrics.ovh vs MusicBrainz
Category: Music · Updated August 2026
MusicBrainz has a more generous free tier (No key, 1 request/second, requires an identifying User-Agent) and requires no API key, making it the easier choice for getting started. Lyrics.ovh currently leads on reliability with 100% uptime vs MusicBrainz's 93.17% uptime over the last 30 days. Pick MusicBrainz for hobby projects; consider Lyrics.ovh if you need its specific feature set.
Side-by-side comparison
Lyrics.ovh
Plain-text song lyrics by artist and title. A community hobby project that exists because licensed APIs like Genius return only snippets — useful for prototypes, but treat availability and licensing as fragile.
| Status | 🟢 Online |
| 30-day uptime | 100% |
| Response time | 901 ms |
| Free tier | Unlimited, no key; unofficial hobby project with no SLA |
| Auth | No key required |
| Tier score | 0.7 — free key, no card |
MusicBrainz
The open music encyclopedia — artists, releases, recordings, and relationships, maintained by the MetaBrainz Foundation. The canonical free replacement for the discontinued Echo Nest and the shrinking Spotify metadata endpoints.
| Status | 🟢 Online |
| 30-day uptime | 93.17% |
| Response time | 476 ms |
| Free tier | No key, 1 request/second, requires an identifying User-Agent |
| Auth | No key required |
| Tier score | 0.7 — free key, no card |
Which to choose?
- Pick Lyrics.ovh if…you want zero friction — no account, no key, just call the endpoint. Also good if music data without signup is a hard requirement.
- Pick MusicBrainz if…you want zero friction — no account, no key, just call the endpoint. Also good if music data without signup is a hard requirement.
- Use both if…one goes down — they serve the same music use case from different data sources, so you can implement a quick fallback.
Or use these alternatives
Other top-ranked Music APIs you might consider:
- iTunes Search API — 🟢 Online · No key, approximately 20 calls/minute, no credit card
- Deezer API — 🟢 Online · No key for public catalog data; OAuth only for user data
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lyrics.ovh or MusicBrainz more reliable?
Based on our 30-day tracking, Lyrics.ovh is more reliable with 100% uptime compared to MusicBrainz's 93.17%. Both are measured from the same automated hourly checks — no self-reported data.
Which one has a more generous free tier — Lyrics.ovh or MusicBrainz?
MusicBrainz has a more generous free tier. Its plan offers No key, 1 request/second, requires an identifying User-Agent vs Lyrics.ovh's Unlimited, no key; unofficial hobby project with no SLA. MusicBrainz also requires no API key at all, making onboarding instant.
Can I use Lyrics.ovh and MusicBrainz together?
Absolutely — neither requires an API key, so you can call both with no setup. A round-robin or primary/fallback pattern is trivial to implement, giving you redundancy at zero cost.
What's the cheapest paid alternative if both Lyrics.ovh and MusicBrainz fail?
If you need a paid fallback, MetaBrainz commercial is one of the more affordable options (tiered supporter agreements). You can find the full list of paid alternatives on each API's detail page. Paid tiers typically offer SLA guarantees, higher rate limits, and dedicated support.
See full profiles: Lyrics.ovh · MusicBrainz · All Music APIs