Top 10 best alternatives to iTunes to manage your iPhone and iPad

Here are the top-rated iTunes alternatives for Windows and Mac to put an end to the problems with the resource-intensive and confusing iTunes and make transferring data easier and faster.

Owning an iPad, an iPhone or an iPod has many advantages, but also has some disadvantages. For many people, having to fight with iTunes is a major drawback. Fortunately, there are other applications similar to iTunes for Windows and for Mac.

Whether you’re using iTunes to play music on your computer, or just use it to sync your music collections with your Apple device (iPod, iPhone, or iPad), you have a choice of free alternatives.

In this article, we look at ten alternative applications to iTunes and the good news is that most of them are totally free. In some cases, you may have to pay to unlock some advanced features, but they are mostly completely free.

If you’re tired of iTunes, read on to find out what other options are available.

The 10 best free alternatives to iTunes for Windows, Mac and Linux

When iTunes was launched for the first time. It was the first software that allowed users to easily manage their digital music collection. However, iTunes is no longer the revolutionary software it was. Last year, Apple released an update to remedy the situation by making iTunes more agile by removing many features. 

However, it’s still not something you can appreciate. That’s why many Apple fans hate iTunes and are constantly looking for apps that can replace it. If you are looking for an alternative to iTunes, here are the best free alternatives to iTunes. Are you ready?

MusicBee (Windows)

A feature-rich music player and manager – the best alternative to iTunes

best free itunes alternatives

Let us get you discouraged right away but before you continue to know first that MusicBee has a significant disadvantage: at the time of writing this document, it was only available for Windows. There are two versions: the standard desktop software and a portable application that does not need to be installed.

MusicBee is more than just a music player. It gives you the changes needed to better organize and manage your music collection. It will import your existing iTunes library to help you get started, but you can also specify other folders to include. In terms of appearance, this is not entirely different from iTunes, but it is also highly customizable, both in terms of screen layout and the use of appearances. You can change the sound levels using a 15-band equalizer. You can also sync your music with mobile devices.

MusicBee does a great job of keeping your music collection tidy, helping your markup files, providing support for extraction, and extracting all kinds of useful data such as album art and track lyrics. There is also a nice collection of add-ons to download from the MusicBee website to further extend the program’s features, such as additional audio tuning options, support for network devices, and a multitude of visualizations.

WALTR 2 (Windows, macOS )

An easy to use alternative application to iTunes for Apple users

WALTR 2 itunes alternatives

With WALTR 2, you can either connect your iPhone using cables or WiFi. Its WiFi connection is as fast as AirDrop. Even large video files only take a few minutes to transfer from Mac to iPhone. WALTR 2 supports all types of files that we transfer. From music, videos, PDF, and ePub, WALTR 2 automatically recognizes the files we send and transmits them to native Apple apps. 

So, if I transfer a video, I’ll find it in the Videos application. This means that I do not need to use third-party software to listen to my songs or watch videos. Each file transferred via WALTR 2 is treated as a native file. If you want to easily transfer files between your computer and your iOS devices, WALTR 2 is the software to get.

MediaMonkey (Windows)

Control even the largest music libraries and sync them with all your devices

MediaMonkey for windows

MediaMonkey can be used as an almost complete replacement for iTunes; you can even use it to sync music to your iPod or iPhone if you keep iTunes installed (although there is no reason to launch it).

Like MusicBee, the program can be installed in the usual way, or as a portable application if you want to move it from one computer to another with a USB key. The interface is not very attractive, but when it comes to managing a large music library, the program does a great job. The markup is well managed and the customizable interface will make the happiness of most people.

If you decide to upgrade to MediaMonkey’s paid Gold version and upgrade it, you’ll benefit from improved performance when fetching, automatic updates to the background library, and other additional features such as automatic playlists.

For most people, however, the free version should be more than enough.

PodTrans (Windows and Mac)

A simplified and minimalist approach to music management for Apple devices

PodTrans for Windows and Mac

PodTrans has a very special approach to replacing iTunes and does not do it by trying to replicate all the features of the Apple software. In fact, everything is very minimal.

The sleek interface is designed to make it easy to copy music between your computer and your iPhone or iPod. Available for PC and Mac, the goal is to make daily management as easy and fast as possible. This may not be a complete replacement for iTunes, but it will certainly be a good move and worth the detour.

You can also consider switching to PodTrans Pro or AnyTrans because they allow greater flexibility in bidirectional file synchronization and a much better phone management option. But if you’re just looking for the basics, there’s nothing stopping you from starting with the free version of PodTrans.

foobar2000 (WINDOWS, MAC beta)

A retro look conceals a powerful and adaptable music player

You might be forgiven for thinking that we made a mistake by including foobar2000 in this roundup. These are not the most attractive or modern programs ever created, but the appearance can be misleading. Although the program looks like an explosion of the past, it is actually highly customizable and extremely powerful.

It’s fair to say that you start with a music player that looks basic and even has pretty basic features, but there are endless add-ons available that can be used to fit your music perfectly. needs. You can use foobar2000 to expand your music library with support for CD extraction. The range of playback formats supported is extensive. There is also a version for iOS that supports desktop software.

However, for some people, foobar2000 will quickly become too complicated. It can be confusing to have to work with so many plugins, but if you’re ready to make an effort, the rewards are huge.

Clementine (Windows, Mac and Linux )

A music manager with advanced tagging and mobile device support

Clementine (available for Windows, Mac and Linux) is not a very unique program: it was created to fill the void left by the Amarok music player who changed direction and that many users had not appreciated.

It may not be the most appealing player and music manager (although the same charge may be laid against iTunes), but the work is certainly done. With extraction, library management, tag editing, music playback and the ability to copy music to supported devices, you’ll find everything you need.

Clementine provides you with interesting information while you listen to your music collection, such as the lyrics of the current song, as well as statistics about the number of times that tracks have been played by others on Last.fm. In addition to your locally stored music, you can also use Clementine to tune into online radio stations, listen to podcasts and stream music from the cloud!

Vox Music Player

This is another of the best alternatives to iTunes. If you’re a Mac user and want to replace iTunes with a simple but feature-rich music player, check out the Vox Media Player. One of the best things about this app is its support for multiple audio formats. Not only does the application support the popular multimedia format, including MP3 and MP4, but it also supports other formats, including FLAC, CUE, APE and M4A, among others. I also like the fact that Vox supports both Tunes and a personal music library. In addition, the app also supports streaming music via SoundCloud, YouTube and over 30,000 Internet radio stations.

WinX MediaTrans

Are you a Windows user and looking for a real alternative to iTunes? This software is for you. It allows you to easily transfer music, photos, videos, and other files between your computer and your iPhones and iPads. The application provides features such as automatic photo backup, music management with two-way music transfer, video transfer, and more. 

One of my favorite features of this application is that it allows me to encrypt my library of photos and videos. The application is also very easy to use. Just install it, connect your phone and you’re ready to go. The application does not even need to install iTunes on your system and works independently.

Musique

Musique is a music player for your Mac. Not only does the application provide a clean and easy-to-use user interface, but it is also very agile and feature-rich. My favorite feature of the app is its built-in lyrics search tool, which extracts lyrics from all the songs you play. I also like the way this application organizes my music of artists and albums. I love seeing pictures of my favorite artists and album covers. A unique feature of this application is that it maintains the folder structure of your collection, displaying your music in the way you have organized it. If you’re looking for a simple and powerful music player, this is the one you need, and it’s free.

Swinsian

Another music player for Mac that I like is Swinsian. The application provides impressive features such as extended format support, folder monitoring, advanced tag editing, duplicate search, smart playlist support, and more. The application is fast regardless of the size of your library. It also brings a highly customizable interface that can be modified according to your needs. The application allows you to easily control music playback using its mini-window or widget.

If you switch from iTunes, you will also understand that this allows you to import your entire iTunes music library with one click. Generally, I quite like this software and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a simple music player as an iTunes alternative.

In conclusion

Well, this is the end of this mini tutorial on the different alternatives you have if you do not want to use iTunes to play music, manage and synchronize your PC with an Apple device such as iPod, iPhone and iPad.

I dare to believe that at least one alternative to iTunes will have worked perfectly for you. If you know another software that we have forgotten, you can add it in the comments!

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