Berceuse gives you lo-fi with rain, fire or a café under the beats, no ads and offline play, for $39.99 a year. Lofi Girl is the most famous lo-fi stream and Spotify has a huge catalogue, but neither lets you mix sounds under the music. Here is how the three compare.
We make Berceuse. We tried to be fair to Lofi Girl and Spotify: every price and feature below comes from their own sites, Wikipedia and news reports, checked in October 2026.
The short answer
Pick Berceuse if you study, work or sleep to lo-fi. It has more than 40 lo-fi playlists, more than 80 mixes with rain, fire or a café under the beats, no ads and offline play, for $39.99 a year against $155.88 for Spotify Premium at monthly rates. Lofi Girl fits better if you want lo-fi at no cost, and Spotify if you want lo-fi next to all your other music.
Berceuse, Lofi Girl and Spotify side by side
US prices, checked in October 2026. Spotify's prices come from its own site, and YouTube Premium's from news reports of its mid-2026 price change.
| Berceuse | Lofi Girl (YouTube) | Spotify | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year | No cost with ads, or YouTube Premium at $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year | No cost with ads and limits, or Premium at $12.99 a month ($155.88 a year) |
| Ads | None | YouTube ads, unless Premium | On the free tier |
| Offline | Yes, after download | No, it is a live stream | With Premium |
| Rain or café under lo-fi | Yes, each layer with its own volume | No | No |
| Lo-fi library | More than 40 playlists and more than 80 mixes with sounds | 24/7 live streams | A huge catalogue, including Lofi Girl and Chillhop playlists |
| Best for | Lo-fi with rain or a café under it, for study and sleep, ad-free and offline | Lo-fi at no cost, at a laptop with good Wi-Fi | Lo-fi next to all your other music |
Berceuse puts rain, fire or a café under your lo-fi
Berceuse is an app for iPhone and Android phones, with more than 900 sounds and music tracks as of September 2026. For lo-fi, that means more than 40 playlists, such as Study Beats, Jazz Café, Rainy Rhodes, Tape Piano, Bossa Desk and Library Hush. It also means more than 80 ready-made mixes that put rain, fire or a café under the beats.
Here is how it works. The playlist plays on its own channel. Sound layers play with it, each with its own volume slider (up to 10 layers on iPhone, 6 on Android). Rain can stay soft under the piano, or the café can stay faint so the beats lead. Save the mix, rename it, and it is ready for the next session. On YouTube or Spotify, you would need a second app for that, and two volumes to manage.
What else you get for study and sleep:
- No ads. Nothing cuts into a reading session or a night.
- Offline after download. With a subscription, mixes and playlists play offline: in a train tunnel, on a plane or in the car. Downloads keep working offline for up to 30 days between subscription checks, so a session never depends on a live stream.
- Keeps playing with the screen locked. Lock-screen controls work on both platforms. On iPhone you also get a Live Activity on the lock screen and the Dynamic Island (iOS 16.2 or later).
- A sleep timer with a fade. Pick 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. The sound fades over the last 30 seconds instead of stopping hard.
- Siri on iPhone. With iOS 17 or later, say "Play lo-fi on Berceuse" and a lo-fi mix starts. Name a playlist, and Siri plays that playlist.
- Made for focus and sleep. Browse tags such as study, focus, work and sleep, or create a mix with focus or sleep as its purpose.
What Lofi Girl and Spotify do well
Lofi Girl is a French YouTube channel and label, once called ChilledCow, with about 15.8 million subscribers (June 2026). Spotify is a full music app with a huge lo-fi catalogue.
- Lofi Girl costs nothing. Its 24/7 live streams play on YouTube at no cost, with YouTube's ads, and you never pick the next track.
- Lofi Girl has study tools. A free official Chrome extension adds a Pomodoro timer and ambient tracks. The website lofigirl.com has the streams and a shop.
- Spotify puts lo-fi next to all your music. Its catalogue includes Lofi Girl's playlists, with about 1 million monthly listeners there, and Chillhop's.
- Spotify Premium plays offline. Student is $6.99 a month, and new users get a one-month trial.
Lo-fi with no ads costs less with Berceuse
For lo-fi with no ads, here is what a year costs in the US:
- Berceuse: $39.99 a year ($5.99 a month), with a 3-day free trial.
- Spotify Premium: $155.88 over a year at $12.99 a month (since February 2026). Duo is $18.99 and Family $21.99 a month.
- YouTube Premium: $159.99 a year ($15.99 a month). Premium Lite ($8.99) has no background play and no downloads.
The no-cost options have trade-offs on a phone. Free YouTube has ads, and it stops when the screen turns off or the app is closed. Spotify's free tier has ads and a daily on-demand limit, then shuffle with 6 skips an hour. Lofi Girl's streams need a connection. They were also taken down by false copyright claims in July 2022, and earlier in 2017 and 2020, before coming back.
To be fair, Spotify and YouTube Premium give you far more than lo-fi: all their music and videos. If you use them for everything, the sums change. If you want lo-fi and sounds to study or sleep, Berceuse costs much less.
Home: tonight’s featured mix and the ones you played last.
Search by name: everything with rain in it.
The mixer: each sound has its own volume, with music underneath.
Why we think Berceuse is the better lo-fi app for study and sleep
- Rain under the beats. More than 80 mixes put rain, fire or a café under lo-fi, and every layer has its own volume.
- A real lo-fi library. More than 40 lo-fi playlists, from Study Beats to Library Hush.
- No ads, works offline. Download once, then play anywhere.
- It ends gently. The sleep timer fades the sound instead of cutting it.
- Siri on iPhone. "Play lo-fi on Berceuse" starts a lo-fi mix without touching the phone.
- It costs less. $39.99 a year against $155.88 for Spotify Premium at monthly rates and $159.99 for YouTube Premium.
Who should still pick Lofi Girl or Spotify
- Pick Lofi Girl if you want lo-fi at no cost, you listen at a laptop with good Wi-Fi, and ads do not bother you.
- Pick Spotify if you already pay for Premium, or you want a specific artist rather than a mood. Berceuse has its own library, not every artist's songs.
- Pick either if you listen on a computer. Berceuse is made for phones, with no web player and no tablet layout.
Curious whether lo-fi actually helps you focus? Read Does lo-fi help you study or sleep?
Questions people ask
Is Berceuse better than Lofi Girl or Spotify for lo-fi?
Yes, for studying and sleeping to lo-fi. Berceuse puts rain, fire or a café under the beats, each at its own volume, with no ads, offline play after download and a sleep timer that fades out. It costs $39.99 a year, against $155.88 for Spotify Premium at monthly rates. If you want lo-fi at no cost, or lo-fi next to all your other music, Lofi Girl or Spotify fits better.
Is there an official Lofi Girl app?
No. Lofi Girl has no official mobile app. Its streams are on YouTube and lofigirl.com, and there is a free official Chrome extension with a Pomodoro timer.
Can I listen to Lofi Girl offline?
Not the live streams. They need a connection. Lofi Girl's playlists on Spotify can be downloaded with Spotify Premium.
Can I add rain sounds to lo-fi on Spotify?
No. Spotify has no way to layer sounds under music. Berceuse lets you put rain, fire or a café under lo-fi, each at its own volume. Chillhop's free app also layers ambient sounds such as rain over its one radio stream; we cover it in the best lo-fi apps.
Is Berceuse free?
No. Berceuse is a subscription at $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US, with a 3-day free trial. You can browse the library and hear 10-second previews before you pay.
Can I ask Siri to play lo-fi?
Yes, on iPhone with iOS 17 or later. Say "Play lo-fi on Berceuse" and a lo-fi mix starts. Berceuse does not work with Google Assistant on Android.
