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Spotifast: Playing Spotify Tracks With Far Less RAM, and What the 5x Claim Really Means

By Freedom251 Team · · 5 min read

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Spotifast can play Spotify music in a much lighter desktop client, but the “5x or more” memory saving is not a measured guarantee. The Spotifast project’s own overview gives typical memory use of 100–250 MB for Spotifast and 600 MB to over 1 GB for Spotify’s desktop app. Those ranges produce a fivefold difference only at some pairings of the numbers, and no independent test accompanies them. The sections below explain what the figures do and do not show, and what you need to set up and use the app.

What the memory figures show

The figures come from the official Spotifast overview, which describes them as typical values. The page does not name a test machine, operating system, workload, or measurement method, so treat them as the project’s own estimates rather than a controlled comparison. Your result will depend on your hardware, your operating system, how long the app has been open, and what else is running.

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Because each side of the comparison is a range, the ratio between them also varies. The table below pairs the ends of each range to show where a fivefold reduction actually falls.

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Pairing (project’s typical figures) Spotifast memory Spotify desktop memory Approximate reduction
Best case for Spotifast vs. lowest Spotify figure 100 MB 600 MB 6x
Best case for Spotifast vs. top of Spotify range 100 MB 1 GB 10x
Upper Spotifast figure vs. lowest Spotify figure 250 MB 600 MB 2.4x
Upper Spotifast figure vs. top of Spotify range 250 MB 1 GB 4x

A fivefold or greater reduction is therefore reachable at the favourable end of both ranges, but it is not the midpoint. Comparing the middle of each range (roughly 175 MB against 800 MB) gives about 4.6x. Note that the “over 1 GB” upper figure is an open-ended bound, so the 10x and 4x rows are minimums at that end. Measure your own system if the number matters to you: open each app, sign in, play a playlist for a while, and read the memory column in your operating system’s process monitor.

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What Spotifast is

Spotifast is an independent desktop client for Spotify on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The project describes it as a lightweight native app, written in Rust with an egui interface, and it uses librespot for playback. Spotify’s logo and branding are not part of the project’s identity; it states that it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Spotify AB.

The product overview uses the tagline “Spotify, native and fast.” That phrase is product copy, not an attributed endorsement from any person.

The feature list, as described in the project repository and overview, includes:

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  • Library browsing and search
  • Local playback on the computer
  • Spotify Connect, so the computer can appear as a playback device in Spotify
  • Themes and desktop controls
  • A Winamp-style mini player and MilkDrop visuals

Some features vary by platform, so check the project’s current documentation for your operating system before assuming a feature is present.

Requirements: Spotify Premium is mandatory for playback

Playback requires a Spotify Premium subscription. A Spotify Free account can browse and search in Spotifast but cannot play tracks through it. The same requirement applies when you use Spotifast only as a remote control for another device.

Audio quality limits

Spotifast’s playback is described as supporting up to 320 kbps. Spotify Lossless is not available in the app. If lossless audio is important to you, keep using Spotify’s official app for that listening.

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Setting up local playback

The connection guide describes two separate approvals, so you should expect to complete both:

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  1. Install Spotifast using the method for your system (see the platform section below).
  2. Sign in through Spotify’s own website in your browser. The project says Spotifast never receives your Spotify password.
  3. Separately enable local playback in the app. This is what lets the computer itself play audio.
  4. Once local playback is enabled, the computer appears as a Spotify Connect device that you can select from Spotify’s device list.

If the computer does not appear as a device, confirm that you completed step 3 as well as step 2. Signing in alone does not enable local playback.

Platforms and installation routes

The official download page lists the installation options below. At the time of writing, it reports version 0.12.0. Version numbers and package instructions change, so use the download page for the current file and steps rather than copying commands from an older article.

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Platform Installation options listed Prerequisites noted
macOS DMG download or Homebrew Not stated in the overview; check the download page
Windows Installer or ZIP archive Not stated in the overview; check the download page
Linux Flatpak, AppImage, and other listed routes Flatpak runtime requirements and Linux system-library and audio dependencies

On Linux, the Flatpak route depends on the Flatpak runtime being present, and the other routes depend on system libraries and audio components. If an install fails, check those dependencies on the download page first.

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Sign-in, privacy, and reliability

Spotifast is unofficial. Because it is not built or maintained by Spotify, changes on Spotify’s side can interrupt the app until the project publishes an update, so compatibility cannot be promised indefinitely.

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The privacy page states that the author receives nothing about users or their use of the app. It also describes one outbound request. When the lyrics panel is open and Spotify has no lyrics for the current song, Spotifast sends the artist, title, album, and track duration to lrclib.net to look them up. If you never open the lyrics panel, that lookup does not occur. The privacy page states that it covers app version 0.8.0 and later, so check it again if you run an older release.

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Before you sign in, weigh the trust question on its terms: you are giving a third-party app access through Spotify’s own sign-in page, and the app’s behaviour is documented by the project rather than audited by an independent party.

Who should try it

Spotifast suits a Premium subscriber who wants a lighter Spotify client on Linux, macOS, or Windows and is comfortable with an unofficial app that may need updates after Spotify changes. Users who need Spotify Lossless, or who depend on Spotify features that the project’s documentation does not confirm, should keep the official app. Before you decide, install it, measure its memory use alongside Spotify’s app on your own machine, and let that result, not the headline, determine whether the saving is worth it.

The Bottom Line

Spotifast is a credible lighter alternative for Premium listeners, but “5x or more” is a best-case pairing of the project’s own typical figures, not a promise. Measure it on your machine before you rely on it.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

desktop clientlightweight softwareLinuxmacOSRAM usageSpotifastSpotifySpotify PremiumWindows

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