Festify lets guests vote on what plays next — but the host needs Spotify Premium, and it stopped receiving updates years ago. the-boom takes the opposite angle: guests build and vote the playlist before the party, export it to Spotify or YouTube, and keep it forever alongside the photos, messages and memories. No Premium account, nothing to install, free for up to 10 participants.
No install — free up to 10 participants
Two unrelated products share the name. Festify (festify.us / festify.rocks) is an open-source, Spotify-powered party jukebox: guests pick the music from their smartphones and the queue plays through the host's Spotify account. Festify – Event Planner (festify.party, by BeetZero LLC) is a different thing entirely — a mobile event-planning app with RSVPs and a live event feed.
This page compares the-boom with the first one, the music jukebox — that is the product people usually mean when they search for a Festify alternative. There is a short word about festify.party further down.
Credit where it is due: Festify is a genuinely good idea, executed simply. It is free, it runs entirely in the browser with nothing to install, and guests vote in real time on what plays next — democracy at the aux cord. It is also open source (LGPLv3, with a public GitHub repository), which is more than most party apps can say.
And to be completely honest: if what you want is live control of the speakers during the party — guests bumping tracks up the queue while the music plays — Festify was purpose-built for that, and the-boom does not try to replicate it. the-boom prepares the playlist ahead of time and exports it; the actual playback happens in Spotify, YouTube or wherever you take the export.
Festify's own FAQ is explicit: third-party apps may only access Spotify's catalog through Spotify Premium accounts, so the party host needs a paid subscription for anything to play (verified July 2026). If nobody in the group has Premium, the jukebox stays silent.
The last code update on the public GitHub repository dates from August 2023, and the site footer still shows a 2014–2018 copyright. The site itself remains online (verified July 2026) and there has been no official shutdown announcement — but if something breaks at your party, nobody seems to be around to fix it.
Per Festify's FAQ, audio playback does not work in Safari because of DRM limitations in Spotify's Web Playback SDK, and crossfade between tracks is not supported. iPhone-and-Mac households, take note.
Festify does one thing: a guest-voted music queue. Photos, videos, messages, keepsakes — all out of scope. It overlaps with the-boom on exactly one feature, the voted playlist; everything the-boom builds around the memory of the party — the wall, the letters, the poster — has no equivalent there.
the-boom treats the playlist as something the group builds together before the party — and keeps long after. Create a boom, pick one of 6 visual ambiances, and share a single link. Guests join from their browser (it is a PWA — nothing to install), search songs through the iTunes catalog, vote for their favorites and attach dedications. When the big day comes, export the playlist to Spotify, YouTube or CSV and press play on whatever setup you have.
Then the part Festify never touched: a private wall where everyone drops photos, videos and messages with reactions, letters to the future that reopen later like a time capsule, and a souvenir poster with a QR code. After the event, the boom goes dormant and keeps everything — it wakes up with anniversary reminders and even nudges the group toward a reunion when three signals line up. Available in 7 languages, GDPR-compliant.
| Festify (festify.us) | the-boom | |
|---|---|---|
| Guests control what is playing live at the party | Yes — built exactly for this (plays through the host's Spotify) | No — the playlist is built and voted before the party, then exported |
| Host needs Spotify Premium | Required | Not required |
| Works in the browser, nothing to install | Yes (audio playback does not work in Safari; no crossfade) | Yes — PWA, no install |
| Guest voting on songs | Yes | Yes |
| Dedications attached to songs | — | Yes |
| Playlist kept after the event | — | Yes — exportable to Spotify, YouTube or CSV, and kept in the boom |
| Private wall for photos, videos and messages | No — music only | Yes, with reactions |
| Letters to the future (time capsule) | No — music only | Yes |
| Souvenir poster with QR code | No — music only | Yes |
| Life after the party | — | Dormant mode, anniversary reminders, automatic reunion nudges |
| Price | Free, no paid tier mentioned | Free up to 10 participants; Pro €29 one-time per boom, unlimited participants for life |
| Open source | Yes — LGPLv3 on GitHub | No |
| Actively maintained | Last code update August 2023 | Yes |
| Languages | — | 7 (English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese) |
"—" means not offered or not documented publicly. Facts about Festify verified in July 2026 from festify.rocks, its FAQ and the public GitHub repository. Features and prices can change at any time — always check the official sites for the latest.
If you landed here looking for an alternative to Festify – Event Planner (festify.party), the short version: it is a mobile event-management app by BeetZero LLC with automated RSVPs and a live photo/video event feed. It requires installing the mobile app — no web version is mentioned on its site — and the iOS app is listed as free with no in-app purchases on the App Store (verified July 2026); the site publishes no pricing page. If you would rather have something that runs straight from a link in the browser, keeps the memories after the event, and shows its pricing upfront, the-boom covers that ground too.
Free for up to 10 participants per boom, all features included. For bigger parties, the Pro plan is €29 as a one-time payment per boom — unlimited participants, kept for life. No subscription, ever.
The site is still online — it answered with an HTTP 200 when we checked in July 2026 — and there has been no official shutdown announcement. But the last code update on its public GitHub repository dates back to August 2023, and the site footer still shows a 2014–2018 copyright. It is fair to describe Festify as no longer maintained rather than closed: it may still work for your party, but nobody appears to be fixing bugs anymore.
No. Festify streams music through the host's Spotify account, which is why its FAQ says the host must have Spotify Premium. the-boom works differently: guests search songs through the iTunes catalog, vote and add dedications inside the app, and the finished playlist exports to Spotify, YouTube or CSV. You play it with whatever you already have.
Yes — that is the heart of it. Everyone adds tracks, votes for their favorites and attaches a dedication to explain why a song matters. The difference with Festify is timing: the playlist is built together before the party instead of being a live queue during it, and it stays with you afterwards.
They are two unrelated products that share a name. festify.us (docs at festify.rocks) is an open-source, browser-based party jukebox where guests vote on what plays next through the host's Spotify. festify.party is "Festify – Event Planner" by BeetZero LLC, a mobile event-planning app with RSVPs and a live event feed — it requires installing the mobile app, and its site publishes no pricing page (verified July 2026). This page compares the-boom with festify.us.
the-boom is free for up to 10 participants per boom, with every feature included. For bigger parties, the Pro plan is a one-time payment of €29 per boom — no subscription — which unlocks unlimited participants and keeps the boom for life. Prices verified in July 2026; check the pricing on our site for the latest.
No Spotify Premium, no install — free up to 10 participants