Amazon launched a Spotify and Apple Music competitor today. The new music streaming service is meant to work seamlessly with Amazon’s Echo device.

Amazon Music Unlimited was created to directly compete with Spotify and US users can sign up for the service at the same price ($9.99 monthly).

There are some differences, though.

Amazon Music Unlimited

If you aren’t into paying almost $10 per month to stream your tunes, you can buy an Amazon Echo device. If you are an Echo owner and subscriber your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription dips to $3.99 per month. Further, Amazon Prime subscribers can get the streaming service for $7.99 per month.

The $3.99 Echo subscription will only work through the Echo device, so that’s something to think about if you want to go that route. Echo is exactly why Amazon is pushing into the streaming space this time around (the company has gone the streaming route before but in a desktop and mobile way).

Amazon at Home

Right now, Spotify will connect with the Amazon Echo, but Apple Music does not. It’s also worth noting that neither Spotify or Apple have a home music streaming device like Echo. Amazon wants users to listen to its streaming service inside of the home, which is why this music is all about the Echo.

On the flip side, there are plenty of portable music streaming speakers out there that do connect with Apple Music and Spotify. While many of those speakers do not do what Echo does (this device can do a lot of things like order pizza and tell you the weather), they can stream music. The one true competitor that Amazon has in the device sphere is Google - Google just released Google Home, and that device can do a lot of what Echo does.

In Your Space

Both Amazon and Google want to be in your home. Now, both want you to use their streaming service in your home in addition to individual devices. It’s all part of a connected or smart home, and it seems to be where the future of streaming is headed. As far as content goes, well, this is Amazon, which happens to be one of the biggest content companies out there.

If you want to compare Spotify with Apple Music and now Amazon’s Unlimited, the comparisons will definitely stack up. Spotify is still the popular choice in North America, but Amazon might provide some interesting competition with Unlimited. Right now, Amazon is only releasing its new streaming service in the US.

As with most things Amazon, it’s likely that the rest of the world will get the streaming service release within the next month or so but it might even be longer. Amazon will use the US as a test base for the Unlimited project.

Since Amazon already has Prime users lined up and a wealth of content ready to roll, it’s going to be an interesting battle this holiday season as far as streaming subscriptions go. Just keep in mind that the new Amazon service only works with Echo if you want to get the cheaper rate, so you’ll have to buy an Echo device as well.