iHeartRadio is an American streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It allows you to stream radio, podcasts, and broadcasts and was founded in 2008. It is a free service and is available in multiple different countries.
Pandora, in contrast, is a subscription-based music streaming service. It boasts a unique functionality – the usage of the "Music Genome Project”, which classifies individual songs by musical traits. Initially it was supposed to be an internet radio service, which would generate personalized channels for users based on the kind of music they listened to.
It has various subscription levels and packages, with a Plus mode and a Premium mode and gives you features and control based on what you’re paying for.
The biggest difference between the two applications is that iHeartRadio is free. Although Pandora does offer an ad-supported free version, it is primarily something you must pay for. Apart from this, iHeartRadio is available in multiple countries whereas Pandora is exclusively for Americans – you can, however, access it using a website called Global Pandora outside of the US.
iHeartRadio offers some options similar to Pandora like talk-free, genre-based music stations as well as allowing the users to create personalized custom stations based on their favorite artists and songs. They also offer channels which allow users to listen to local Morning Zoo DJ's, weather reports etc. as well as the ads that come with them.
