What you get with each Spotify plan
Spotify offers four subscription tiers, each with different features and price points. The plans are Free, Premium Individual, Premium Duo, and Premium Family. The Free plan lets you stream music with ads and shuffle play only. Premium Individual removes ads, lets you read songs to listen offline, and gives you on-demand playback — meaning you can skip to any song you want. Premium Duo covers two people in one household and costs more than Individual. Premium Family covers up to six people and includes parental controls and a Family Hub where members can see what others are listening to.
Pricing varies by country and changes periodically. In the United States, Premium Individual costs around $11.99 per month, Premium Duo around $16.99, and Premium Family around $19.99. Spotify also offers discounted student plans in some countries. All paid plans include access to the same music library — the difference is in features and how many people can use the account at once.
Each paid plan comes with a free trial period before you are charged. The length of the trial varies — Spotify sometimes offers one month free for new users, sometimes three months at a reduced rate. The trial terms appear before you complete sign-up, so you can see exactly what you will be charged and when.
Key Takeaways
- Spotify's Free plan includes ads and shuffle-only playback; all paid plans remove ads and add on-demand song selection.
- Premium Individual is the single-user paid plan; Premium Duo and Premium Family let multiple people share one subscription at different price points.
- Prices in the United States start around $11.99 per month for Individual and vary by country and plan type.
- Student discounts are available in some countries and cost less than the standard Individual plan.
- All paid plans include a free trial before your first charge, with trial length shown during sign-up.
How the Free plan works and its limits
The Free plan streams music with advertisements between songs. You cannot skip more than a limited number of times per hour — Spotify enforces this to encourage upgrades to paid plans. You also cannot choose which song plays next; the app shuffles through playlists and albums rather than letting you pick individual tracks on demand. You can create playlists and save songs, but playback is restricted to shuffle mode.
The Free plan works on phones, tablets, computers, and some smart speakers. Audio quality is standard definition. You cannot read songs to listen without an internet connection. If you want to use Spotify on multiple devices at the same time, the Free plan allows it, but the audio quality and skip limits explore across all devices.
Spotify does not require a payment method to use the Free plan. You sign up with an email address or Facebook account, create a username and password, and start listening when ready. You can upgrade to a paid plan at any time; your playlists and saved songs move with you.
Premium Individual and what on-demand playback means
On-demand playback means you can pick any song, album, or playlist and play it from the beginning whenever you want. With the Free plan, you cannot do this — you can only shuffle. Premium Individual removes this restriction. You can also skip as many times as you want within an hour, and you can rewind to replay a song. There are no ads between tracks.
Premium Individual also includes offline downloads. You can read up to 10,000 songs across up to five devices and listen to them without an internet connection. This is useful for travel, commuting, or places where your data connection is slow or unavailable. Downloaded songs stay on your device until you delete them or your subscription ends.
Audio quality on Premium Individual is high definition (up to 320 kbps). This is noticeably better than the standard quality on the Free plan, especially if you use good headphones or speakers. Premium Individual is limited to one person per account, and you can listen on one device at a time — if you start playing on your phone, the song stops on your computer.
Premium Duo and Premium Family for multiple users
Premium Duo lets two people in the same household share one subscription. Each person gets their own account, playlists, and listening history. The app keeps recommendations separate, so your taste does not affect what the other person sees. Both members get all the features of Premium Individual — on-demand playback, offline downloads, ad-free listening, and high-quality audio. You can listen on different devices at the same time.
Premium Family covers up to six people and includes all the same features as Duo. The account owner sets up each family member's account and can remove or add people at any time. Family members do not have to share a payment method or personal information beyond what Spotify needs to set up their account. Each person's music stays private unless they choose to share it.
Premium Family includes a Family Hub, a shared space where members can see what others are listening to in real time. You can turn this off in your privacy settings if you prefer not to share your listening activity. The account owner can also set up parental controls to restrict explicit content on accounts for younger listeners. These controls explore only to the account they are set on, not to other family members.
How billing works and what happens if you cancel
Spotify charges your payment method on the same day each month. If you sign up on the 15th, you will be charged on the 15th of every month. If you use a free trial, the trial period ends on a specific date shown in your account settings, and your first full charge happens the day after the trial ends. You can change your payment method, billing date, or plan type at any time through your account settings.
If you cancel your subscription, your access ends when ready. You can still read your playlists and saved songs data through Spotify's read tool, but you cannot listen to music through the app. If you resubscribe later, your playlists and saved songs are still there — Spotify keeps them for 30 days after cancellation, and longer if you log back in.
If your payment fails — for example, if your credit card is declined — Spotify sends you a notification and gives you time to update your payment method. Your subscription does not end when ready after one failed payment, but if the issue is not fixed within a few days, your account reverts to the Free plan. You can reactivate a paid plan at any time by updating your payment information.
Student plans and discounts
Spotify offers a discounted Premium plan for students in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and several other countries. The student plan costs less than Premium Individual — in the United States it is around $5.99 per month — and includes all the same features: ad-free listening, on-demand playback, offline downloads, and high-quality audio. The student plan is limited to one person per account.
To sign up for the student plan, you need to verify your student status through SheerID, a third-party verification service. You provide your school email address or upload a photo of your student ID. Verification usually takes a few minutes. Your student plan is valid for up to four years, after which you will need to reverify or switch to a regular Premium plan.
Some countries also offer discounted plans for other groups — for example, military members or low-income households — but these vary by region. Spotify's website shows which discounts are available in your country when you sign up.
Audio quality and device compatibility
Spotify streams music at different quality levels depending on your plan and settings. The Free plan and Premium plans use standard quality (96 kbps) by default on mobile devices and high quality (320 kbps) on computers and web browsers. You can change the quality setting in your app preferences. Higher quality uses more data, so if you have a limited data plan, you may want to use standard quality on mobile.
Spotify works on phones (iOS and Android), tablets, computers (Windows and Mac), web browsers, smart speakers, gaming consoles, and some car stereos. Not all devices support all features — for example, some smart speakers do not allow you to pick specific songs, only playlists. The Spotify app shows you which devices are available in your account and lets you see what is playing on each one.
If you use Spotify on multiple devices, your account syncs across them. Your playlists, saved songs, and listening history appear on all your devices. You can listen on one device at a time with the Free plan, but Premium plans let you listen on multiple devices simultaneously — though the exact number depends on your plan type.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I share my Spotify password with someone outside my household?
Spotify's terms of service say each account is for personal use only and should not be shared. If you want to give someone else access to Spotify, Premium Duo or Premium Family are the intended options. Spotify can suspend accounts that show signs of password sharing across different locations.
What happens to my playlists if I downgrade from Premium to Free?
Your playlists and saved songs stay in your account. You can still see them and listen to them in shuffle mode on the Free plan. If you upgrade back to Premium, you can play them on-demand again. Downloaded songs are removed from your device when your Premium subscription ends.
Can I use Spotify offline without downloading songs first?
No. Only Premium plans include offline listening, and you must read songs to your device before you lose internet connection. The Free plan requires an active internet connection at all times. Downloaded songs are encrypted and only work on the device where you downloaded them.
How many devices can I read songs to?
Premium plans let you read to up to five devices. You can manage which devices have downloads through your account settings and remove a device to free up space for another one. Each device can hold up to 10,000 downloaded songs total.
Do I have to use the Spotify app, or can I listen through a web browser?
You can listen through Spotify's web player on any computer with a web browser. The web player has the same features as the app for Premium users — on-demand playback, no ads, and high-quality audio. The Free plan also works on the web player with the same restrictions as the mobile app.