 | Premium Student 1 user $6.99 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked Today you pay $0.00 Free trial: 30 days — then the price above is charged. | Premium Individual 1 user $12.99 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked Today you pay $0.00 Free trial: 30 days — then the price above is charged. | Premium Duo up to 2 users $18.99 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked | Premium Family up to 6 users $21.99 Plus sales tax where applicable Source · Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choose a plan | Choose a plan | Choose a plan | Choose a plan | |
Billed monthly. | Billed monthly. | Billed monthly. | Billed monthly. |
Plus sales tax where applicable
Source · Checked
Today you pay $0.00
Free trial: 30 days — then the price above is charged.
Billed monthly.
Music streaming in the US
Spotify Premium plans and what each includes
Spotify Premium removes ads, lets you play songs in any order, download for offline listening and stream lossless audio up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz. Individual and the plan manager on Duo and Family get 15 hours a month from the audiobooks catalog. Duo is for two people at the same address, Family for up to six; Student comes with Hulu (With Ads).
- Ad-free, any order. Skip as much as you want and play albums in any order.
- Lossless audio. Sound quality up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.
- Audiobooks included. 15 hours a month from a catalog of 700,000+ titles.
- Plans for 1, 2 or 6. Individual, Duo and Family — each person gets their own account.
- Hulu with Student. Premium Student includes Hulu (With Ads) at no extra cost.
Most important before you pay
Tomas StankevičiusUpdated 2026-10-14Facts from spotify.com and Spotify Support, with dates
At a glance
- Plans
- Individual, Duo, Family, Student
- Accounts
- 1 / 2 / up to 6 / 1
- Audio
- Lossless, up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz
- Audiobooks
- 15 h/month (plan manager on Duo/Family)
- Free trial
- 1 month, Individual, first-timers
- Same address
- Required on Duo and Family
Plans and offers change — check the provider’s own page before you pay.
Prices with dates
Every price has a source and the date it was checked.
From spotify.com and Spotify Support
Plans, sharing rules, audiobooks and cancellation as Spotify publishes them for the US.
Affiliate links are labeled
If a link is an affiliate link, we say so right next to it.
Short summary
Spotify Premium is the most complete music subscription in the US: lossless audio, audiobooks on top, and plans for one, two or six people. The catch is in the details — audiobook hours stay with the plan manager, and Duo and Family require a shared address.
Music plus audiobooks
15 hours a month without a separate subscription.
Address rule
Duo and Family members must live together.
- We recommend first:
- Daily listeners, households that can share Family, students who also want Hulu.
- With caveats:
- Families in different homes, and anyone who mainly wants audiobooks for several people.
Who Spotify Premium is for, and who it isn’t
The plan choice depends on who you live with.
A good choice
For daily listeners
No ads, any order, offline downloads.
For households
Family covers up to six people at one address, with parental controls.
For students
A discount for up to 4 years, with Hulu (With Ads) included.
A weaker choice
If your family lives apart
Members must enter the same home address as the plan manager.
If everyone wants audiobooks
Only the plan manager gets the hours on Duo and Family.
If you already had a trial
The free month is for people who haven’t tried Premium.
Four plans
Prices are in the block above.
| Plan | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Premium Individual | What it means in practiceOne account, ad-free, offline, lossless, 15 hours of audiobooks a month. |
| Premium Duo | What it means in practiceTwo accounts for a couple at the same address; audiobook hours for the plan manager. |
| Premium Family | What it means in practiceUp to 6 accounts at the same address, parental controls and managed accounts for kids; audiobook hours for the plan manager. |
| Premium Student | What it means in practiceOne verified student account at a discount, with Hulu (With Ads); no audiobook hours. |
Alone → Individual; couple at home → Duo; household → Family; in college → Student.
Our score and what it’s made of
This is our own assessment based on checked facts. It isn’t an average of user reviews or the provider’s claim. Below — every criterion with its weight and source.
3,9
out of 5 · average of 4 plans · 10 of 11 criteria checked
The score is calculated from the criteria you see below: each criterion shows its weight, what exactly we found and where. Where we have the provider’s page, there’s a link with a check date; where the number comes from our catalog, we say so. “Not checked” means we don’t have the data and the criterion isn’t counted. “Provider doesn’t say” means we went through the provider’s pages but the information isn’t there; that criterion isn’t counted either. If you disagree with the weights — in the methodology you’ll see all the parts and can weigh them your own way. We don’t put app store ratings into structured data: they were collected on other websites, so they stay as visible text.
Scores for individual plans: Premium Individual 3,9 · Premium Student 3,9 · Premium Duo 3,8 · Premium Family 4,0
The same for all “Spotify” plans
| Criterion | What we found | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertised price is the final price(10 %) | sales tax is added at checkout | 3,0 | our catalog |
| Sound quality(16 %) | lossless (24-bit / 44.1–48 kHz) | 4,0 | source |
| Spatial audio(5 %) | no | 2,0 | source |
| Offline listening(12 %) | yes | 5,0 | source |
| What else is included(9 %) | extra content types: 1 | 3,0 | source |
| Student plan(5 %) | available | 5,0 | source |
| App rating(5 %) | 4,8 out of 5 | 4,8 | our catalog |
Depends on plan
| Criterion | Premium Individual | Premium Student | Premium Duo | Premium Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price compared with others(10 %) | 12,99 USD/mo5,0 | 6,99 USD/mo5,0 | 18,99 USD/mo4,0 | 21,99 USD/mo4,0 |
| Free way to try it(10 %) | 30 days5,0 | 30 days5,0 | not checked— | not checked— |
| Number of people(12 %) | 1 person3,0 | 1 person3,0 | 2 people, same address required3,0 | 6 people, same address required4,0 |
| Simultaneous streams(6 %) | 1 at the same time3,0 | 1 at the same time3,0 | 2 at the same time4,0 | 6 at the same time5,0 |
Availability in the US
The final price in the US is clear
You pay in dollars, and the price is the one the provider lists — sales tax, where your state charges it, is added at checkout.
- price in dollars
- tax terms are known
- price list tailored to the country
What you get for the money
What’s included in the plan, what’s available in the US, and how the paid version differs from the free one.
Sound and quality
What quality depends on, where it works, and what the rest of your setup needs to handle.
Audio quality
Spotify adjusts quality automatically by default; Premium lets you pick, separately for Wi-Fi, cellular and downloads.
| Where | Codec | Quality | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium — Lossless | CodecFLAC | QualityUp to 24-bit/44.1 kHz | NoteMost of the catalog; mobile, desktop, tablet and compatible Spotify Connect devices |
| Default setting | CodecAutomatic | QualityAdjusts to avoid stuttering | NoteChange it under Audio Quality (iOS) or Media Quality (Android) |
| Downloads | CodecYour choice | QualitySet separately from streaming | NotePremium |
Features
What works now, what has only been announced, and how it connects with other services.
Spotify features available in the US
Spotify switches features on market by market. Its help center lists the United States for all of these.
DJ
Workspaid users onlyA personal AI DJ that plays favorites and new picks; you can type or talk to steer it.
Talk to Spotify
Betapaid users onlyType or speak requests on Home or in Now Playing — music, podcasts or audiobooks.
Jam
WorksListen and add to a shared queue; Premium is needed to start a Jam, free users can join one.
Messages
Works on the free plan tooChat and share songs, playlists and audiobooks in the app, in groups of up to 10.
Managed accounts for kids
WorksMusic-only accounts with parental controls, on the free plan or Premium Family.
Audiobook listening time
Workspaid users onlyIncluded with Premium Individual, Duo and Family for the plan manager; not with Student.
Audiobooks+
Workspaid users onlyA recurring add-on with extra audiobook hours, also buyable for Family or Duo members.
Smart Shuffle
Workspaid users onlyMixes recommendations that match the vibe into a shuffled playlist; recommended tracks are marked in Now Playing.
Premium listening tools
Features Spotify lists as Premium benefits beyond ad-free playback.
Mix
Add transitions between tracks in your own playlists — Auto for instant transitions, or choose styles and intensity.
Offline Backup
A ready-made offline mix of recent listens and queued tracks, for when you forgot to download.
Music videos
Switch between audio and video from the Now Playing view, without interruptions.
SongDNA
See the songwriters, producers and inspiration behind a song — not available for every track.
Downloads have limits
Content
What you actually get to watch: catalog, languages, sports and events.
What’s on Spotify
Music, podcasts, audiobooks and workouts in one app.
Music
Ad-free on Premium, with lossless audio and offline downloads.
Audiobooks
700,000+ titles in the subscriber catalog; Premium includes 15 hours a month.
Fitness
1.4k additional classes powered by Peloton for Premium.
What US App Store reviewers say
Spotify has 4.8 out of 5 stars from 42.5 million ratings on the US App Store. We also read the 50 most recent US reviews — 9 of them gave one or two stars. Recent reviews skew toward people with a problem, so read them as a list of what can go wrong, not as a verdict.
Praised
The music selection and discovery come up again and again in the positive reviews.
Complaints
Some reviewers describe the app freezing on startup on iPad or failing to load, and an interface they find cluttered.
Free-tier frustration
Several low ratings come from free users unhappy that choosing songs freely and skipping need Premium.
Most complaints are about app stability and the limits of the free tier, not about Premium itself.
Quality and devices
What picture and sound depend on, and where it works.
Where you can listen
| Group | Examples | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Phones, computers and the web | ExamplesSpotify apps and the Web Player | CaveatOver 2,000 compatible devices in total. |
| Home | ExamplesSmart speakers, TVs, game consoles | CaveatSwitch between devices without stopping playback. |
| On the go | ExamplesApple CarPlay, Android Auto, smartwatches | CaveatListen on a watch without your phone. |
Turning on lossless
Lossless is included in Premium, but it isn’t switched on by default.
- Make sure you’re on Premium — lossless isn’t part of Free.
- On mobile, tap your profile picture at the top and open settings.
- Under Audio Quality (iOS) or Media Quality (Android), choose lossless for Wi-Fi and, if you want, cellular.
- Choose your download quality separately.
- Use Wi-Fi or a strong data connection — Spotify recommends it for the best performance.
Where it works
Not every track
App ratings in the stores
These are ratings from store users. They rate how the app works; they say nothing about whether the subscription price is fair.
Ratings change constantly and often drop after price increases or removed features. We show the value from the check date together with the number of reviews, because 4.8 from two hundred and 4.5 from two million ratings aren’t the same thing.
Account and household
Profiles, downloads, sharing and how to cancel.
Duo, Family and kids
- Duo: 2 Premium accounts for a couple living at the same address.
- Family: up to 6 accounts for people who live together; members enter the plan manager’s home address.
- Plan managers can control explicit content and create managed accounts for young listeners.
Switching is limited
Offline and travel
| Condition | How it works |
|---|---|
| Offline listening | How it worksYes, on Premium; Offline Backup can download automatically |
| Student abroad | How it worksAllowed if your account country matches where you study |
Canceling
Cancel any time on your account page. Premium stays until your next billing date, then the account switches to the free tier. If you cancel during a free trial, the switch is immediate.
Billed by Spotify
Cancel on your account page; Family and Duo members can only leave the plan — the plan manager cancels it.
Billed by a partner
If your phone or internet provider bills you, cancel with them (their contact link is on your account page).
Family plan members lose Premium too
Plans and terms
Who each plan is for and what terms it requires.
Premium Family: the rules
Premium Family is a discounted plan for up to 6 family members who live together, including the plan manager. Each member has a separate account and logs in with their own details.
- Who pays
- The plan manager — the only person who signs up
- Size
- Up to 6, including the plan manager
- Address
- Members must live together
- Kids
- Managed accounts for young listeners; explicit-content and video settings
- Audiobooks
- Plan manager only; extra hours can be bought for members
- Switching
- Members can switch plans once every 12 months
Not for friends at different addresses
Premium Student: who qualifies
Eligible college and university students get Premium at a discount for up to 4 years, verified through SheerID. In the US it comes with Hulu (With Ads) at no extra cost.
- How long
- Up to 4 years; reverify every 12 months
- Verification
- SheerID — school portal login or proof of enrollment; can take several days
- School not listed
- Not eligible at this time
- Payment
- Not through mobile billing or another company
- Audiobooks
- Not included
- Studying abroad
- Allowed if your account country and payment method match where you study
Privacy, accessibility and transparency
What data you can control, how the accessibility features work, and what the provider discloses.
Privacy and social settings
Spotify lets you control what others see on your profile. Several settings default to on for adults and off for under-18s.
Listening activity
Shares what you play to followers’ Friend Activity. Default on for 18+, off for under 18.
Private session
Hides your listening across all devices, keeps it out of recommendations and Wrapped, and ends after 6 hours or when you restart the app.
Recently played artists
Shows highlights of your recent listening on your profile. Default on for 18+.
Followers and following
Lets others see who you follow and who follows you. Default on for 18+.
Public playlists
New playlists can be public or private; private ones can still be shared directly.
Precise location
Can be turned off — Spotify says already collected precise location data is then deleted.
Spotify asks under-18s to get a guardian’s advice before changing these settings.
What we don’t claim
Common claims about Spotify Premium, next to what Spotify says.
Everyone on a Family plan gets audiobook hours.
Only the plan manager does; members’ hours can be bought separately.
Family can be shared with relatives anywhere.
Members must live with the plan manager and enter the same home address.
Student includes audiobooks.
Spotify says Premium Student doesn’t include audiobook listening time.
If there’s no price on the page, the service isn’t available in the US.
Not necessarily. More often it means the provider doesn’t publish a fixed price or shows it only at checkout. Availability and a published price are two different things.
An annual plan always works out cheaper.
Cheaper than the monthly plan only if you use the whole period. You pay for the whole year up front, and when you cancel you usually don’t get the unused part back — so it’s a saving for people who already know they’ll stay all year.
Deleting the app cancels the subscription.
No. Deleting the app doesn’t stop the payments — only canceling in the account where you bought the subscription does. The app disappears, the bill stays.
Every plan looks the same in every country.
No. The list of plans, the features in the same plan and the available languages can differ. That’s why we don’t carry data from another country over to the US page.
The price on the pricing page is exactly what you’ll be charged.
Not always. US providers list prices before sales tax, and whether tax is added at checkout — and how much — depends on your state. On one VPN order page we saw a 6.25% sales tax added on top of the listed monthly price.
This list isn’t an accusation against the service. If you find something on our page that doesn’t match the official source, write to us.
When Spotify Premium is a good choice
Daily listening
Individual.
Compromise: One account only.
Households
Family, up to 6 at one address.
Compromise: Audiobook hours for the manager only.
College
Student, with Hulu (With Ads).
Compromise: Re-verify every 12 months; no audiobooks.
Pros and cons
Pros
Lossless audio
Up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.
Audiobooks included
15 hours a month.
Hulu with Student
At no extra cost.
Cons
Same-address rule
On Duo and Family.
Audiobook hours don’t carry over
They expire monthly.
Trial only once
For people who haven’t tried Premium.
Spotify compared with Apple Music and YouTube Music
Based on each service’s own US pages.
| Criterion | Spotify Premium | Apple Music | YouTube Music Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family plan | Up to 6, same address | You plus five | You plus 5 (13+), household |
| Lossless | Up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz | Yes, plus Spatial Audio | Not listed |
| Audiobooks | 15 h/month | Not listed | Not listed |
| Student extra | Hulu (With Ads) | Apple TV | Annual verification |
| Yearly plan | Not listed | Not listed | 12 months, no auto-renew |
- Family plan
- Up to 6, same address
- Lossless
- Up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz
- Audiobooks
- 15 h/month
- Student extra
- Hulu (With Ads)
- Yearly plan
- Not listed
- Family plan
- You plus five
- Lossless
- Yes, plus Spatial Audio
- Audiobooks
- Not listed
- Student extra
- Apple TV
- Yearly plan
- Not listed
- Family plan
- You plus 5 (13+), household
- Lossless
- Not listed
- Audiobooks
- Not listed
- Student extra
- Annual verification
- Yearly plan
- 12 months, no auto-renew
If you want music and audiobooks — Spotify
And Hulu if you’re a student.
If you’re on Apple devices — Apple Music
Spatial Audio and Apple TV with Student.
If you watch YouTube — YouTube Music
YouTube Premium includes it.
Final verdict
Spotify Premium gives the most for one subscription in the US — lossless music, audiobooks and plans for any household size. Check the address rule before Family, and remember the audiobook hours belong to the plan manager.
Choose it if
You listen daily and want audiobooks too.
Think twice if
Your “family” lives at different addresses.
Skip it if
You already pay for YouTube Premium or Apple One with music included.
Apple Music suits Apple households; YouTube Music comes free inside YouTube Premium.
Spotify Premium prices
Four plans as spotify.com lists them for the US.
Compare plansAll plans are monthly and can be canceled any time. Individual starts with a free month if you haven’t tried Premium before. If your phone or internet provider bills you, its terms apply.
Spotify Premium deals and discounts
We have no confirmed deals or promo codes for Spotify Premium right now. When the provider publishes one and we have checked it, the dates and terms will appear here — we never list made-up promo codes.
Spotify Premium free trial
Free trial according to the provider:
- Premium Student: 30 days
- Premium Individual: 30 days
How to pay less for Spotify Premium
- “Premium Duo” for up to 2 people: $18.99/mo, or $9.50 per person.
- “Premium Family” for up to 6 people: $21.99/mo, or $3.67 per person.
- “Premium Student” for students: $6.99/mo
Compare the price with alternatives: Apple Music price · Tidal price · YouTube Music price
We only show the provider’s official options — no shared accounts and no region switching.
Customer support
The help center is available in English.
Contact options the provider lists:
- chatbot
„You're engaging with an AI-powered tool"
Source: support.spotify.com/
FAQ
How we work
This page is a comparison, and for every claim we say where it comes from.
The provider’s sources
The facts come from spotify.com and Spotify Support.
We don’t write prices into the text
Prices are in the price block, in the price list’s currency, with a source and a date.
Product facts are shared, market facts aren’t
How many screens a plan allows, how many devices an account works on, how many servers a network has — that doesn’t depend on the country, and on our pages those numbers are the same in every language; a separate tool watches over that. Price, promotions, availability and app language belong to the market, and we never carry them over from another country.
The provider’s list is the same for everyone
If a service publishes a list of countries or languages, we can say whether the US is on it — that list looks the same for everyone. Checkout, however, can look different for every account, so for amounts a provider shows only at checkout we write: check before you pay.
A shorter section doesn’t mean something is missing from the product
If a section here is shorter than for another service, it’s because the provider publishes less about it. We don’t fill the gap with generic wording just to make the page look more complete.
Three different answers
We distinguish between “none”, “the provider doesn’t say” and “we didn’t find it”. They’re three different situations — mixing them up would turn our own limitation into a flaw in the product.
A price without a source isn’t shown
If an amount has no source and date, we don’t show it. An empty spot is more honest than a number that only looks right — and prices change more often than articles get updated.
Data from the US market
This page isn’t a translation of another language version. Numbers from other countries don’t end up here: markets differ, and that’s exactly why this page exists.
Affiliate links are labeled at the link
If a link is an affiliate link, we say so right next to it. The commission doesn’t affect what we write — and you know about it before you click.
We fix errors openly
If we got something wrong, we fix it and note what changed. A silent correction would mean you never find out you once relied on wrong information.
If anything on this page has gone out of date, write to us — we’ll fix it and note the date.
The order in the comparison is decided by the type of service; commission size doesn’t affect it.
Some links to providers are affiliate links: if you subscribe through them, we may earn a commission. It affects neither the price nor the placement in the comparison. Affiliate links are always labeled next to the link itself.
Track the price
Get an email when the price drops to the level you choose.
Report an error
What do you think of “Spotify Premium”?
One vote per reader, and you can change it. The average is shown on this page.
No ratings yet. Be the first.
Read next
Other pages that cover Spotify Premium.
Comparisons with competitors
Who wins, and when the cheaper one is worth choosing.
Guides
How to save, cancel and choose — not tied to one product.
Free trial
Try before you pay — and see when to cancel so it doesn’t renew.