How much is Spotify Premium?

You have four options to consider when subscribing to Spotify Premium: Individual, Duo, Family, and Student.

Spotify Individual — $9.99 monthly

If you aren’t a student and aren’t planning on sharing with anybody else, you will most likely be looking at the $9.99 Spotify Individual plan. Also known simply as Spotify Premium, the basic plan for the solo listener nets you ad-free listening, downloading songs for offline mode, and on-demand music playback.

Spotify Duo — $12.99 monthly

If you have a roommate or partner who also uses Spotify, you may be considering Spotify’s Duo plan. For $12.99 a month, two people gain access to their own Spotify Premium accounts. Think of it like two Spotify Individual subscriptions for the price of $12.99.

Spotify will also curate a “Duo Mix” for both of you, which is a playlist regularly updated with music you both enjoy, according to Spotify’s algorithm.

The only catch here is that both people buying into the Duo plan must be living under the same roof. The accounts will still be accessible when they’re not in the same space; however, Spotify will need you both to verify that you share the same home address. The Duo plan will be nullified if you are found to be living separately.

Spotify Family — $15.99 monthly

If you live at home with your family and you all use Spotify, then you may be giving Spotify’s Family plan a long look. For $15.99 a month, six family members get their own Spotify Premium accounts.

Spotify will provide you with a “Family Mix,” which, like the Duo Mix, is a playlist Spotify curates using data accumulated through its algorithm. Music determined to be enjoyed by all members will show up here. A Spotify Kids app is available for children and younger family members.

Again, like the Duo plan, everyone must verify that they live under the same roof.

Spotify Student — $4.99 monthly

Spotify offers all of the benefits of its premium service at a decreased price for college and university students. This is the same as a Spotify Individual plan, just at $4.99 a month instead. If you live in the United States, you also get access to a Hulu (ad-supported) plan and Showtime.

However, as our dedicated Spotify Student article mentioned, the Spotify Student discount doesn’t last forever. You can subscribe to Spotify Premium Student for a maximum of four years of study. At the end of the four-year maximum, it doesn’t matter if you continue your studies; you will automatically switch back to a standard Spotify Premium subscription unless you cancel.

Apple Music versus Spotify Premium pricing

Apple’s music streaming service, like Spotify, provides users with access to over 70 million songs in high quality. Unlike Spotify, however, there is no option to listen if you aren’t a monthly subscriber. Apple Music does not have its own ad-supported version of Spotify Free. Instead, you must subscribe to their Individual, Family, or Student plan.

Premium Plans

Like Spotify Individual, Apple Music’s Individual plan costs $9.99 if you pay per month. Unlike Spotify Individual, Apple Music allows users to buy into a yearly plan at a discounted $99.00 annually.

Apple Music also offers the same student discount as Spotify. Students can sign up for Apple Music Student for $4.99 a month and access all the same features as regular Individual plans.

Family Plans

The Apple Music Family plan comes in at $14.99 per month. This is one dollar less than Spotify’s $15.99 Family plan, and you can enroll up to six people in the plan.

Deezer versus Spotify Premium pricing

Deezer is another of Spotify’s more prominent competitors in the music streaming space. Like Spotify, they let listeners use their platform for free with their ad-supported Deezer Free subscription level. Beyond that, users have the option to subscribe to Deezer Premium, Premium Annual, Student, Family, and HiFi.

Premium Plans

Deezer and Spotify share the same price for their baseline premium subscription service for individuals. Like Spotify Premium, for $9.99 a month, Deezer Premium listeners can enjoy ad-free music that they can download and listen to offline. If you want to subscribe to Deezer annually, the monthly cost decreases. It’s still paid monthly, but you are locked into a one-year commitment.

Students can subscribe to Deezer, like Apple Music and Spotify, for 50% off. For $4.99 a month, students can enjoy all of the premium features included with Deezer Premium. Unlike Spotify, there is no Hulu or Showtime included with the student subscription.

Family Plans

Up to six family members can join a Deezer Family plan, which costs the same as Apple Music at $14.99 a month. Again, this is coming in at a dollar less than Spotify’s $15.99 plan for families.

Deezer HiFi

Deezer HiFi is their most premium subscription service. For $14.99 a month, listeners get ad-free listening, on-demand playback, personalized recommendations, unlimited access to tracks, offline listening, 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC files, 360 reality audio, and of course, high-quality audio. For most people, this may seem a bit unnecessary. However, the added quality will be a major boon for music fanatics.

Pandora versus Spotify Premium pricing

Founded back in January 2000, Pandora has been around longer than Spotify. They have an ad-supported Free level of listening and Pandora Plus, Premium Individual, Premium Student, Premium Military, and Premium Family.

Pandora More

For $4.99, you can subscribe to Pandora Plus. This is a step down from their Premium plans, but the bottom line is you get to listen to personalized stations ad-free, can skip an unlimited amount of times, and have limited offline listening access. You can also search for and play what you want by watching an ad.

Premium Plans

Pandora Premium Individual costs $9.99 per month. This is one account that will get ad-free personalized music, unlimited skips, and unlimited offline listening. With Pandora Premium, you can search for and play what you want without having to watch ads. You also gain the ability to make and share playlists.

Pandora Premium Student nets you all the same features as Pandora Premium Individual. This subscription, however, comes in at the same price as all of the other student discounts discussed previously: $4.99. You must verify your student status before accessing this discounted price.

Pandora offers a discount for users with a military status called Pandora Premium Military. This requires the subscriber to verify their military status through SheerID, after which they will only have to pay $7.99 instead of $9.99.

Family Plans

Pandora Premium Family costs $14.99 per month, which is a dollar less than Spotify’s family plan. It includes up to six separate accounts, a shared playlist, ad-free personalized music, the ability to search for and play what you want, unlimited skips, unlimited offline listening, and the ability to make and share playlists.

Tidal versus Spotify Premium pricing

Tidal and Spotify are two of the most popular music listening platforms. Both offer outstanding music quality and an enjoyable user-end experience. However, as mentioned on SoundGuys, Tidal is all about extreme, consistent listening quality and the artist-listener relationship, while Spotify tends to trend towards the social aspect of things. With Spotify, there is more integration with social media platforms like Facebook and Discord.

Their pricing structure also differs in several ways.

Premium Plans

Tidal has two different premium plans for individuals. The first is Tidal HiFi, which costs $9.99 per month. Tidal HiFi offers up to 1,411 kbps sound quality, access to over 80 million songs and 350,000 videos, the ability to listen offline with unlimited skips, and the ability to listen to music free of ads.

The second is Tidal HiFi Plus, which costs $19.99 per month. The difference is, for $10 more, you gain access to “innovative audio formats.” That means Master Quality audio, Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 Reality Audio, and HiFi. Quality reaches up to 9,216 kbps.

Additionally, there are direct artist payouts with HiFi Plus, meaning that up to 10% of your subscription will go directly to the artists you listen to the most.

Student Plans

Tidal also offers two different premium plans for students at a 50% discount.

Tidal HiFi Student costs $4.99 per month. This comes with all of the same perks as normal Tidal HiFi: up to 1,411 kbps sound quality, over 80 million songs and 350,000 videos, the ability to listen offline with unlimited skips, and the ability to listen to music free of ads.

Tidal HiFi Plus Student, which includes all of the same features as Tidal HiFi Plus, costs $9.99 per month.

Family Plans

Tidal offers two premium plans for families, which allow up to six separate accounts.

Tidal HiFi Family costs $14.99 per month. All six accounts come with the same perks as normal Tidal HiFi: up to 1,411 kbps sound quality, over 80 million songs and 350,000 videos, the ability to listen offline with unlimited skips, and the ability to listen to music free of ads.

Tidal HiFi Plus Family costs $29.99 per month.

Military and First Responders

If you are military or a first responder, you are entitled to a major discount on Tidal’s services. Tidal HiFi for Military and First Responders comes in at a discounted monthly price of $5.99. Tidal HiFi Plus for Military and First Responders will cost $11.99 per month.