In the world of video streaming, there’s a fairly clear delineation between free services like Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi, and paid streamers like Disney+ and Netflix. But audio streaming services like Spotify often work a little differently, offering a free plan and a paid tier all on one platform.

There are major differences between the Spotify Premium paid subscription service and the Spotify free offering, of course. But what are the exact differences, and why would you want to pay for Spotify Premium? Does everyone need to upgrade to Premium, or is a free account enough? We’ll explain everything you need to know about the differences between Spotify Free and Spotify Premium here!

Spotify Free vs Premium: What you need to know

What can you listen to with Spotify Free?

Spotify’s free tier offers access to hundreds of millions of audio tracks, as well as podcast episodes. It has essentially the same catalog as Spotify Premium tiers, but the free plan is ad-supported, so listeners will have to put up with pods of commercials between tracks or episodes. Spotify’s Free library has no audiobook access, and no early access to exclusive tracks that can sometimes be found on Spotify Premium.

Spotify Free also has far fewer features than the Premium tier. Listeners can listen to unlimited tracks and episodes for free with Spotify, but they’ll only be able to skip six times per hour with the free platform. There’s also no ability to listen offline with Spotify Free, and free customers get no access to Spotify’s audiobook library.

Spotify’s mobile offering is also more limited than Premium subscribers are used to. Until 2025, Spotify used a shuffle-only model for free users on mobile devices, making it essentially impossible for free users to listen to tracks on demand. But as of July 2026, free tier users are able to manually select and play additional songs from a given tracklist or playlist. However, there are still limits on the amount of on-demand listening per day for free Spotify listeners.

What are the features of Spotify Premium?

Spotify Premium is a far more feature-rich offering, allowing listeners to cut out ads between songs and tracks — though podcasts will often still include paid advertisements embedded in the show by the creators themselves. These ads are often skippable, however.

Using Spotify Premium also means listeners can enjoy unlimited on-demand listening on mobile devices, downloads for offline listening, better audio quality (maximum quality is up to lossless 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC on select tracks), Jam sessions, and an AI DJ that will mix you a playlist and give you a taste of radio host patter between tracks (in regions where available).

Spotify Premium subscribers also get 15 hours of audiobook access per month on the platform. And the streamer has occasionally experimented with early access and exclusive content for Premium subscribers that Spotify’s free users don’t get to enjoy — though these are not a regular feature of a Spotify Premium subscription.

How many Spotify Premium tiers are there?

Spotify Premium has four tiers: Student, Individual, Duo, and Family. All of them come with the same Premium features described above, including ad-free listening, unlimited skips, and high-quality audio. Audiobook access is not the same across all Spotify Premium tiers; for Duo and Family subscribers, only the plan manager has access to the 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening. Otherwise, the biggest difference between these plans is the number of Premium accounts that come with each — and, of course, price.

The Individual and Student plans both include one Premium account each; anyone signing up for a Student plan must verify that they are at an eligible accredited higher education institution. The Student plan costs $7 per month, and the Individual plan $13 per month.

The Duo plan has two Premium accounts per subscription, costing $19 per month.

The Family plan offers up to six Premium accounts per subscription, and includes parental controls for all plan listeners. It costs $22 per month.

Comparing Spotify Premium and Spotify Free

Why would you want Spotify Premium?

If you’re a true music or podcast lover, having a Spotify Premium account may become indispensable after a short period of using the streamer’s free tier. Just cutting out the ads alone makes a huge difference for many listeners, and having skips per hour limited is a huge pain for most, especially combined with Spotify’s limited on-demand listening experience for ad-supported customers on its mobile app.

Parents who want to ensure their kids are listening to age-appropriate content will also prize the features of the Spotify Premium Family plan. Having parental controls will be a huge relief to parents, but kids will still be able to explore and use Premium features in ways that allow them to expand their music tastes safely.

Anyone who travels will value Spotify Premium highly. The ability to download tracks, albums, playlists, and podcast episodes means you can listen even when you’re not connected to the internet, which can make all the difference on a long flight. Spotify Free listeners are limited to 14 days of international use, but Premium subscribers get to use the service for as long as they want while abroad.

Does everyone need Spotify Premium?

While Spotify Premium is a great way to access favorite musicians and podcasters, not everyone will find a Premium subscription an absolute necessity. If you find yourself listening to Spotify at home most of the time, you can use a computer to dodge many of the on-demand listening playback restrictions that the streamer enforces for its free tier on mobile.

Spotify’s discovery features are also virtually identical on its free and Premium tiers. Discover Weekly, Daily Mix, and Release Radar playlists are available to both tiers, and the Spotify Browse tab is packed with different options to allow customers to browse through recommended titles. The Spotify algorithm works to deliver personalized music for listeners of all tastes, Free or Premium.

Those who like to connect with friends to share playlists and see what others will listen to will be pleased to learn that Spotify’s social features are the same for paid and free users. Listeners will be able to create collaborative playlists and share them with friends, and link their account to their Facebook to help friends find their Spotify profile.

Do we recommend using Spotify Premium?

I’m a Spotify Premium subscriber myself, and I think of a subscription as totally worth it. For one thing, the amount of ads on Spotify Free can get irritating quickly, and not being able to skip more than six times per hour can get infuriating for those with selective music tastes.

I’m also a big podcast listener, and prize the ability to download for offline listening if I take a workout swim. I don’t put a huge value on sound quality — I usually use cheaper headphones that don’t offer a premium listening experience anyway, because I’m notorious for losing them — Spotify Premium is more than worth it to me regardless. While some listeners will no doubt be able to get by with a Spotify Free account, I think having a Premium account is a good idea for most true music lovers.