Spotify just struck a sour note by hiking its prices—again. Luckily, you don’t have to play along.
Starting now, new Spotify subscribers will have to pay $11.99 a month for an individual Premium plan, a $1-a-month increase.
Spotify’s Family plans (for up to six household members) are going up a steep $3 a month, to $19.99/month, while Duo plans (for two members) are increasing to $16.99 a month, from $14.99/month.
If it feels like Spotify just raised its prices recently, well; it did, with the last Spotify Premium price hike hitting last July.
The good news is that you don’t have to sit back and take it. For now, most of the big streaming services are charging less than Spotify, and some of those options include features that Spotify lacks, including lossless tracks and spatial audio.
Of course, “for now” are the key words, as Spotify’s competitors are likely to raise their prices in response. So if you’re thinking of jumping to a cheaper music streaming service, this is the time to do it.
5 music streaming services that are cheaper that Spotify
Amazon Music Unlimited
Individual plan: $10.99/month, or $8.99/month with Prime membership
Family plan: $14.99/month, or $12.99 with Prime membership
Student plan: $5.99/month, or $0.99/month with Prime membership
With its catalog of more than 100 million songs, Amazon has a selection of tunes that rivals Spotify, and it also offers lossless tracks (including high-resolution music up to 24-bit/192kHz) as well as spatial audio, including both Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio formats.
Even better, you can get a free one-month trial of Amazon Music Unlimited if you’re a new subscriber.
Apple Music
Individual plan: $10.99/month
Family plan: $16.99/month
Student plan: $5.99/month
With its tight integration with Apple devices, Apple Music is a no-brainer for iPhone users, and Apple was first in the streaming business to offer lossless and high-resolution streaming plus spatial audio for no extra charge.
And like Amazon Music Unlimited, you can try Apple Music for a month for free (provided you’re a new subscriber, of course).
Pandora
Pandora Plus: $4.99/month
Pandora Premium individual plan: $10.99/month
Pandora Premium family plan: $17.99/month
Pandora Premium student plan: $5.99/month
This old-school streaming stalwart lacks such sonic features as lossless tracks and spatial audio, but it does have a discount Pandora Plus offering that gives you ad-free personalized stations, unlimited skips, and offline listening.
Sign up for Pandora
Tidal
Individual plan: $10.99/month
Family plan: $16.99/month
Student plan: $4.99/month
In a surprising move, Tidal actually lowered its high-resolution streaming prices earlier this year. Previously, you had to pay $19.99 a month for Tidal HiFi Plus (a Tidal HiFi plan without high-resolution playback was cheaper), but now there’s just one Tidal plan that costs $10.99 a month for individuals, and that includes high-resolution and spatial audio tracks.
Sign up for a free trial of Tidal
YouTube Music Premium
Individual plan: $10.99/month, $109.99/year
Family plan: $16.99/month
Student plan: $5.49/month
YouTube’s music streaming offering doesn’t offer lossless tracks—not yet, anyway—but it does boasts an annual option for individual subscribers, meaning you can lock in the current rate before (thanks to Spotify) the inevitable price hikes.
Sign up for YouTube Music Premium
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, TechHive
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he has covered everything from smart speakers and soundbars to smart lights and security cameras. Ben's articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men's Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master's degree in English literature.