Save up to £24 per year on Spotify by doing this one thing

Looking to cut your Spotify costs? The music streaming giant has discreetly introduced a cheaper 'Basic' plan, which costs £1-£2 less a month than its other Premium subscriptions.

All you need to do is forgo audiobooks, while still enjoying ad-free listening, downloads, high-quality audio and podcasts.

Changing your account is quick and easy – we explain how to do it below. Plus, find out other ways to cut your listening costs, and the alternative music streaming options available.

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How to save on Spotify Premium

Most of Spotify's Premium plans (not including Student) currently include 15 hours of audiobook listening alongside a range of other perks, such as higher audio quality, offline listening, making queues, and no ads. For Family and Duo accounts, only the account holder will have access to the audiobook hours.

Current Spotify Premium members were all moved onto these plans automatically after price increases in April 2024: 

• Individual Premium is now £11.99 per month 
• Family Premium is now £19.99
• Duo is now £16.99

The new Basic plan – only available to existing Premium subscribers for now – includes all the regular perks, but without audiobook hours. By switching, your plan pricing will look like this:

• Individual Basic is £10.99 per month (saves £12 a year)
• Family Basic is £17.99 (saves £24 a year)
• Duo Basic is £14.99 (saves £24 a year)

Student Plans remain at £5.99, and there is no Basic Student available currently.

How to change your Spotify plan

Premium Spotify plans compared

Below, you'll find pricing information for the paid-for plans that Spotify currently offers, including the new Basic price, and how much you can save monthly by switching.

Our experts have tried and lab tested more than 200 models to find you the best headphones, whatever your budget

Other ways to save on Spotify

Want to reduce your Spotify bill further? Both MoneySavingExpert and Save The Student suggest a few other things you can try:

1. Pay for a year upfront with a gift card 

You can get 12 months of an Individual membership via a digital gift card for £99 – a saving of £32.88 compared to the monthly subscription.

Gift cards can be bought from retailers including Amazon and Currys, and redeemed via your Spotify account (it should automatically cancel your monthly payments once your card is redeemed).

Be aware that you'll have to pay the entire £99 cost upfront, which isn't ideal for everyone. Gift cards can also only be redeemed on an Individual membership.

2. Make sure you're using a Student account if you're eligible

If you're a university student, you should be eligible for Spotify's Student account, which reduces the cost by around half. The first month is also free.

You'll have to verify that you're a student at an 'accredited higher-education institution', according to Spotify's terms and conditions. You can check if you are via Gov.uk.

Once verified, your Student account will last one year before you're asked to re-verify your student status. You'll be able to use the Student subscription for a maximum of four years in total, then you'll automatically be moved to an Individual subscription.

Heading off to university, college or sixth form after the summer? Make sure you've packed one of the best laptops for students to help you study. Definitely want a MacBook? We'll help you choose the best for your budget plus tell you which reputable retailers have the top deals – see the best MacBooks

3. Use the plan that best suits your lifestyle 

The different plans exist to get you the most bang for your buck – use them wisely.

If you're paying for six people to be on a Family subscription, but only two people actually use it, you may want to downsize to a Duo membership. This is £3 per month cheaper. 

Or, if you and a partner or housemate are both on Individual subscriptions, switching to Duo can take your combined monthly cost from £23.98 to £16.99 – saving £6.99 a month. That's just under £84 a year.

Note that Duo and Family plans require everyone on the plan to live at the same address.

4. Don't mind ads? Consider using Spotify Free

It might not have all the features of Premium, but Spotify Free is always an option if you're in a pinch.

We've listed the pros and cons of Spotify Free in our guide to the best music streaming services.

5. Make the most of free trials

If you've never tried Premium before, you may be eligible for a free trial through Spotify.

These free trial promotions come and go every few months, so keep a look out for when another one starts.

You'll need to enter a payment method to start the trial, so remember to cancel before you're charged if you don't want to spend anything.

6. Check if it's a mobile or broadband contract perk

Taking out a phone or Sim-only contract, or looking for a new broadband deal? Check if it comes with a free Spotify subscription before you sign up. Many companies will add in a free trial to Premium when you take out a contract with them.  

Alternatives to Spotify

Looking for something a bit different to Spotify? There are plenty of other free and paid-for streaming services to consider.

Bear in mind that free services will come with adverts and usually lower-quality audio than subscription-based services.

Free music streaming services

• Amazon Music Free Compared to Amazon Music Unlimited, there is a reduced catalogue of music and audio content. You don't need an Amazon Prime membership to access Amazon Music Free.
• Deezer Free There are plenty of podcasts to choose from, although you won't be able to listen offline. Deezer Free gives you unlimited skips on a desktop, but you're limited to six per hour on mobile.
• SoundCloud If you're more interested in finding up-and-coming artists rather than mainstream music, SoundCloud might be a good option. You'll find plenty of unique and exclusive content here.
• YouTube Music You'll be able to stream unlimited music, but the app has to be open while you're using it, which can be annoying. Unlike Spotify, skips are unlimited, and you can watch music videos easily.

For more information, head to our round-up of the best free music streaming services.

Paid music streaming services

• Amazon Music Unlimited This service has more than 100 million songs, playlists, podcasts and radio stations. Individual subscriptions cost £10.99 per month. Amazon Music Prime is also available, which is free for Prime members (Amazon Prime costs £8.99 monthly), but it features fewer songs and playlists. You may also be eligible for a 30-day free trial.
• Apple Music You'll find this pre-downloaded to many Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and MacBooks, but you can also use it on Android devices. It has more than 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists. An Individual membership costs £10.99 monthly, while the Voice subscription is £4.99 monthly, but is limited to Siri voice commands and can't store downloads. New subscribers get a one-month free trial, or six months free with an eligible audio device purchase.
• Deezer A Premium subscription for one person costs £11.99 per month, though you'll be offered one month free. There are more than 120 million tracks plus other audio content to look through, with personalised recommendations and tailoring based on what you're listening to.
• SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Go+ These are both paid-for versions of SoundCloud, with a few differences. Both allow ad-free listening and offline downloads, although Go costs £5.99 per month and has a seven-day free trial, while Go+ is £9.99 and comes with a 30-day free trial. And with Go+, you'll access the full catalogue of more than 135 million songs, as well as higher-quality audio.
• Tidal Launched in 2014, Tidal now offers more than 110 million tracks to choose from. An Individual subscription will cost you £10.99 monthly, with add-ons such as the DJ Extension (which gives you access to mixing your saved songs) available too.
• YouTube Premium For YouTube content without interruptions, Premium offers ad-free listening, downloads and background play for £12.99 per month. As with the free version, you can also watch music videos.

You can see the full breakdown of what these services offer, plus which ones our survey rated the best and worst streaming services.

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