Spotify Free vs Premium: Should You Pay To Upgrade?

Written By Robert Fabry Last updated: January 4, 2024

It has been years since Spotify was launched and it is still dominating the world of online music streaming sites by being one of the most popular music sites we have today. If you are a new user, you can read that Spotify free vs Premium version is one of the basics that you must know. It will guide you through the beautiful world of music while listening through Spotify.

In this article, we will be discussing all the facts that we should know what's the difference between Spotify Free and Premium, from all the limitations to all the advantages of using both. Should I pay or stay Free? This article will definitely help you a lot in choosing.

Contents Guide Part 1. Spotify Free vs. Premium: OverviewPart 2. Spotify Free vs. Premium: Main DifferencesPart 3. Is It Worth Upgrading or Staying Free?Part 4. Extra Tips: How to Download Spotify Music without Premium?Conclusion

Part 1. Spotify Free vs. Premium: Overview

Who does not want to avail of a free trial nowadays? It is absolutely something most of us look forward to when it comes to online music sites that provide us with services, such as Spotify. Spotify has a free and paid version. Let's take a look at this part to know about Spotify Free vs Premium.

Spotify Free

Unlike Apple Music, a monthly subscription music service, Spotify doesn't require a subscription to stream. Once you sign up for an account, you can access the whole library, including music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more. But if we take a deeper understanding of what Spotify's Free tier offers, it also comes with a limited music experience.

Spotify Premium

To be able to gain a lot of features, you can unlock its Premium plans. When it comes to subscription plans, there are four options to choose from:

  1. Individual: $10.99 per month for one account
  2. Duo: $14.99 per month for two accounts
  3. Family: $16.99 per month for six accounts
  4. Student: $5.99 per month for one account

All subscription plans give you access to everything Spotify has to offer.

Spotify Premium Subscription Plans

There are a lot of aspects to keep in mind when choosing a service. Should you pay? Is Spotify Premium worth it? What do you get with Spotify Premium? In the next part, we will talk about the Spotify free vs Premium comparison. Let’s begin.

Part 2. Spotify Free vs. Premium: Main Differences

There are lots of things that we can use as comparisons when we talk about Spotify free vs Premium.

Music Quality

One of the most important things is free Spotify offers a lower quality of songs compared to when you listen through a premium account. The maximum bit rate of the free version is 128 kbps using a web player, while the premium version offers a bit rate of 256 kbps. Using its app, free users can stream music at 160kbit/s, but premium users can get 320kbit/s.

Spotify Music Quality

Playback Control

One inconvenience is the limited control of your tracks when you opt to listen to the free version of Spotify. In the free version, you can only shuffle albums, but you won’t be able to pick a song to play. Free users can only skip 6 tracks per hour This is a major reason why we recommend buying the Premium version, as there are no restrictions whatsoever. You get unlimited skips in the shuffle mode.

Tips: if you want to know how to turn on/off Spotify offline, you can refer to this guide: Take Spotify Off Shuffle On Mobile And Desktop

Ads

Another big difference between Spotify Free vs Premium tiers is the latter's complete lack of ads. Using a Spotify-free account, you can expect both visual and audio ads to interrupt your music listening at some point. If you were given DJ duties at the birthday party and have a free version of Spotify, people might listen to a cleaning product ad in a happy song. They are over 15 seconds long. The only way to get rid of it is by purchasing a premium version.

Offline Listening

Another thing that you must also consider is when you opt to use the premium version you can be able to download as many songs as you want for offline listening, whereas for the free version, you cannot be able to play songs unless you have a data pack with you. When you use your mobile data, the signal can be a problem too. You cannot be able to use it when the signal is not stable, disturbing your good listening to the songs that you like.

Tips: if you want to know how to listen to Spotify offline, you can refer to this guide: How To Listen To Spotify Offline

Part 3. Is It Worth Upgrading or Staying Free?

You may know the comparison between Spotify free vs Premium. Now, the question is it worth it to get the Premium version of Spotify? If you have enough resources like money to be able to pay for the monthly subscription, getting the premium version is advisable. You can be able to diminish all your annoyance when it comes to all the inconveniences that you can encounter when you opt to use the Premium version. On the other hand, you can be able to have as many skips as you want and download as many tracks as you want when you choose to register or subscribe to a Premium version of Spotify.

However, free is free. Who does not want to avail of a free service where you get to enjoy the things you love without paying any amount of money? It really is a great deal. How do I get Spotify Premium for free? How to download music and block ads using free accounts? If you want to download some of your favorite songs, a Premium subscription is not a must if you use AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter.

Part 4. Extra Tips: How to Download Spotify Music without Premium?

As we've mentioned above, free users can download songs from Spotify via AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter. This app already defies the barrier of Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions and enables users to convert encrypted Spotify songs to a common audio format like MP3 with its superb decryption technology. More amazing features are listed as follows.

  • Common Output Formats - Download Spotify music to MP3, M4A, FLAC, or WAV audio container format. The downloads can be played on any media player. Your music is free from those pesky and annoying Spotify ads!
  • Lossless Audio Quality - The great thing about our tool is that it keeps the original quality of your music intact, so you get a wonderful listening experience every time.
  • Batch Download - AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter allows you to start as many downloads as you want. It can easily handle multiple download tasks at the same time.
  • Song Info Preservation - Track details will be saved along the conversion including title, artists, Track ID, and album artwork.
  • Quick and Easy Operation - With a simple one-click conversion, you can get all your favorite songs to any audio format in no time at all. No technical knowledge or special software is required!
  • High-Performance Speed - The program boasts advanced technology to accelerate the transcoding and downloading process up to 5X faster than its counterparts.

Thanks to its built-in Spotify web player, you are able to log in to Spotify music and download tracks to the desktop at the same time via AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter. Now AMusicSoft offers a free trial, take a try! Try to download your favorite tunes for free!

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Tutorial: How to Download Spotify Music for Free using AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter

STEP 1. Install AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter

Download, install, and launch this AMusicSoft program by clicking the below button.

STEP 2. Add Song to AMusicSoft

Then, you need to log in to the Spotify web player. Pick up a song or a playlist on Spotify, then simply drag and drop it to AMusicSoft's main interface.

Import Spotify Music To Amusicsoft

STEP 3. Set up Output Format and Audio Quality

Now you'll be able to modify the output location, output format, and audio quality to the desired one. AMusicSoft supports lossless MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, and M4B.

Choose MP3 As The Output Format

STEP 4. Download Spotify Music for Free

Click "Convert" to initiate the conversion and download process. Once the process is complete, the MP3 files will be saved on your computer for offline playback. You can also transfer them to your mobile devices.

Convert Spotify Music To MP3

Conclusion

There are a lot of things that we can say if we discuss Spotify free vs Premium, and some of them were discussed in this article. Is Spotify Premium worth it? If you need to hear the latest songs, want full control over playback, save offline, and avoid ads, Spotify Premium is more than worth the cash. If you can endure ad disruptions and let Spotify take control, Free might still be right for you.

Professional converters like AMusicSoft Spotify Music Converter are amazing partners too if we want to enjoy all the good things about music without breaking our savings from paying monthly subscriptions. We hope that this article helped you discover the comparison between Spotify free and Premium so that you can be able to weigh which one will suit your needs and fit your style of living.

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