You can pay less by switching
Spotify has only just hiked prices for most customers, but now there’s a chance to trim your bill – though you’ll sacrifice one feature in return. Here’s what you need to know.
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What is Spotify Basic?
There’s not a huge amount of detail yet, but it seems the only difference is the loss of audiobooks – a feature only added late in 2023. As it is, only the lead account user on Duo and Family have access to this on Premium tiers (and only 15 hours a month), so many won’t see any difference at all.
That means those on a Basic plan can still stream without adverts and download to your phone. You’ll also be able to see lyrics to many songs, a feature that appears to have been removed from the free version of Spotify this month.
Who can get Spotify Basic?
If you’re a new customer you won’t see this tier when you go to sign up – at least not right now.
However, this new plan has appeared quietly for some existing customers, showing just in your account if you choose to see available plans. Keep scrolling and it’ll probably be one of the last options showing.
You’ll only see the Basic version of your existing plan. So for me, I was able to move from Premium Family to Basic Family, while three other accounts we’ve seen gave the choice to move from their existing Premium Duo to Basic Duo.
Members of our Facebook community have confirmed that those on Individual Premium see an option for Basic Individual too. We don’t know if you swap to another plan, e.g. from Individual to Duo, whether the Basic option will then appear for that one too.
But not everyone will find Basic in their setting just yet. We’ve seen one Duo account where the Basic plan is not showing at all. This suggests it’s being rolled out to customers.
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How much is Spotify Basic?
You’re looking at a £2 discount every month for Duo and Family, while the Basic plan for one person will drop by £1 to £10.99 a month, saving £12 a year.
These prices bring the monthly cost back down to where it was before this month’s price increase. This means you won’t be paying less than you have been in recent months, but you can avoid the price hikes.
| Plan | Premium cost | Basic cost | Saving (month/year) |
| Premium | £11.99 | £10.99 | £1 / £12 |
| Duo | £16.99 | £14.99 | £2 / £24 |
| Family | £19.99 | £17.99 | £2 / £24 |
Is an audiobook only option coming?
In the USA, users can already sign up for Spotify Audiobooks Access plan which offers 15 hours of audiobooks every month. You can still listen to music and podcasts but you’ll have adverts and other limitations.
It costs $9.99 a month, so compared to their charges on other plans we could be looking at £9.99 or £10.99 here in the UK if it launches.
Other ways to save on Spotify
This new Basic plan is cheaper than Premium, but it’s not the only way to cut your bills. In our Spotify Deals page, we’ve detailed hacks and offers such as:
- Buy a one year individual Premium gift cards for £99, effectively bringing the monthly price down to £8.25
- Checking if you can move up (or down) the plans to make them more cost effective too
- Using a “welcome back” offer to get three months for the price of one
All our ways to save on Spotify in our dedicated deals article
