Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music All Went Up in 2026. Here's How to Keep Listening for Less

$12.99. That's what a month of Spotify Premium now costs in the US. It was $11.99 at the start of the year.

And it wasn't the only one. In 2026, all three of the biggest music apps put their prices up. As SoundGuys reported in January, Spotify raised every US Premium plan from February billing: Individual to $12.99, Duo to $18.99, Family to $21.99 and Student to $6.99. In April, Digital Music News reported that YouTube Music went from $10.99 to $11.99, and YouTube Premium from $13.99 to $15.99. Then in July, TechRepublic reported that Apple Music Individual rose from $10.99 to $11.99, and Apple Music Family jumped $3, from $16.99 to $19.99.

A dollar here and there sounds small. But on Spotify alone, that's an extra $12 a year for the same songs, and a lot of households pay for more than one plan.

The good news: music is one of the easiest subscriptions to trim without losing anything. You keep your playlists, your library and your Discover Weekly. You just stop paying for the parts you don't need.

The 60-second version:

• Check you're not paying for music twice through YouTube Premium or Apple One.
• Two people on two Individual plans? Duo saves you $6.99 a month.
• Still studying? Student plans cost about half the Individual price.
• Use the extras you're already paying for, like Spotify's 15 audiobook hours.
• Don't assume the official monthly price is the only price.

Here's how to do each one.

You might be paying for music twice

This is the most common music leak, and it's easy to miss because it hides inside another subscription.

YouTube Premium includes YouTube Music. So if you pay $15.99 a month for ad-free YouTube and another $12.99 for Spotify, you're spending $28.98 a month, almost $350 a year, on two music apps. If YouTube Music would do the job, dropping Spotify saves you $155.88 a year. If you love Spotify, YouTube Premium Lite, which went up from $7.99 to $8.99 in the same April change, is the cheaper way to keep ad-free videos.

Apple One works the same way in reverse. In the US, Apple One Individual rose from $19.95 to $21.95 on August 28, 2026, according to 9to5Mac, and it includes Apple Music and Apple TV. Bought separately, those two now cost $11.99 and $14.99, or $26.98 a month. If you pay for both on their own, the bundle is about $5 a month cheaper.

Do it today: open your app store subscriptions and your bank statement, and look for any second service that already includes music.

The $7-a-month Duo trick

If two people at the same address each pay for Spotify Individual, you're paying $25.98 a month. Spotify Duo gives you two separate Premium accounts, each with its own playlists and recommendations, for $18.99.

That's $6.99 a month back, or $83.88 a year, for changing nothing about how you listen.

Family plans stretch even further. Spotify Family is $21.99 for up to six accounts, which works out at about $3.67 per person if you fill it. Apple Music Family, at $19.99, comes to about $3.33 per person across six. Family and Duo plans are designed for people who live together, so check each service's household rules before you move everyone across.

Do it today: count how many Individual music plans your household pays for. If it's more than one, the Duo or Family maths almost always wins.

Still a student? Stop paying full price

Spotify Student and Apple Music Student both cost $6.99 a month in the US, roughly half the Individual price. Over a year, that's $72 less than Spotify Individual.

According to DealNews' Spotify pricing guide, Spotify verifies students through SheerID, lets you keep the discount for up to four years and asks you to re-verify every 12 months. Plenty of people forget to switch when they start studying, and plenty more forget the discount ends when they graduate and get bumped to full price without noticing.

Do it today: if anyone in your house is enrolled, move them to a student plan. If you've just graduated, put a reminder in your calendar for your next re-verification date so the jump doesn't surprise you.

The 15 hours you're probably not using

Price rises are a good time to ask what you're actually getting. In the US, Spotify Premium Individual includes 15 hours of audiobook listening a month, according to DealNews, and on Duo and Family plans the plan manager gets those hours.

If you also pay separately for an audiobook app, that's worth a look. That's 15 hours of commutes, workouts or chores a month already covered.

The same goes for offline downloads. Saving playlists to your phone on Wi-Fi means less mobile data on the go, which can matter if you're on a capped phone plan.

Do it today: open Spotify's audiobook section and see how many of your hours you used last month. If the answer is zero, you've found free value you're already paying for.

Don't pay the sticker price

The last move is the price itself. The official monthly price isn't the only way to pay for most music services.

• Match the plan to your listening. Music is usually the one subscription you keep all year, so a longer plan often works out cheaper per month than paying monthly.
• Compare sellers. Services like FlexSub offer discounted plans for many popular music apps, in lengths from 27 days up to 12 months, so you can lock in a longer plan for the app you use every day.

Music prices will probably keep creeping up. But your bill only climbs when it's on autopilot. Take ten minutes this week: check for double-paid music, put your household on the right plan, claim any student discount, use the extras you already have, and make sure you're paying the best price for the app you love. Same songs. Smaller bill.

Ready to keep listening for less? Browse FlexSub's music plans and see how much you could save on the app you play every day.