How to get Spotify Premium for free

Key Takeaways

Spotify does offer free music, but with constraints like shuffle mode and limited skips, it pushes users towards paid subscriptions.
New users can access free trials using PayPal, Microsoft Rewards, Tinder, or device purchases to avoid actually paying for a subscription.
Joining a Spotify Family or Duo plan allows sharing one subscription among multiple users for free music streaming.

Getting some music going on your speakers or using your favorite headphones is an excellent way to make your day better. It makes everything much more manageable, from getting through your work email to catching up on your chores. Plus, there’s nothing better than a friend asking you the name of the playlist you have on at a party — except when an ad interrupts it, of course.

Even with the ads, it’s no wonder that music streaming services such as Spotify are so popular. You don’t need to do much to have access to millions of songs right under your fingertips, putting physical media to shame, at least when it comes to accessibility. However, they always come with some annoyances, especially if you’re using the free version of the app.

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It’s true that Spotify’s free tier lets you listen to music without time limits, but there are other constraints you have to deal with without a subscription. You can only play music on shuffle, you have a limited number of song skips, and the quality of the music is not the best — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how Spotify wants to convince you to subscribe to its monthly payment.

That being said, if you’re handy enough, there are some ways to game the system a bit and start using all the Premium benefits without actually paying for the subscription. If you want to check out all the features of the service or simply need a music service for just a few months, it’s a great way to fulfill all your musical needs while saving some cash.

1 Start a new Spotify account

Being the new kid has its perks

Spotify

Spotify is well-known for its generous trial offerings, letting you test out the service for months completely free. The individual plan offers a three-month free trial period, while the other tiers let you check them out for a month without paying.

Of course, there is a catch. All these free trials are only available for new Spotify users. That means if you’ve already used them on your account, you’re not eligible for another one, nor can you use it if you’re already paying for a Premium subscription.

So, if you’re already a Spotify user but still want to use a free trial period, you’ll have to create a new Spotify account with a new email address. After setting up your payment method, you’ll be granted a free trial period.

PayPal / Spotify

If you’re after a free trial period for Spotify Premium, getting it straight from Spotify is not your only option. PayPal actually offers the same deal for its users, letting them get their first three months of Spotify Premium Individual completely free.

Once again, the catch is that you need to be a new Spotify user to be eligible for the free trial. If that applies to you, all you need to do is use PayPal as your payment method when setting up your Premium subscription, and the first three months will be completely free.

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3 Use Microsoft Rewards to redeem 3 months

Bing — there goes your free Spotify

Microsoft / Spotify

A free Spotify Premium trial is quite a popular offer, and Microsoft has joined the bandwagon as well. The three months of free Spotify Premium are part of the Microsoft Rewards program, which allows you to redeem points for various awards.

The free Premium trial is one of the easiest rewards to get in the program. All you need to do is sign up for the Microsoft Rewards program and perform three Bing searches over a 14-day period. After that, you’ll be eligible for the free Spotify Premium trial, and you can continue accumulating points to redeem other awards as well.

Of course, keep in mind that this offer is only available to new Spotify users who have never subscribed to Premium before, so you might need to create a new Spotify account for it to work.

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4 Use Tinder to get 4 free months

Swipe to the rhythm

Tinder / Spotify

If you’re feeling lonely — or a bit bored — opening your Tinder app and swiping through some profiles, maybe striking up a conversation or two, is quite a natural thing to do. However, if you want to build up the mood, getting your romantic playlist ready is an excellent idea.

Fortunately, Tinder also thought of that, and the platform is offering a free Spotify Premium trial for its users. It’s a bit longer trial period than the one offered by Spotify itself, giving you four months of a free Premium account. This means you have plenty of time to swipe through all potential matches.

That being said, it’s once again an offer only for new Spotify users, so if you’re already using Spotify Premium — or used to in the past — you’ll need to create a new account to be eligible for this trial period.

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5 Join a Family or Duo plan to listen for free

Let others take care of you

Spotify

Let’s be honest, sometimes the free trial offers are a bit too limiting — they might be a tad too short for you, or creating a new account to use them is simply not something you want to do. Fortunately, you can still listen to Spotify for free, provided you find someone to share their Premium subscription with you.

Thanks to higher subscription tiers, such as Spotify Duo or Spotify Family, you can create two (with Duo) or up to six (with Family) accounts using only one subscription. So, if your family has a lot of music listeners, or you have a friend using a Duo subscription without anyone to pair it with, you could just join up and start listening for free.

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6 Get Spotify for free with your device purchase

Buy a new phone and get a library full of tunes

A Garmin watch with Spotify on it on a wrist.

There is one more way to get a free Spotify subscription. When you’re buying a new piece of tech, such as a tablet or a phone, manufacturers often offer various bundles with their devices. Spotify is quite often one of these included features.

So, when ordering a new smartphone or other electronics, check the fine print for any additional services included in the deal. You might find an offer for either a free trial period for Spotify or a free subscription period. The first one is eligible only for new Spotify users, while the latter is usually a code that you can redeem even if you’re already subscribed to Spotify Premium.

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FAQ

Q: What are good Spotify alternatives?

Even though Spotify is undoubtedly the most widely-known music streaming service, it’s not the only one. There are many options available if you don’t want to use this particular app for whatever reason.

If you’re an Apple user, Apple Music will probably be the most convenient one, as it integrates very well into the Apple ecosystem. It also has a really wide library of songs, so you won’t be missing out on any popular releases.

If you’re after audio quality, Tidal is a great choice for you. It offers excellent, lossless audio files for no extra charge, which makes you really feel like an audiophile, especially if you pair the service with a nice set of headphones.

Of course, these are not the only choices you have. There is Amazon Music, which will be a convenient place for Amazon Prime lovers, or even YouTube Music and SoundCloud. Just pick your poison and start listening!

Q: Is Spotify free?

Spotify is the biggest music streaming service for many reasons, but one of the most important ones is its free tier. You can actually use the platform without paying anything, and still have access to the whole music library available.

Of course, this free tier comes with a range of limitations that are there to persuade you to buy a monthly subscription. That being said, if you don’t mind having to listen to an advertisement now and again, and having your songs shuffled randomly — among other quirks of the free tier — you can easily use Spotify completely for free.

Q: What perks does a Spotify Premium subscription offer?

So, speaking of the premium subscription, what exactly changes once you start paying for Spotify? There are a range of benefits for subscribers ranging from user experience improvements to additional features. Here’s a breakdown of what you’re getting for your money:

Listen to music without ads
Play songs in any order you want
Download your music for offline listening
Listen to higher quality music files
Access Spotify’s audiobook library

Q: What Spotify subscription plans are there?

Spotify does not only offer a single subscription tier. The platform has a few different options for you to choose from, which differ mainly in the number of users that can use a single account. That way, you can easily provide a music subscription for the whole family, or share one monthly payment among friends. Here are the subscription tiers:

Individual: For $10.99/month you get a standard Spotify subscription for one user that includes all the aforementioned perks
Student: It’s the same subscription as Spotify Individual, but students of approved universities around the world can use the service with a discount, paying only $5.99/month
Duo: The Duo subscription allows you to use two Spotify premium accounts and costs only $14.99/month
Family: The Family plan enables creating up to 6 Premium or Kids accounts using one subscription. Speaking of, it also gives you access to Spotify Kids, letting you choose what kinds of content Kids accounts using your subscription can listen to. The plan costs $16.99

Q: Will Spotify Hi-Fi also be available for free?

After a long wait, it seems that Spotify’s Hi-Fi tier is finally coming soon. The platform will not only allow its users to listen to higher-quality recordings, but it seems it also plans to introduce a range of specialized features (such as DJ remix) into the same tier. With all these changes coming, Spotify is seemingly planning to introduce a new subscription plan just for the Hi-Fi-minded listeners, with all the bonus possibilities landing in that new price bracket. According to some leaks, you’ll have to pay quite a steep $19.99 for the ability to listen to lossless audio.