Spotify may be hiking prices for US users in 2026

Spotify has made many changes to its platform lately. For example, it recently launched AI recaps for its Audiobooks, integrated in-app music videos in the US, and revamped its smart shuffle feature. Perhaps most importantly, it finally released its long-awaited Lossless audio offering in September this year. This allows Premium subscribers to stream music in high-quality 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC. The Lossless rollout was expected to coincide with a Premium price hike, but Spotify launched the feature at the same price point. Unfortunately, that looks set to send soon, as rumors suggest an imminent price hike for US Spotify Premium subscribers.

A recent report by The Financial Times (via our sister site Android Authority) states that Spotify is preparing to raise subscription prices in the US in the first quarter of 2026. This follows similar moves in other territories in recent months. However, if this comes to fruition, it will be the first price rise in the US since July 2024. The report notes that Spotify declined to comment on the rumored price increase.

Other international markets, such as India, have already seen price increases this month. While indirect, this was achieved by creating additional Premium tiers and reallocating benefits among them. For example, Spotify now offers four Premium tiers in India: Platinum, Standard, Lite, and Student. Spotify Premium Lite is the basic tier with “high” audio quality (up to 160kbps). Standard offers “very high” audio quality (up to 320kbps), while Platinum provides lossless audio and additional features. These include AI DJ and account sharing with up to two others.

However, before this change, Spotify offered Individual, Duo, Family, and Student plans in India. The Individual plan (which increased in price in August 2025) included “very high” audio quality but cost the same as the current Spotify Premium Lite plan. Now, listeners wanting similar benefits must subscribe to the more expensive Premium Standard plan. Similarly, those seeking family sharing options or lossless audio quality must subscribe to the Premium Platinum plan.

There has been no confirmation of the US price increase at the time of writing, so it remains to be seen if Spotify will readjust its Premium tiers. However, Spotify’s Individual Premium plan currently costs $11.99/month in the US. This is already more expensive than rivals such as Apple Music and YouTube Music Premium (these cost just $10.99/month). Worse still for Spotify is that, if you factor in Apple One and YouTube Premium bundles, the price actually decreases further. It’s unclear how Spotify will navigate these challenges if it does indeed increase its US prices.