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How much is Apple Music: Plans, pricing, and how to get it for free

From Individual to Family Plans: Apple Music costs explained.
Apple Music subscription purchase screen on an iPhone
Key takeaways
  • There are three different Apple Music subscription plans: Individual, Student, and Family.
  • All the plans have the same offerings but differ in pricing.
  • You can also get Apple Music free for up to 6 months with many free deals available.

Competing with platforms like Spotify and YouTube Music, Apple Music currently has a vast music library with over 100 million songs, 30,000 curated playlists, and exclusive content, making it one of the best music streaming services in the market.

Apple Music subscription purchase screen on an iPhone

However, as the saying goes, the best things in life aren’t free. The same holds for Apple Music, which requires you to subscribe upfront. But with multiple plans available, how do you choose the right one?

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Keep reading to learn how much an Apple Music subscription costs and how it stacks up against its competitors. We’ll also tell you a few ways to get Apple Music for free.

How much is Apple Music per month?

Apple Music plans have three options: Individual, Student, and Family. While prices differ for each plan, Apple offers one month of free Apple Music services to all new subscribers, so you can try the platform before paying.

Individual plan

Apple Music’s Individual plan starts at $10.99/month, which you must pay after your free 1-month trial period ends. While you don’t get any discount on the monthly subscription, you can save $23 if you spend $109 for the yearly plan upfront. The yearly plan option will appear once your monthly plan starts.

Student plan

Just like the student discount on Apple hardware, Apple also offers a massive discount on Apple Music to students with a valid email address issued by your institute (typically ending with a .edu or similar domain). The Student Apple Music plan costs almost half the Individual plan, i.e., $5.99/month.

Family plan

The Family plan for Apple Music is the most affordable of the three options. It allows you to add up to six family members to your subscription for just $16.99/month. This way, all six members can save up to $49/month.

Apple One

Apple One services
Source Apple

Other than these regular Apple Music plans, you can also sign up for an Apple One subscription if you use other Apple services as well. With Apple One, you can bundle up to six Apple services subscriptions, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud+, Apple Arcade, News+, and Apple Fitness+, under a single plan.

Apple One is available in three tiers:

  • Individual: $19.95/month and includes Apple Music, Arcade, TV+, and 50GB of iCloud storage.
  • Family: $25.95/month and includes Apple Music, Arcade, TV+, and 200GB of iCloud storage for up to 6 members.
  • Premier: $37.95/month and includes Apple Music, Arcade, TV+, Apple Fitness+, News+, and a whopping 2TB of iCloud storage. It may not be available in all regions.

What does Apple Music offer?

Unlike the price difference in different Apple Music plans, you get to enjoy the same offerings and services, such as ad-free content, exclusive releases, offline listening, and more, whether you’re on an Individual, Student, or Family plan.

Here’s everything you get with an Apple Music subscription:

  • A massive ad-free library with 100 million songs and 30,000+ playlists personally curated by experts around the globe
  • Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
  • Full catalog in lossless audio
  • Apple Music Sing to enjoy karaoke on your device
  • Original shows, concerts, and exclusives, along with live and on‑demand radio stations hosted by artists
  • Access to Apple Music Classical app
  • Ability to download 100,000 songs and access them on any device for offline listening by heading to your library

Apple Music free deals

Besides the paid plans, you get to enjoy one month for free when you sign up for the first time, buy a new Apple or a selected Beats product, or purchase a new PlayStation 5 (limited-time offer).

Here’s a list of the best free Apple Music deals available currently:

  • If you’re a first-time Apple Music subscriber, you get one month free and will be billed once the trial period ends.
  • You get three months of free Apple Music when you buy a new Apple product or selected Beats products directly from Apple or an authorized Apple reseller.
  • All PlayStation 5 owners in India can get six months of free Apple Music. The offer is valid only for new and qualified returning Apple Music subscribers and must be redeemed by 15/11/24.
  • Verizon customers with eligible Verizon Unlimited Plans can get six months of free Apple Music.
  • All the Best Buy customers with a Best Buy account can enjoy three months of free Apple Music.

These are all the free Apple Music deals currently available out there. We will keep updating this section with new deals when they’re available.

Apple Music vs. Spotify vs. YouTube Music vs. Amazon Prime

While Apple Music offers the best features and services to music lovers, rival platforms such as Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Prime Music aren’t lagging either. Thus, it is easy to get confused about which service to go for to get the best value for your money.

Here’s a detailed comparison of Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Prime Music in terms of features and pricing:

Apple MusicSpotifyYouTube MusicAmazon Prime
Plans & Pricing
(Monthly)
Student: $5.99
Individual: $10.99
Family: $16.99
Student: $5.99 
Individual: $11.99 
Duo: $16.99 
Family: $19.99 
Free tier 
Student: $5.49 
Individual: $10.99 
Family: $16.99
Free tier 
Prime customers $9.99 or $99/year 
Non-Prime: $10.99 
Family plan: $14.9/months or $149/year
Supported Formats AIFF, MP3, WAV, HE-AAC, Apple LosslessMP3, M4A, and WAVFLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, and WMALossless HD and UHD
Streaming limitsStudent/
Individual: 1 device
Family: up to 6 devices
Student/ Individual: 1 device
Duo: 2 devices
Family: up to 6 devices
Free/Student/
Individual: 1 device
Family: up to 5 devices
Individual: 1 device
Family: up to 6 devices
Max streaming quality256 kbps, 24-bit/192 kHz; lossless options available320 kbps256 kbps3,730 kbps, 24-bit/192 kHz
Lossless audio supportYes; Lossless (up to 24-bit/48 kHz) and High-Res Lossless (up to 24-bit/192 kHz)NoNoYes; HD (CD-quality, 16-bit/44.1 kHz) and Ultra HD (up to 24-bit/192 kHz)
Offline Listening supportYesYesYesYes
Ads-free contentYesYesYesYes
Android supportYesYesYesYes
Free Trial1 month
3 months with a new Apple device
2 months1 monthPrime: 1 month
Unlimited: 3 months

With this knowledge at hand, you’re now well-equipped to make a sound choice.

Summing up…

This was everything you need to know about Apple Music pricing and free deals. Whether you want to go with the Individual, Student, or Family plan, the choice is yours. If you’re already subscribed to some other music streaming platform, I suggest you go for the free Apple Music trial to compare the two platforms before making the jump.

Do you have any doubts or queries you want us to answer? Drop them in the comments.

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