Which Apple Music Plan Gives You The Most For Your Money?

If you're still buying your music through digital downloads and CDs, perhaps it's time to consider music streaming instead. Pay a monthly fee to, say, Apple Music, and you'll get access to more than 100 million songs. You can stream favorite tracks and discover new ones wherever you have an internet connection, or download music ahead of time to listen offline. Apple Music offers four paid plans, with the Family and Student plans generally considered the best value for your money. 

Family plans costs $19.99 per month and allow for sharing with up to five other family members. That works out to $3.33 per month, each, for six people. The Family plan lets each member create their own library, recommendations, and playlists. At $6.99 per month, the Student plan is available to eligible students in higher education, for up to four years, and comes bundled with Apple TV. As long as you're enrolled in a qualifying program and can verify your student status, you're good to go. 

The Individual plan, on the other hand, costs $11.99 a month, while Apple One bundles Apple Music with other services like Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ into a single monthly subscription. The Apple One Family tier costs $27.95 per month and Individual plans come in at $21.95 monthly. The standard Family and Student plans offer the best value, depending on your circumstances, with the Family plan making the most sense for larger groups and the Student plan as the best choice for qualifying individuals.

Apple Music doesn't have a free tier, but there are a number of ways to try it out free for a limited time. One month-long trials are offered across a range of devices, from iPhones and Android handsets to Mac and Windows PCs, tablets, and supported smart TVs. You can cancel before the trial ends to avoid being charged. The month-long free trial is available for Apple Music's Individual, Family, Student, and One plans. 

If you haven't previously subscribed to Apple Music and you've just bought a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, or other eligible device, you can try Apple's music streaming service for three months at no cost. But you have to redeem the offer within 90 days of buying the device. Beyond the free trial and device offers, you might be able to try out Apple Music, at no cost, via third-party promotions like 30 days from Best Buy and six months from Verizon. Of course, you don't have to go with Apple Music, and there are some disadvantages with Apple's streaming service certainly worth knowing about. Alternatives are available, including Tidal, Amazon Music, and Spotify.

Spotify, like Apple Music, boasts access to more than 100 million tracks. A notable difference between the two music streaming services, however, is that Spotify offers a free, ad-supported tier. This means that if you stop paying for a Spotify paid plan, you can still access saved music and playlists. With Apple Music, if you cancel your subscription, you'll lose access as there's no free tier, and it's not clear if your settings will return should you resubscribe at a later date. 

Beyond Spotify's free tier, which comes with limitations such as no offline music downloads, its Family and Student monthly plans offer good value for the money at $21.99 and $6.99, respectively. Like Apple's Family plan, the Spotify Family plan covers up to six people, and each person can access their own account, library, recommendations, and playlists. Both services offer ad-free, offline listening, on-demand playback, and lossless audio, while Apple Music adds Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos as part of its Family plan. 

Spotify, meanwhile, includes 15 hours of audiobook listening per month time for the manager of the Family plan. As for Student plans, Apple Music's option includes Apple TV, while Spotify's Student plan comes with Hulu. Spotify also offers a Duo subscription for $18.99 a month that allows two people at the same address to operate individual accounts under one subscription. Like Apple Music, Spotify offers free trial periods, including three months for the Individual plan, and one month with the Student plan. There are some uncomfortable truths about using Spotify, but ultimately both Apple Music and Spotify offer decent value, which helps explain why both services rank so highly against the other major music streaming services.