How to Cancel Spotify Premium and Keep Your Playlists

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Quick answer

You can only cancel Spotify Premium on the web, not in the app. Log in at spotify.com/account, open "Manage your plan," then select "Cancel subscription" and confirm. The whole thing takes a couple of minutes. Have your login ready, and know who bills you: if you pay through Apple's legacy iTunes billing or through Google Play, you cancel there instead. Premium runs until your next billing date, and your playlists survive.

Spotify Premium at a glance

Spotify Premium
Current US prices Individual $12.99/mo, Student $6.99/mo, Duo $18.99/mo, Family $21.99/mo (as of August 2026)
Where you can be billed Spotify directly (most people), Apple (legacy iTunes subscriptions only), Google Play (some Android accounts), or a partner such as a phone carrier
Cancel inside the app? No. Web only, at spotify.com/account
Pause option None
Refund after a charge processes No. Premium runs to the end of the paid period
Last verified 2026-09-05

These prices took effect in February 2026, the third US increase in four years: Individual went from $11.99 to $12.99, Duo from $16.99 to $18.99, and Family from $19.99 to $21.99. All Premium plans now include lossless audio and 15 hours of audiobook listening a month (on Duo and Family, the audiobook hours belong to the plan manager). Student is $6.99 with Hulu included, and a $0 three-month intro for first-time Premium users runs through September 23, 2026.

How do I cancel Spotify Premium on the web?

This is the path for almost everyone, and any browser works, including the one on your phone.

  1. Go to spotify.com/account and log in.
  2. Open "Manage your plan."
  3. Select "Cancel subscription."

That is the entire flow Spotify documents: two clicks, with no offer chain published after them. Cancellation takes effect at your next billing date, so you keep Premium for the days you already paid for. The one exception: cancel during the $0 intro and Premium ends immediately.

On Duo and Family, the same steps do different jobs for different people. A plan member who follows them only removes themselves from the plan. Canceling the plan itself is the plan manager's move, and once that happens, every member loses Premium at the next payment date.

How do I cancel Spotify Premium on iPhone?

Mostly by not looking in the app: there is no cancel button in it, on iPhone or anywhere else. Open Safari instead, go to spotify.com/account, and follow the same three steps above. For most iPhone users that is the entire answer, because Spotify has not sold new subscriptions through Apple's in-app purchases since 2016. If you subscribed after that, Apple does not bill your Spotify.

The exception is legacy iTunes billing. If your receipts come from Apple, your subscription is partner-billed: Spotify's policy is that you cancel and request refunds with the partner, so this one ends in your Apple ID subscription settings, not on spotify.com. The tap-by-tap for Apple's subscription screen is in our iPhone subscriptions guide.

Can you cancel Spotify any other way?

The list of doors is short, and knowing the dead ends saves the most time:

  • You cannot cancel inside the Spotify mobile app. It has no cancel flow; it points you to the web.
  • You cannot cancel a partner-billed subscription on spotify.com. Apple and carrier billing end with that partner.
  • There is no pause or hold to ask for. Spotify does not offer one; the alternative it gives you is switching plans.

Google Play is its own small fork. Spotify treats Google Play Billing as a payment method in its own help article, but its cancel article does not walk that path. The safe rule: if your receipts come from Google Play, cancel in the Play Store under "Payments & subscriptions." The cancel article does cover the neighboring case, and the tell is useful: if no option to change your plan appears, the plan "is associated with a partner company (ex. your mobile or internet provider)," and the contact link for that partner sits on your account page.

Worth knowing

Spotify does not refund a payment that has already processed: cancel before your renewal date or the next month is spent, with Premium simply running out the period. The trial works in reverse: cancel during the $0 intro and access stops immediately, not at the end of the intro.

The retention offers you'll see

Spotify's exit flow is quiet by industry standards. As of August 2026 there is no widely reported discount in the US cancel flow: expect a screen listing the benefits you would lose, plus the offer to switch plans instead of leaving. Some people report win-back emails after they go. Spotify's own article describes no discount screen at all, and what a given account sees can differ, so treat a save offer as a possibility rather than a plan.

The plan switch is sometimes the right call. If the problem is the price rather than the product, Individual at $12.99 is $9.00 a month less than Family at $21.99, and Free costs nothing while keeping your library. The downgrade happens on the same "Manage your plan" screen you came in through.

What happens after you cancel Spotify Premium?

The reassuring part first: your library is safe. Spotify's support wording is that you keep your playlists and saved music on the free plan, and your followers stay with you too. Canceling Premium does not delete your account or your years of curation. Nothing needs backing up.

The rest of the mechanics:

  • Premium lasts until your next billing date, then the account converts to Spotify Free: ads, and shuffle-limited listening on mobile.
  • Downloads stop working. Offline listening is a Premium feature, so downloaded music locks on the free plan.
  • No refund arrives for the current period. Spotify's refund policy is blunt about this: canceling does not refund an already-processed payment.
  • Coming back costs full price. The $0 three-month intro is for first-time Premium users only.

One nuance on refunds: Spotify's terms include a 14-day withdrawal window after purchase, but that right is revoked as soon as you use the service during those 14 days. For US accounts, anything beyond the stated policy is a customer-support exception, and payments made through Apple or another partner are refunded by that partner, not by Spotify.

If Spotify makes it hard

It rarely does; this is one of the shorter cancel flows we cover. When people do get stuck, it is nearly always a billing mismatch: hunting for a cancel button on spotify.com while Apple or Google actually holds the subscription, or the reverse. Work out who charges your card, then use that door.

For everything past that: how to cancel any subscription covers the method and your rights on any service, the refund playbook covers a charge that landed before you canceled, and stopping automatic payments at your bank is the last resort for a company that keeps charging.

A canceled subscription has a way of pointing at others you forgot. The full subscription audit walks through checking everything you pay for, and most people who look for all their subscriptions turn up a few surprises. ReNood does the finding part: snap a screenshot of a statement and it flags recurring charges like this one, without a bank login.

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FAQ

Do I lose my playlists if I cancel Spotify?

No. Your playlists, saved music, and followers all stay on your account when it drops to the free plan; Spotify's support pages say so directly. What you lose is the Premium feature set: ad-free listening, on-demand control on mobile, and downloads, which stop working once Premium ends. Everything you built sits there unchanged if you ever come back.

Can I cancel Spotify Premium in the app?

No. The mobile app has no cancel button, which is the most common reason canceling Spotify feels harder than it is. Cancellation is web-only: log in at spotify.com/account in any browser, open "Manage your plan," and select "Cancel subscription." The exception is a subscription billed by a partner (legacy iTunes billing, Google Play, or a carrier), which is canceled with that partner instead.

Will I get a refund if I cancel Spotify?

Usually no. Spotify's refund policy is that canceling does not refund a payment that has already processed; Premium runs to the end of the paid period instead. The terms mention a 14-day window after purchase, but it is revoked once you use the service during it, and US exceptions go through customer support. Apple and partner-billed charges are refunded by the partner.

How do I cancel Spotify Premium on my iPhone?

Use a browser, not the app: open spotify.com/account in Safari, log in, open "Manage your plan," and select "Cancel subscription." That covers nearly everyone, since Spotify stopped selling subscriptions through Apple's in-app purchases in 2016. If yours is old enough that Apple bills it, with receipts arriving from Apple, cancel it in your Apple ID subscription settings instead.

Can I pause Spotify Premium instead of canceling?

No. Spotify offers no pause or hold option. The two real alternatives are switching to a cheaper plan from the same "Manage your plan" screen, or letting the account drop to Free, which keeps your playlists and saved music while you decide. Keep in mind the $0 intro will not be offered again; it is for first-time Premium users only.

This guide is educational, not financial or legal advice. Details change; check the linked sources for anything that matters to your situation.

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