Report: Spotify Users To Face Higher U.S. Subscription Costs Next Year.

Spotify is currently working to goose its fourth-quarter subscriber numbers with an unprecedented four-month free trial offer. But Americans who take the streamer up on the deal will reportedly have higher subscription rates awaiting them in the new year. The Financial Times reports Spotify plans to again raise its U.S. subscription rate in early 2026. 

The move follows a price hike that was rolled out in August that hiked prices across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The last time Spotify increased its prices in the U.S. was in June 2024, when prices rose by $1 to $3 depending on the plan. The current rate in the U.S. for individual subscribers is $11.99 per month. The duo plan costs $16.99. And the price of the family plan runs $19.99. The student price is $5.99. 

Alex Norström, co-President and Chief Business Officer, dismissed any threat to user numbers as it raises it rates, pointing to what has occurred since this summer’s increases around the world.

“We saw continued growth across all the regions,” he said on the company’s recent earnings call. “Notably, we continue to take market share even in our most competitive markets. We also saw steady retention rates following the rollout of our recent price increases across more than 150 markets. These results show the power of the product and the loyalty of our subscribers.”

Spotify expects to have 745 million monthly average users in the fourth quarter, including 289 million subscribers. That is an addition of 8 million subscribers, which is slightly below the Q4 additions a year ago due to what CFO Christian Luiga said is the expected “small amount” of churn they see when prices go up.

The Financial Times says three people familiar with the matter confirmed the price hikes are in the works for the first quarter. How much of a jump is not yet known. 

Wall Street analysts have been pushing the company to squeeze more money out of its users pointing out other subscription services like Netflix and Amazon have successfully increased prices. The fact that Spotify hasn’t increased its U.S. rates in more than a year has even been a drag on the company’s stock, according to some analysts.