Apple Music Price and Plans: Is There a Free Option? (November 2022)

Apple Music has no free plan: as of November 2022, it costs US$11 a month for an Individual subscription, though there are limited-time "free" options and a free trial. It is only natural for iPhone or Mac owners to be curious about Apple Music. Compared with music streaming services such as Spotify or Pandora, Apple Music can seem a bit mysterious. There are some limited-time "free" options and a free trial for using Apple Music, but if you stay with the service long enough, you will eventually pay. Everyone who signs up will have to pay a monthly fee to use the service. Considering that Apple Music offers live radio shows and interesting perks, this fee may be worth it for the right buyers. Let's take a closer look at how much Apple Music costs.

How much does Apple Music cost? How do you get it for free?

How Much Does Apple Music Cost?

Before getting into the different pricing tiers Apple Music offers, note that every subscription plan gives access to the same ad-free content catalog, offline listening, Apple Music 1 live and on-demand radio shows, and exclusive releases. Sign up and you can stream more than 100 million songs ad-free, and also access exclusive playlists and live radio that you can listen to on all your devices. The key difference is the Family membership, which lets you create up to six individual accounts on a subscription billed at a fixed fee per month, no matter how many people you add.

Apple Music Individual — $11

To reiterate, Apple Music has no free plan, so if you are looking for the most basic way to get your foot in the door, or you do not qualify for the discounts below, what you will need is the US$11 a month Individual subscription.

Apple, wanting to lock people in, also offers customers the option to pay a year of service up front for US$109 (a US$23 discount), which is not bad at all. However, you should always compare with alternative subscriptions. Note that users do not always see the discounted annual plan option until they sign up for Apple Music with a monthly plan and return to their subscription.

Apple Music Student Subscription — $6

Just like Spotify , Apple Music offers half off the Apple Music membership to all students (with a valid student email address from a supported educational institution). This brings the monthly subscription fee down to a modest US$6 ( recently raised from US$5 as of June 2022 ). As of November 2022, the offer is only valid for college students.

Apple Music Family Subscription — $17

Want to sign up up to six people in your household for an Apple Music plan? Subscribe to the Apple Music Family plan for US$17 a month. This means total savings of $5 a month for two members, $15 for three, $25 for four, $35 for five and $45 for six family members.

Apple Music Voice — $5

The Voice plan offers an interesting alternative to the other Apple Music subscriptions: for an affordable US$5 a month, you use voice only. You can activate and control it only with Siri, so it is only available on Siri-enabled devices (primarily only Apple devices). Voice can access all the audio songs on Apple Music, but you cannot watch any music videos or search for lyrics on the service. It also will not support Apple's higher-tier audio formats such as spatial audio (which makes the latest AirPods less effective) or lossless audio.

This makes the plan suitable for more casual users who listen to a lot of music through HomePods, AirPods or CarPlay. It also includes access to all Apple Music playlists and offers customization based on user preferences over time.