If you use the web player while on the free plan, you'll have the full Spotify free experience. You'll just hear a few minutes of ads every hour so that Spotify can pay the artists. We, however, do think it's worth paying for Spotify.com/pair if you use it a lot.

The Spotify Web Player is laid out almost identically to the desktop app. You can create playlists (and access those you set up in your app), browse featured recommendations, search for specific artists and songs, and even switch over to the Radio mode. You also have access to everything in the Spotify catalog that you'd have in the app.

Select what you want to listen to, click the Play button, and you're good to go.


While the Spotify Web Player is certainly convenient, it does come with a couple of downsides.

Audio files are streamed at a lower bitrate through the Web Player than the desktop app. Free subscribers get 128kbps from the Web Player but 160kbps from the desktop app. Premium subscribers get 256kbps from the Web Player but up to 320kbps from the desktop app.

The media playback controls on your computer or headphones won't work with the web player.

If you're a Premium subscriber, you can't download tracks for offline listening or access Spotify while you're offline. You need the app for that