Pandora Plus vs Premium: Which One Should You Actually Choose?

Part 1. What Is Pandora Plus vs Pandora Premium?

Whether you're a casual listener or an audiophile, choosing between Pandora's subscription tiers can be confusing. While both plans remove ads and unlock more features than the free version, they differ significantly in price, music control, offline playback, and audio quality. Understanding these differences will help you choose the plan that fits your music habits best.

Now let's break down the comparison between Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium across the most essential features:

🎵 1. Music Playback Control

When comparing Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium, the first major difference lies in music playback control. Pandora Plus still operates largely as an advanced internet radio service. While it removes ads and offers more replay flexibility than the free version, users still cannot search for and play specific songs on demand. Instead, you're limited to creating and listening to radio-style stations based on artists, songs, or genres. In contrast, Pandora Premium delivers full on-demand music access - users can search for any song, album, or playlist and play it instantly. This gives Premium subscribers the kind of control typically associated with platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, making it far more versatile for curated or intentional listening.

• Pandora Plus: Still functions like a radio service. You cannot search and play specific songs on demand. You can replay recent tracks and create stations, but selection is limited.
• Pandora Premium: Offers full on-demand music access. You can search, play, and save any song, album, or playlist - just like Spotify or Apple Music.

🔁 2. Skips and Replays

Another important distinction is in the area of skips and replays. Both Plus and Premium plans allow unlimited skips, but the context matters. With Pandora Plus, you can skip or replay as much as you'd like - but only within radio stations. You can't use those skip privileges outside of those algorithmically generated playlists only if you watch an ad to unlock it. Meanwhile, Pandora Premium gives users total flexibility: unlimited skips and replays are available whether you're listening to stations, personal playlists, or hand-picked albums. This can significantly enhance your listening experience, especially if you're someone who likes to jump between favorite tracks frequently.

• Pandora Plus: Unlimited skips and replays, but only for stations - not for manually selected songs (Except watch an ad).
• Pandora Premium: Unlimited skips and replays across the entire catalog, including your custom playlists and albums.

📥 3. Offline Listening

Offline listening also varies significantly between the two tiers. Pandora Plus provides a form of offline listening by allowing users to cache up to three of their most-listened-to stations automatically. However, users cannot manually select which songs or albums to download, and there is no way to create custom offline playlists. Pandora Premium, on the other hand, offers true offline access. Subscribers can download specific songs, full albums, or entire playlists to their mobile devices for offline playback - perfect for flights, commutes, or data-saving scenarios. This feature alone often justifies the higher cost for those who travel frequently or have limited internet access.

• Pandora Plus: Can download up to 3 stations for offline listening, but no manual downloads of songs or albums.
• Pandora Premium: Lets you download any content - songs, albums, or playlists - for offline playback without restrictions.

💽 4. Audio Quality

In terms of audio quality, both Pandora Plus and Premium offer streaming at up to 192 kbps in MP3 format. While this is considered "standard" quality and should satisfy most casual listeners, it's worth noting that neither plan currently supports high-fidelity or lossless audio like some competitors (e.g., Tidal HiFi or Amazon Music HD). However, Premium users may benefit from slightly better streaming consistency and access to higher quality settings on supported devices, depending on the platform used and internet connection.

• Pandora Plus: Offer standard audio quality (up to 192 kbps MP3).
• Pandora Premium: Offer multiple tiers on mobile and desktop apps: Low (32 kbps AAC+), Standard (64 kbps AAC+), and High (192 kbps MP3).

💰 5. Pricing

Finally, let's talk about pricing. Pandora Plus is the more affordable option at $4.99 per month or about $54.89 annually. It's ideal for budget-conscious users who primarily want an ad-free station experience. Pandora Premium, on the other hand, is now priced at $10.99 per month (or $120.89 per year) and includes all the advanced features such as on-demand streaming, full downloads, and playlist creation. There's also a Premium Family Plan available at $17.99/month, which supports up to six individual accounts, making it more cost-effective for households. While the price difference between the two tiers is notable, the enhanced functionality offered by Premium may be well worth the upgrade for more demanding listeners.

• Pandora Plus: $4.99 per month or $54.89 per year.
• Pandora Premium: $10.99 per month or $120.89/year for an individual plan.
• Pandora Premium Student: $5.99 per month, offering all Premium features at a significant discount with annual verification.
• Pandora Premium Military: $8.99 per month, providing a discount for service members, veterans, and their families.
• Pandora Premium Family: $17.99 per month, which allows up to six separate accounts, each with its own personalized library and playlists.

Full Comparison Table: Pandora Premium vs Pandora Plus

Here is a full comparison table of the order plans outlined above, also including free plan:

Part 2. How to Keep Pandora Music Forever Cheaper

While Pandora Premium does allow you to download music for offline listening, the truth is you don't own those files. Once you cancel your subscription or your subscription expires, everything disappears - you lose access to your downloaded content.

That's where AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder for Pandora comes in - a smart, budget-friendly and powerful tool that allows you to download Pandora music as MP3 files permanently on your device.

Why choose AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder?

• Download Pandora music with 100% original quality
• Easily organize downloaded songs with ID3 tags: artist, album, title.
• Convert Pandora to MP3, AIFF, WAV, FLAC, M4A, etc.
• Batch convert Pandora's entire albums or playlists up to 65X speed
• Keep Pandora songs forever, even without a subscription

Download

Download

Steps to Download Pandora Music to Common Format

Step 1Launch AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder

Fire up AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder, and you'll be greeted by the main dashboard featuring icons for 9 popular streaming platforms - including Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, and others.

Step 2Set the Output Format for Pandora Music

Click the menu icon in the top-right corner and navigate to 'Preferences' > 'Conversion'. Here, you can select your desired audio format (MP3 is highly recommended) and adjust additional settings such as bitrate and sample rate. Don't forget to specify a destination folder under 'Output' and enable the option to preserve ID3 tags for better file organization.

Step 3Add Pandora Tracks to the Conversion List

Return to the home interface and click the Pandora icon. Sign in with your account credentials, browse for the songs, albums, or playlists you want to save, and hit the green '+' button at the bottom-right to load them into the conversion queue.

Step 4Start Converting Pandora Music

Press the 'Convert' button located at the button-right of the interface to begin the process. Once the conversion is complete, your downloaded tracks will be available in the Converted section. You can now enjoy your personalized Pandora music collection offline on any device you prefer.

View also: How to Download Songs from Pandora

Part 3. FAQs about Pandora Plus and Premium

Q1: Can I use AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder with a free Pandora account?

A: No. Due to copyright restrictions, free users will not be able to add songs to the conversion list for download.

Q2: Can I keep Pandora Premium music after canceling?

A: No. Downloaded songs are encrypted and tied to your subscription. Once your plan ends, so does your access. In that case, we recommend AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder to do you a favor.

Q3: What is the difference between Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium?

A: Pandora Plus offers an ad-free radio experience with unlimited skips and replays on personalized stations, but it doesn't support on-demand playback or custom playlists. In contrast, Pandora Premium includes all the features of Plus and adds full on-demand access, allowing users to search for and play any song, download specific tracks, and create custom playlists. For more details, please go back to Part 1 for reference.

Q4: Can I download music with Pandora Plus?

A: Not exactly. Pandora Plus allows you to listen offline by automatically saving up to three of your most-played stations. However, you can't choose individual songs or albums to download, and you can't create offline playlists. True offline downloads of specific tracks are only available with Pandora Premium.

Q5: How do I record Pandora music to keep forever?

A: To save Pandora music permanently, you can use a third-party tool like AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder. This software lets you capture music as it plays and convert it into popular audio formats like MP3 or FLAC. Once recorded, your files are stored locally on your computer, allowing you to enjoy them anytime - even after your Pandora subscription expires.

In Summary

Pandora Plus is ideal for casual users who enjoy station-style listening and want to skip ads for a low price. Pandora Premium offers full control, offline access, and on-demand playback - but at a higher cost.

However, if your goal is to save Pandora music permanently and enjoy it without monthly fees or restrictions, then AudFree Streaming Audio Recorder is the smartest choice. You'll get full ownership of your music collection, enjoy it offline, and bypass all subscription limits - legally and efficiently.