The short version: Go is the cheap plan that most people should skip, and Go+ is the one that does what you actually want a paid music app to do. Go costs $4.99 a month and gives you ad-free, offline listening on your phone, but it does not open up SoundCloud’s full library. Go+ costs $10.99 a month and opens up the complete catalog, better audio, offline on desktop, and the ability to stream tracks straight into DJ software. That gap in the catalog is the whole story, and it is why so many listeners feel Go is poor value.
Below is a straight comparison of every tier, an explanation of the one difference that matters most, and a blunt verdict on who should pick which. Prices here are US figures for subscribing on the web, and they can change and vary by country and by where you subscribe. There is also an April 2026 price change to know about, covered further down.
The side-by-side comparison
Here is how the three tiers stack up. SoundCloud Free is the default account you get without paying, and it is worth including so you can see what each paid step actually buys you.
| Feature | Free | Go ($4.99/mo) | Go+ ($10.99/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (web) | $0 | $4.99/month | $10.99/month |
| Ad-free listening | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offline on mobile | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offline on desktop | No | No | Yes |
| Full catalog (135M+ tracks) | No | No | Yes |
| Audio quality | Standard | Standard | Up to 256 kbps AAC |
| DJ app integrations | No | No | Yes (Serato, rekordbox, Traktor) |
| Free trial | None | 7 days | 30 days |
Read across the Go column and you can see the problem. You are paying five dollars a month, you lose the ads, you can save tracks to your phone, and that is roughly it. The library is still limited and the higher audio quality and DJ features stay locked. Go+ is the plan where the checkmarks fill in.
For a full breakdown of what each plan charges and how billing works, see our SoundCloud Go price guide. For everything the platform offers under the paid tiers as a whole, the SoundCloud Go overview is the pillar to start from.
The one difference that actually matters: the catalog
Everything else is secondary to this. The difference between SoundCloud Go and Go+ that decides whether the money is well spent is catalog access.
SoundCloud Go gives you a limited library. Plenty of major-label and licensed tracks that you would expect to be there simply are not available to play in full on Go. You get ad-free listening and mobile downloads, but only across the slice of the catalog Go includes. That is a strange trade. You are paying for a music subscription that still cannot play a chunk of the music.
SoundCloud Go+ removes that wall. SoundCloud describes Go+ as access to “over 135 million tracks in full,” which is the complete library the platform licenses. That is the version of SoundCloud people picture when they think about paying for it: everything plays, in full, no ads, on any device.
Two more things ride along with Go+ and none of them come with Go:
- Higher audio quality, up to 256 kbps AAC, instead of the standard streaming quality on Free and Go.
- Offline listening on desktop, not just mobile. Go only lets you download for offline on your phone. If you listen at a desk or on a laptop away from wifi, Go cannot help you and Go+ can.
One note on “offline,” because it trips people up. Downloading a track for offline inside SoundCloud is not the same as owning an MP3. Those offline files are encrypted, they only play inside the SoundCloud app, and they vanish the moment your subscription ends. If you want real MP3 files you keep, that is a separate workflow entirely.
DJs: Go+ is the only option
If you DJ, this section is the whole decision. To stream SoundCloud tracks inside Serato DJ Pro (version 2.1 and up) or Serato DJ Lite (1.1 and up), you need SoundCloud Go+. Go does not work for this. Free does not work either. It is Go+ or nothing.
The same holds for rekordbox and Native Instruments Traktor, which both have Go+ streaming integrations. Once connected, Serato analyzes streamed tracks for BPM, key, and waveform, and streaming quality runs up to 256 kbps AAC, matching the Go+ listening quality.
There are real limits worth knowing before you rely on it. You need a constant internet connection, because there is no offline streaming of SoundCloud inside Serato. You cannot record DJ sets that include SoundCloud-streamed tracks. Your SoundCloud Likes are not accessible from inside Serato, and you cannot drop streamed tracks into crates. Any playlist editing has to happen in the SoundCloud app itself. We cover the full setup, the version requirements, and every one of these limitations in the SoundCloud Go and Serato guide.
So for any DJ weighing SoundCloud Go plus against regular Go, there is no weighing to do. Go cannot stream into your software at all.
What listeners actually say
Browse the SoundCloud community on Reddit at r/soundcloud or the DJ crowd at r/DJs, and the pattern is consistent. Few people recommend regular Go. The recurring complaint is that Go’s limited catalog makes it feel like a half-subscription, and that if you are going to pay at all, Go+ is the tier that removes the frustration. DJs in particular treat Go+ as the baseline, since it is the only plan that connects to Serato and rekordbox. The common summary is blunt: pay for Go+ or stay on Free, and skip the middle.
That maps cleanly onto the feature list. Go sits in an awkward spot where it costs money but keeps most of the annoyances.
The verdict: who should pick what
Pick Go+ if you are most people. If you want SoundCloud to behave like a real music service, where every track plays, the audio sounds better, and you can listen offline on your laptop, Go+ is the plan. It is the only choice for DJs. It is the better choice for desktop listeners. And it is the plan that matches what you probably imagined a SoundCloud subscription would do. At $10.99 a month it is roughly twice the price of Go, and for that extra money you get the full catalog, better quality, desktop offline, and DJ streaming. That is a lot more than double the value.
Consider Go only in one narrow case. You listen on your phone and nowhere else, you mainly play tracks that already sit inside Go’s limited catalog, you want the ads gone, and you want to spend as little as possible. If that is genuinely you, Go at $4.99 does the job. For most other people, the missing catalog and the phone-only offline turn Go into a plan you outgrow within a week.
Or pay nothing at all. If you are price-sensitive and Go’s compromises bother you, the free tier plus the occasional free trial may serve you better than a mediocre paid plan. Our SoundCloud Go free guide walks through the legitimate no-cost options, including how the trials work.
A cheaper route to the good plan: students. Go+ for students runs about $5.49 a month, roughly half the standard Go+ price, verified through SheerID. That means an eligible student can get the full Go+ experience, catalog and all, for close to what regular Go costs. If you qualify, this is the best-value option on the whole menu. See the SoundCloud Go student discount guide for eligibility and the sign-up steps.
Price notes: the April 2026 change and the app surcharge
Two things affect what you actually pay.
First, SoundCloud announced a Go+ price increase taking effect in April 2026, applied to existing subscribers on their next billing date. The company did not publish exact new figures, and reporting estimated a rough increase of about a dollar or two. Treat the $10.99 monthly price here as the recent standard, and confirm the current number at soundcloud.com/go before you subscribe. Go+ is also available annually, and annual billing works out cheaper per month than paying monthly.
Second, where you sign up changes the price. Subscribing through the Apple App Store costs about 30 percent more than subscribing on the web, and Google Play can also run higher. Subscribe on the web at soundcloud.com/go to pay the lowest price. This also matters for canceling later, since App Store subscriptions have to be canceled through Apple, not SoundCloud.
How Go+ compares to Spotify
If you are weighing SoundCloud at all, you are probably also eyeing Spotify. The two serve different listeners. SoundCloud’s edge is the deep well of independent uploads, remixes, DJ mixes, and early tracks you will not find on the mainstream services, plus the Go+ DJ streaming integrations that Spotify does not offer. Spotify’s edge is polish, playlists, and a catalog built around commercial releases. We break down the trade-offs, feature by feature, in SoundCloud vs Spotify.
FAQ
What is the difference between SoundCloud Go and Go+?
Go ($4.99/month) is ad-free with mobile offline but a limited catalog and standard audio. Go+ ($10.99/month) adds the full 135M+ track catalog, higher audio quality up to 256 kbps AAC, offline on desktop as well as mobile, and DJ app streaming. The catalog is the biggest difference: Go cannot play the full library, Go+ can.
Is SoundCloud Go+ worth it?
For most people, yes. It is the tier that behaves like a complete music service, and it is the only option if you DJ or listen offline on a computer. Go, by contrast, is widely seen as poor value because it costs money but still leaves the catalog limited.
Can I use SoundCloud Go with Serato or other DJ software?
No. Streaming SoundCloud into Serato, rekordbox, or Traktor requires Go+. Go and Free do not connect at all. See the SoundCloud Go and Serato guide for the setup and limitations.
Does SoundCloud Go let me download tracks offline?
Yes, on mobile only. Go+ adds desktop offline. In both cases the downloads are encrypted files that play only inside the SoundCloud app and disappear if your subscription ends. They are not MP3s you own.
Is there a cheaper way to get Go+?
Yes. Students can get Go+ for about $5.49 a month, roughly half price, verified through SheerID. Paying annually instead of monthly is also cheaper per month, and subscribing on the web avoids the roughly 30 percent App Store surcharge.
Did SoundCloud Go+ go up in price?
SoundCloud announced a Go+ increase for April 2026, applied at each subscriber’s next billing date, without publishing exact new numbers. Confirm the current price at soundcloud.com/go before subscribing.