no rule
Playlist cover
A user feature. Square, and that is the whole requirement. Only playlists you created can be changed.
Playlist covers
Spotify playlist cover maker.
Crop any photo to a square cover and save it, free, in your browser. No account, no watermark, and the photo never leaves your device. Below: the honest answer to what size Spotify actually asks for, which is not the number you have been reading everywhere.
The honest answer
Spotify does not publish a size.
Search for "Spotify playlist cover size" and you get 300 × 300 stated as fact on dozens of pages. We went to look for the source. There isn't one.
Spotify has two relevant help pages. Customize your playlist cover explains where to tap and says nothing about pixels. Profile and playlist user image guidelines, the page you would expect to hold the specs, contains no size, no weight limit and no format list. What it contains is this:
"You can't upload any images that violate any copyright, trademark, or personal image rights."
Spotify, Profile and playlist user image guidelines — checked 4 September 2026
So the only published rules for a playlist cover are legal ones. No pixel requirement exists to meet.
What actually matters is the shape. Spotify displays playlist covers in a square frame, so anything that is not 1:1 gets cropped by the app rather than by you. Beyond that, export large enough to stay sharp on a desktop screen and you are done. Our defaults are 1000 × 1000 and 2000 × 2000 — those are our numbers, chosen because they look right, not rules from Spotify.
Three squares
Where Spotify does publish numbers.
Playlist covers have no specs. Two neighbouring square images do, and people mix them up constantly.
750 × 750
Artist avatar
Published minimum for an artist profile picture, and Spotify displays it as a circle. Header and avatar sizes →
640–10 000
Release cover art
The artwork that goes to your distributor: square, 640 to 10 000 px per side, sRGB, 24 bits per pixel, lossless TIFF, PNG or JPG.
Sources: artist image guidelines and cover art requirements. The often-quoted 3000 × 3000 for release art is a distributor habit, not a Spotify rule.
How to
Cover in a minute.
1. Drop a photo
Any size, any shape. The crop frame is locked to a square so the export cannot come out wrong.
2. Or take a free one
The built-in Pexels library is free for commercial use and needs no attribution — useful when you just want a mood.
3. Save the JPEG
1000 × 1000 or 2000 × 2000. Encoding happens on your machine, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.
4. Set it in Spotify
Mobile: open the playlist, Edit, Change cover image. Desktop and web: click the playlist image, choose a photo, save.
Why it is free
Your photo never leaves the browser.
Cropping and encoding run on your own machine, so there is no server to pay for and nothing to upload. Built by an independent artist who needed the same thing for his own releases.
No account, no upload, no watermark
No cookies, no screen recording
Canvas, header, avatar and cover art in the same tool
FAQ
Common questions.
What size should a Spotify playlist cover be?
Spotify does not publish a size. Its help pages on customising a playlist cover and on profile and playlist image guidelines say nothing about pixels, file weight or format — only that the image must not infringe copyright, trademark or someone's personal image rights. What matters in practice is that the image is square, because Spotify shows it in a square frame. Exporting around 2000 × 2000 keeps it sharp on large screens.
Is 300 × 300 the minimum for a playlist cover?
That number is repeated across the web but does not appear anywhere in Spotify's own documentation. We are not going to state it as a rule. Export square and reasonably large and you are safe either way.
Is a playlist cover the same as release cover art?
No. Release cover art, the artwork that goes to your distributor, does have published requirements: square, between 640 and 10 000 pixels per side, sRGB, 24 bits per pixel, lossless TIFF, PNG or JPG. Playlist covers are a user feature and have none of that.
Can I use any image as a playlist cover?
Only images you have the right to use. Spotify's guidelines name three grounds for removal: copyright, trademark, and a person's image rights. A photo of someone without their consent falls under the last one.
Does this playlist cover maker need an account?
No. There is no account, no watermark and no export limit. Cropping and encoding run in your own browser, so the photo is never uploaded anywhere.
How do I set the cover in Spotify?
On mobile: open the playlist, tap Edit, then Change cover image. On desktop and the web player: open a playlist you created, click the image, choose a photo and save. You can only change covers on playlists you made yourself.