YouTube is the second most-visited web site on the planet, offering 2.5 billion month-to-month customers with contemporary leisure and data. It hosts movies on virtually each matter, and plenty of are of top of the range, 4K or past, to look superb on the greatest Android tablets.
YouTube additionally serves ads to its viewers, a crucial nuisance that retains the service free and generates income for tens of millions of creators. For many who don’t love advertisements, there’s YouTube Premium. It is a month-to-month subscription that hides distractions and provides a bunch of perks, together with ad-free entry to YouTube Music Premium. Nonetheless, the plan has been criticized for bundling in a music service many do not want or like. At $14 a month, it is costly.
That is why the brand new YouTube Premium Lite tier is assured to attract consideration. It does away with most advertisements and prices about half the worth of Premium. What different variations are there between YouTube Premium and Premium Lite? Which one do you have to go together with? Let’s discover.
Associated
I by no means thought I might pay for YouTube Premium, however this function modified my thoughts
Okay, YouTube Premium, You Win!
YouTube Premium vs. Premium Lite: The options
What do you get with the 2 Premium tiers?
The most important YouTube Premium perks: no advertisements, PiP and background playback, offline downloads, and YouTube Music premium
I am prepared to guess that almost all YouTube Premium subscribers pay primarily to eliminate advertisements. Nonetheless, the record of Premium advantages is for much longer. With a full Premium subscription, you may obtain movies to look at offline. You additionally get background playback, both with the display off or in picture-in-picture mode. Moreover, you have got full, ad-free entry to YouTube Music Premium. If that is not sufficient, you may get pleasure from high-bitrate 1080p movies and check new and experimental options earlier than they’re broadly launched.
YouTube Premium Lite removes advertisements from most movies. Lite subscribers will nonetheless see some advertisements: in music movies, within the Shorts feed, and whereas looking or searching for movies. They won’t get YouTube Music Premium, offline downloads, background playback, or some other perk within the full Premium tier. YouTube clarifies that movies throughout subjects and genres like gaming, comedy, trend, magnificence, cooking, and studying can have no advertisements, whereas nonetheless producing income for creators with monetized channels.
YouTube Premium and Premium Lite work throughout units (telephones, tablets, TVs, and extra) so long as you are signed in with the identical account. Each work for YouTube Children, eradicating advertisements from the kid-friendly model of the YouTube app.
The place on the planet are YouTube Premium and Lite out there?
For now, you will get Lite solely in a handful of nations
YouTube is accessible from virtually each nation, with a number of exceptions, like China and North Korea. Most have entry to YouTube Premium. It’s out there in 119 of the world’s 195-ish international locations. For those who subscribe in a rustic the place Premium is accessible and journey to 1 the place it is not, you will not maintain your advantages. A manner round this can be to make use of one of many greatest VPN providers.
As for YouTube Premium Lite, it launched in the US on March 5, 2025, however solely as a pilot program, which means that not all US viewers have entry to the tier. Premium Lite additionally landed as a pilot in Australia, Germany, and Thailand. “We’ll proceed to develop our Premium Lite pilots to extra international locations this 12 months,” YouTube says in its weblog publish asserting Premium Lite for the US.
How a lot do Premium and Lite price?
And the way a lot do you save with YouTube Premium Lite?
Within the US, you will get a person YouTube Premium subscription for $14 a month. For those who’re okay with paying upfront, a one-year subscription prices $140, which saves you 15%. Choose customers can bundle YouTube Premium with a Google One plan and get a reduction of $2 per 30 days. College students can subscribe to YouTube Premium at a decreased charge of $8 a month.
The costliest tier is YouTube Premium Household for $23 a month. Nonetheless, choosing this over a person plan may be value it whenever you share a Household subscription between as much as six accounts. The catch is that these accounts should reside inside one family, in line with the plan’s phrases.
As for YouTube Premium Lite, it prices $8 per 30 days. There aren’t any reductions for paying upfront. No household bundle is accessible both. These downsides may imply many could be higher off sticking with a dearer plan, particularly if sharing it’s an possibility.
YouTube isn’t any stranger to cost hikes, and the numbers listed above might go up sooner or later. In 2024, the price of a Premium plan rose by 30% to 50% for subscribers globally. Within the US, the $14-a-month value got here into impact in 2023, marking a $2 enhance. All costs listed below are in US {dollars}. Subscription costs fluctuate from nation to nation, with some paying considerably much less and others much more.
Associated
From $35 to $83: How a lot YouTube TV has risen within the final 10 years
Is it value paying almost $1,000 per 12 months?
YouTube Premium or Premium Lite?
Which is the higher tier for you?
Advertisements on YouTube have turn into longer and extra frequent all through the years. It is no shock that persons are in search of methods to dam distractions. The one authorized and truthful manner stays to subscribe to YouTube Premium or Premium Lite. This enables YouTube to remain in enterprise and supply free leisure whereas sharing the income with over 65 million YouTube creators, lots of whom make movies for a residing.
Who ought to get YouTube Premium Lite?
YouTube Premium Lite is the higher alternative in case your aim is to remove ads. At $8 vs. $14 a month, it’s considerably cheaper. You will not pay for options you do not want or like, and you may assist the YouTubers whose movies you get pleasure from. The occasional advert will pop up right here and there, however I doubt that will probably be a difficulty until you solely watch music movies.
Who’s YouTube Premium for?
I like to recommend a full YouTube Premium subscription for anybody who finds background playback and offline downloads helpful. Taking part in a video with the display off permits you to get pleasure from a podcast or a video essay whereas doing chores. I take advantage of PiP mode whereas enjoying turn-based on-line video games. Offline downloads are perfect for frequent flyers or to maintain children entertained on street journeys. Whereas I believe YouTube Music is not as nice as options like Spotify, you may strive it and discover out for your self. If it really works effectively sufficient in your case, you will discover YouTube Premium a greater deal than paying for Premium Lite and Spotify Premium individually.
Associated
I gave up YouTube Premium and struggled at first, but it surely was finally value it
It is painful to regulate, however I’ve discovered to dwell with out YouTube Premium
When is Premium Household a greater deal?
YouTube Premium Household is one of the best deal for bigger households. At $23 per 30 days, it is cheaper than two particular person Premium plans or three separate Premium Lite subscriptions. Going with Premium Household over YouTube Lite is probably the most economical method if in case you have three or extra individuals at residence who cannot stand YouTube advertisements.
Think about the fee earlier than making a choice
It may very well be a unique story if YouTube’s costs go up once more. That will not come as a shock since streaming providers have been mountain climbing costs steadily, to the purpose the place some customers cannot justify paying for Netflix anymore. It appears free entry to YouTube isn’t going wherever, so long as you do not thoughts seeing a few advertisements on occasion.