YouTube expands its ‘Premium Lite’ subscription to the US
YouTube is bringing the pilot of its more affordable subscription plan to the United States.
YouTube has announced that its more affordable Premium Lite plan is now available in the United States. Priced at $7.99 per month, Premium Lite offers an ad-free experience on “most” videos across categories such as gaming, fashion, beauty, and news. However, it does not remove ads from music videos, making it a limited alternative to the full YouTube Premium subscription.
Premium Lite has been tested in select markets since 2021, and the expansion to the US marks a broader rollout of this budget-friendly tier. While it removes ads from most standard videos, it lacks some key features of the full Premium plan, such as:
- Offline downloads
- Background playback
- Ad-free music videos
To access those features, users still need to subscribe to the full YouTube Premium plan, which costs $13.99 per month.
According to YouTube, “In the coming weeks, we’ll also make Premium Lite available to all users in our current pilot countries — Thailand, Germany, and Australia.” The company also noted that YouTube Music and Premium has reached over 125 million subscribers globally. Additionally, Youtube revealed that it would be making Premium Lite available to all users in its current pilot countries – which means Thailand, Germany, and Australia.
One major limitation of Premium Lite is its exclusion of music content from the ad-free experience. Many users who primarily listen to music on YouTube may find the plan insufficient, as they would still encounter ads while playing songs or watching music videos.
Premium Lite offers a middle ground for those who want to enjoy an ad-free experience on most YouTube videos without paying for the full Premium subscription. However, its exclusion of music videos may make it a less attractive option for some users. As YouTube continues to expand its subscription offerings, it will be interesting to see whether further adjustments are made to better serve different types of viewers.