- YouTube Premium Lite offers mostly ad-free video playback but without other Premium perks.
- After first getting started internationally, Premium Lite is now spreading to the US.
- Premium Lite subscribers will pay just $7.99 a month for ad-free YouTube.
There’s arguably no more contentious major streaming service out there than YouTube Premium. While YouTube offers an almost unfathomably deep library of content, its background as a historically free-to-watch platform has made some viewers resistant to the idea of ever paying for YouTube, culminating in a back-and-forth struggle over ad-blocking software that continues to this day. Last year we finally started getting hints that a change might be coming, with YouTube breathing new life into Premium Lite, a more affordable way to remove ads. And now Premium Lite is moving into the spotlight as YouTube announces a major expansion.
Right now, a YouTube Premium subscription will nominally run you $13.99 a month. For that you get all the ad-free YouTube videos you can watch, ad-free access to YouTube Music, and perks like offline viewing.