For quite some time the only way to avoid ads on YouTube without getting an ad-blocker was to pay for YouTube Premium, which like most things streaming has gotten steadily more expensive in the last couple of years.
In a bit of good-ish news, YouTube has announced a new YouTube Premium Lite plan that is rolling out in the United States now for $7.99 a month, about half of the $13.99 per month the full Premium plan costs.
The Lite plan was available in Europe for a couple of years starting in 2021, though it never progressed beyond a pilot phase before Google seemingly shut it down it in 2023. However, a new version appeared last fall with "limited ads."
What's different?
The full YouTube Premium plan offers you ad-free watching and listening on YouTube videos, music and listening.
The Lite version lets you watch most videos ad-free, except for music videos. Additionally, you can't play videos offline or in the background with the Lite plan.
It seems it's easiest to think of the Lite plan as just for YouTube, especially if you're already signed up the other best streaming music services like Apple Music or Tidal.
The YouTube blog post specifically notes "ads may appear on music content, Shorts, and when you search or browse." So, it's not a totally ad-free experience.
That said, if you're like me and only really watch your subscriptions or the occasional new video served up by the algorithm, the Lite plan may be worth the price.
If you're reading this outside of the United States, the Lite plan should be available in the pilot countries of Australia, Germany and Thailand with more coming online this year.
Downgrading your plan to YouTube Premium Lite
Confusingly, right now, it's not clear if you can switch from a Premium plan to a Premium Lite plan.
So far, we aren't seeing one in Subscription management, but as with most things Google, it may not have rolled out to all users yet even in regions where it is supposed to be available.
As of this writing, the Lite plan does not appear available on my YouTube account. We'll update this once we know more.
