YouTube Tests Cheaper 'Premium Lite' Subscription for Ad-Free Viewing - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

YouTube Tests Cheaper 'Premium Lite' Subscription for Ad-Free Viewing

YouTube is piloting a new cheaper subscription tier in Europe called "Premium Lite," which offers ad-free viewing minus YouTube Premium's other features.

youtube premium lite
First spotted by a user on ResetEra and subsequently confirmed by Google, the "Lite" plan means users who aren't interested in offline downloads or background playback can still enjoy YouTube videos on web and mobile app without being interrupted by ads.

A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge:

"In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland), we're testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs €6.99/month (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube."

A standard YouTube Premium plan costs around €11.99/£11.99 a month in Europe and $11.99 in the United States, and includes ad-free viewing on web, mobile app, smart TVs and consoles, as well as ad-free YouTube Music listening, background playback, and offline downloads.

As The Verge notes, the "Lite" option costs around 60% of the price of a Premium plan but only offers a quarter of the features. However, YouTube says that the subscription plan is still in an experimental phase, and that it could still roll out more plans to gauge user feedback.

Tag: YouTube

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....

Top Rated Comments

Le0M Avatar
67 months ago
They should stop asking to go premium every few minutes. That would be good news.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adammusic Avatar
67 months ago
Just make YouTube premium cheaper.
Or make offline downloads cost additional.
I don’t want ads and i want background playback.
Don’t use offline downloads at all.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
67 months ago
Is it just me that really has an issue with YouTube charging extra for background playback, which is essentially an operating system feature, not an app feature?

£12 per month for this and no ads is too high. I trialled it and then cancelled. I would pay £6 pm, but only if background playback was also added.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
67 months ago
Or you can just download Brave Browser and never see an ad again for free!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
67 months ago
This is interesting.

Ad-free viewing of videos is what I'm interested in, but the "normal" price includes Youtube Music. I also have music streaming elsewhere, I have no need for that from Youtube - so getting rid of that to reduce the price would be my first pick.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
67 months ago
Or you just „fly“ to Turkey and pay less than a cheese burger for the premium subscription 😁.
Premium Lite. What a stupid name.

by the way, how does Google still get away with a more expensive subscription price via Apple IAP? I thought this wasn’t allowed and that’s why Netflix stopped signing up from iOS all together
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)