YouTube Premium: Everything you need to know
Anyone who uses YouTube regularly likely knows about (and has been tempted by) YouTube Premium. The successor to YouTube Red, YouTube Premium gives you access to ad-free videos, downloads, background play, and other perks.
Basically, it's your best way to avoid all those annoying YouTube ads; it used to give you access to exclusive YouTube Originals, but Google no longer creates those, and all that old content is now free to watch.
So, is YouTube Premium worth paying for? And are there other benefits to a subscription besides ads, such as YouTube Music? Premium already has more than 100 million subscribers; here's what you need to know to decide whether or not to join them.
What's included in YouTube Premium?
As mentioned above, YouTube Premium comes with a load of goodies that make its monthly fee well worth the asking price.
Ad-free videos
Play videos in the background
Download videos for offline use
Special "listening controls" to play music in Premium
Occasional free or discounted Google hardware and software
As to the last point, Google has given away a free Home Mini, Nest Mini, and Stadia Premiere Edition to its Premium subscribers in the past few years, as well as Google Store discounts on other products. New subscribers won't get any of the old giveaways, but you may get future Google hardware as a perk.
Google also tests cutting-edge new features on Premium, offering them to paying subscribers first. For example, Premium offered 4K YouTube videos first before it eventually came to the full free app. The same goes for picture-in-picture mode, which used to be a paid exclusive but came to everyone else about a year later.
Last but certainly not least, a YouTube Premium subscription also gives you full access to YouTube Music. With a YouTube Premium plan, you can use YouTube Music to listen to music without ads, let your tunes play in the background, and download songs/playlists for offline listening.
How much does it cost?
That's all fine and dandy, but how much will you be paying for all this?
YouTube Premium costs $14/month, and you can cancel your plan at any time. But if you're mainly interested in YouTube Music, that costs $11/month. So, depending on your perspective, if you were going to pay for Google's music streaming service anyway, then you'd pay just $3 extra per month for ad-free YouTube.
If you don't care about YouTube Music, then YouTube Premium may feel overpriced for you, however.
We'll also note that you can sometimes get YouTube Premium for free with other services. For example, Google Fi Unlimited Plus subscribers get six months of YouTube Premium thanks to an ongoing promotion, and Google used to offer a longer Premium trial to YouTube TV members. You'll often find that new Google or Samsung devices come with extended Premium trials, too.
Individual ? Monthly: $13.99/month
Individual ? Annually (does not automatically renew): $139.99/year
Family (up to five users) ? $22.99/month
Student ? Monthly (annual verification required): $7.99/month
Where is YouTube Premium available?
At this time, you can sign up for YouTube Premium in the following countries:
Algeria
American Samoa
Argentina
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
France
French Guyana
French Polynesia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Morocco
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russia ("temporarily unavailable")
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea (paid membership only)
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Turks and Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zimbabwe
YouTube Premium vs. YouTube TV
YouTube TV is Google's answer to cable. With it, you get access to over 100 live channels on practically any streaming device or web browser. After your initial discounted rate, you'll pay $73/month, along with an extra $10/month for 4K and additional fees for premium packages and extra channels.
While YouTube TV doesn't include Premium, if you do subscribe to both, you'll see your ad-free YouTube content on YouTube TV. Otherwise, you'll have to accept those ads in spite of paying a premium for Google's cable alternative.
YouTube Premium: Starting at $13.99/month with the first 2 months free.
The best way to expand your YouTube experience. For the price of one lunch each month, YouTube Premium removes ads from all videos, allows you to save videos for offline viewing, and grants you access to YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Originals. It's the best YouTube experience you can get.View Deal
