We all know about YouTube and likely use it every single day. But what about YouTube Premium? That’s YouTube’s paid subscription service, and it’s not as popular as YouTube itself is, which is not a surprise since it is paid. But what is included in YouTube Premium, and what exactly is it?
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium was originally born as YouTube Red in November 2014. It was rebranded a few years later (in 2018) as YouTube Premium, which added more perks and also included YouTube Music, which was not even a service in 2014 when YouTube Red came out.
Originally, YouTube Red was really just a place for some YouTube Originals and included a subscription to Google Play Music.
When YouTube Premium launched in 2018, Google added a number of other features and swapped out Google Play Music for YouTube Music. It also raised the price to $11.99 per month, and given everything that is included, it is well more than worth that price. Now it currently costs $13.99 per month for an individual plan, or $17.99 for a family plan.
What benefits are included with YouTube Premium?
There are five main features of YouTube Premium :
- Ad-free videos
- Background Playback
- Offline playback
- YouTube Music Premium
- YouTube Originals
Being able to download videos to watch offline is also a really popular feature. Especially if you travel a lot. Downloading videos to watch when you’re on a plane or on the subway is definitely very helpful.
How much does YouTube Premium cost?
YouTube Premium costs $13.99 per month.
Like most other streaming services, family and student plans are available. For students, it’ll cost you $7.99/month, and for a family plan, it’s $22.99/month. With the family plan, you can add up to five other people. Similar to how it works for YouTube TV and YouTube Music.
Update : On July 20, 2023, Google announced that the price for YouTube Premium is going up. It’s now $13.99 per month ($2 increase), or $139 per year ($20 increase). YouTube Music Premium is also going up to $10.99 per month.
Update 2: In September 2024, Google raised prices pretty substantially internationally on YouTube Premium . In Europe, prices went from €17.99 per month up to €25.99 per month on the family plan. At the same time, the individual plan jumped €2 to €14.
Verizon offers a discounted YouTube Premium
Verizon has announced that you will be able to add YouTube Premium to your plan as a “perk”, which will cost you $10 per month. That’s a savings of almost 30%. That’s a great way to get YouTube Premium for less. However, you still can’t get it for free.
Verizon offers plenty of other subscription services at steep discounts through its +play service, which can be added to your monthly bill for $10 each. Including Walmart+, Paramount+, Max, Disney bundle and much more.
Can I get YouTube Music Premium only?
While YouTube Music Premium is included in YouTube Premium, you can still buy it by itself. Google offers the service for $10.99 per month when it is not included in YouTube Premium. If you just want a music streaming service, that’s right on par with the competition. But for $3 more per month, you can get ad-free YouTube, which is honestly worth it.
What is YouTube Premium Lite?
In early 2025, YouTube finally debuted a new Premium tier called YouTube Premium Lite . This tier essentially removes the YouTube Music aspect, as well as offline downloads and background playback. So with this plan you are essentially only getting ad-free for “most” YouTube videos.
The YouTube Premium Lite plan costs $7.99, which is roughly half the price of the regular YouTube Premium.
Where is YouTube Premium available?
According to Google, YouTube Premium is available in nearly 100 countries around the world. All of which are listed below. However, the paid membership may not be available in all states/provinces.
- American Samoa
- Argentina
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bermuda
- Bolivia
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- 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
- Greece
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Norway
- Oman
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- US Virgin Islands
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Can I still use my subscription if I travel to another country?
But, if you go to a country that doesn’t have YouTube Premium – like Russia, here’s what happens:
“You won’t be allowed to download videos, videos won’t play in the background, and you may see ads. Any videos that you’ve downloaded before traveling will be available offline for 30 days.”
So the short answer is yes, you can still use it. But you may not get the same experience if you enter a country where YouTube Premium is not available.
Is signing up worth it?
Yes, totally worth it. Especially if you do watch a lot of YouTube. I know I watch around 3-4 hours of YouTube a day, and not having to watch ads is a huge bonus. The other features that this subscription has, I don’t even use. However, if we ever return to travel like before the pandemic, I’ll likely use the offline playback a lot more.
If you already use YouTube Music, then this bundle is worth the cost. You’re paying literally two dollars more to get ad-free YouTube. And that alone is worth the extra cost here. Of course, if you’re like me and are not a fan of YouTube Music, then it might be a bit harder of a decision. Paying $12 per month for ad-free YouTube is still quite a bit.
New Conversational AI for YouTube Premium
Google is putting AI into everything – just like every other tech company – and that includes YouTube Premium. Google has started rolling out a new feature that lets you ask AI about the video you’re currently watching. It introduces a new “ASK” button below the video player. And when you press it, the button will allow users to select from several questions or add their own about the video. Gemini powers this and can inquire about certain parts of the video.
Exclusive Experimental features for YouTube Premium users
Being that you’re paying for YouTube Premium, Google does typically allow Premium users to try out new features before they get rolled out to everyone.
