YouTube ‘Premium Lite’ plan expands to more countries with ‘limited’ ads

YouTube Premium is pricey, but Google is slowly starting to expand a “Premium Lite” plan to more countries with a price that’s roughly half off.

YouTube “Premium Lite” is a paid monthly subscription that removes ads on YouTube, and nothing else. Unlike the standard Premium plans, which also includes YouTube Music, offline downloads, and background play, “Premium Lite” only removes ads. And, by YouTube’s description, it only results in “limited ads,” rather than removing them entirely.

Google has been playing around with a “Lite” plan for a long time, but removed the option in most countries in late 2023. However, it was never fully dead, as Google confirmed plans at that time to continue testing, which was in Thailand.

Recently, more users have reported seeing the option. Jonah Manzano, a singer-songwriter in Australia, shared a screenshot of the plan on Threads. Others saw the plan live a few months ago. In Australia, “Premium Lite” costs $11.99/month, half the cost of the $22.99/month standard Premium plan. An $8.99/month price also seems to be in testing. Users also noticed a few months ago in Germany that the option was available, again at roughly half the cost of the full plan, down to €5.99/month.

Google has confirmed to Android Authority that YouTube “Premium Lite” is in testing in additional countries, but only the three mentioned above.

We’re testing a different version of Premium Lite and some users in Australia, Germany and Thailand may see the option to sign up.

It’s unclear if Google plans to expand this plan further.

As of earlier this year, YouTube Premium has over 100 million subscribers (when also accounting for YouTube Music), but also continues to up prices, even for legacy users.

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