Premium Lite for YouTube will get rid of ads for a smaller cost...well, sort of

YouTube is finally doing something that makes sense by giving people a way to get rid of ads without forcing them into a pricey subscription they don’t need.

So, YouTube Premium right now costs $13.99 USD a month. Sure, it comes with perks like background play, offline downloads, and YouTube Music Premium, but let’s be real, not everyone cares about those extras. Some of us just want to watch our videos without a million ads. That’s where Premium Lite comes in.

This isn’t YouTube’s first attempt at a cheaper, ad-free option. Back in August 2021, they tested Premium Lite in some European countries, offering an ad-free experience on videos. It stuck around for about two years before getting axed in 2023. Now, it looks like YouTube is bringing it back, this time launching soon in the U.S., Australia, Germany, and Thailand.

The thing is, YouTube Music isn’t included in the Lite plan, so if you watch music videos on YouTube, you’ll still see ads. But that’s not the only downside, unlike the full Premium plan, Lite also doesn’t let you download videos for offline viewing or play videos in the background while using other apps. It’s just a stripped-down version that only removes most ads which is YouTube’s way of making sure you don’t just ditch YouTube Premium altogether.

Now, the pricing isn’t officially confirmed, but rumors have it that it could be around $7 a month. That’s reasonable, especially since YouTube has been going all-in on blocking ad-blockers lately. If you’re one of those who got those annoying “Ad blockers are not allowed” pop-ups, you know exactly what I mean. At this point, YouTube is making it painfully obvious that you either pay or deal with the ads.

But there’s another angle to this—competition. YouTube isn’t just trying to get you to stop blocking ads, the goal is to go after Spotify and Apple Podcasts. A ton of people already listen to podcasts on YouTube, and an ad-free experience could make it an even bigger podcasting hub. If YouTube plays this right, it could get listeners from Spotify, especially those who are already using YouTube for video podcasts anyway.

Honestly, not everyone needs the full Premium experience, but a lot of people would pay a few bucks just to ditch the ads. If this works out, YouTube might even expand it further, or, who knows, maybe we’ll finally get a true pay-as-you-use model where you only pay for the features you want.