YouTube Premium: How Much is it? Price, Benefits and More
Tips • Nov. 12, 2023
You know that little pop-up you get so often when using YouTube? It’s most likely the advertisement for YouTube Premium. YouTube Premium is best known for its benefits of removing ads, but also the ability to listen to YouTube playlists even when the app is in the background or the phone is locked. While it doesn’t add many extra features, it’s not an overly expensive plan for some users to remove the “inconvenience” that’s an often occurrence in the free YouTube version.
Down below, we’ll show you everything you need to know about YouTube Premium so you can make a decision if it’s the right choice for you, so keep on reading!
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium is a membership type ideal for individual account owners. However, keep in mind that there’s a slight difference between YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium.
While YouTube Premium removes ads from all YouTube videos, Music Premium only removes ads from music videos. Of course, YouTube Premium includes more features, but it’s pretty clear that YouTube wanted to advertise this plan as a way to make the use of YouTube a lot more convenient. The removal of the ads and the ability for the app to run in the background are some of the most important features.
When you upgrade to YouTube Premium, you’ll get to keep your YouTube account, which is often connected to the Google account (Gmail email address), and it’s added functionality to the existing YouTube platform and its features.
What to expect from YouTube Premium?
We’ve mentioned two of the most known and important features to expect, which include the removal of the ads and the use of the app in the background. However, YouTube Premium users can also download videos with the ability to watch the videos or listen to music offline.
While YouTube doesn’t change the way the platform works and it’s not a necessity, it’s helpful as it improves the user experience through a couple of additional features. However, don’t expect the YouTube platform to unlock a bunch of new features. As we’ve mentioned earlier, YouTube advertised this plan as a way to make the watching experience more pleasant, with the removal of the ads being one of the best-included features.
How much is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium has different pricing plans, which is something you should be aware of. Besides the trial, there are two plans: Personal and Family. There’s a slight price difference between these two plans.
The Personal YouTube Premium plan costs $13.99 per month, while the Family plan costs $22.99 per month. But there’s a difference between these two plans. The benefits and features remain the same, but the Family plan can be shared with up to 5 family members. This is ideal for families of up to 5 members and that’s something you’ll need if you plan on sharing your Premium account with family members since the Personal plan doesn’t allow sharing.
There’s also another plan for Chromebook users. Anyone who bought and activated a Chromebook device before January 2022 is eligible for a 3-month YouTube Premium plan. After that, you can decide if you’d like to choose a Personal or a Family membership. There’s a similar offer in place for Nest device users. Therefore, we highly recommend you check if you have any of these devices before you sign up for a YouTube Premium membership because you can save yourself some money in the long run. There’s also a student discount, which we’ll elaborate on below.
Lastly, we want to remind you that there’s a difference between the YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium plans. If you only use YouTube to listen to music, the latter plan is a good choice, but if not, this won’t work out for you and you’ll eventually have to upgrade.
We’ve also noticed that the pricing will depend on the location, so you should double-check the pricing for your country and state before subscribing to the membership.
Best plan for families
As we’ve mentioned earlier, if you would like to share your YouTube Premium membership with your family members, it’s best to pay for a Family plan. It’s slightly more expensive than the Personal plan, but it’s worth it since it can be shared with up to 5 family members.
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that this doesn’t only apply to the household. You can share your YouTube Premium plan with family members who don’t live in the same household. If you subscribe to the Premium Family plan, you’ll be the manager of the account. Everyone who you share the account with (up to 5 people) can enjoy the benefits of the plan but also preview the Primetime content you purchased.
Of course, the manager of the plan gets to keep the personal library, recommendations, and subscriptions just like before sharing the account. Every other family member will have their personalized settings within their account. The same benefits apply to users who choose the YouTube Music Premium plan.
Discounts for Students
If you’re a student, you’re lucky as you have a chance to get one of the most affordable pricing plans for YouTube Premium, which costs $7.99 per month. While the plan isn’t free, it’s much cheaper than the Personal or Family subscription plan.
As a student, you’ll get access to all the benefits of the YouTube Premium plan at a discounted price and you can choose between the Premium or Music Premium membership. However, there are a few limits.
YouTube student discount is only available for full-time students in higher education, and it’s only valid in certain states and countries. To prove you’re a student, you’ll have to provide the information required by a third-party verification service.
With a 4-year limit, you’ll also have to renew your student discount every year with a student’s proof. But what happens if you’re not eligible for a student discount anymore? The good news is that you can continue the membership at a standard pricing plan or you can cancel at any time.
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Is there a free YouTube Premium trial?
We’ve mentioned earlier that there is a trial to the YouTube Premium membership and here’s what to expect. The good news is that the YouTube Premium trial lasts for a month and it’s free.
Yes, you will have to add your credit card details to activate the trial, but you can cancel anytime. This means that if you cancel before the renewal of the membership for the next month, you won’t be charged anything. You can enjoy a free month to give the YouTube Premium a try and see if it’s the right subscription for you. If not, you can cancel without losing any money.
YouTube Premium trial includes all benefits without any limits, so you can get a sense of what to expect from the membership if you decide to choose a pricing plan. We should also note that there’s an option to pay annually if you plan on using YouTube Premium long-term.
Of course, if you choose to pay annually, you can save about $24 per year, which comes down to $2 a month. While it’s not the biggest save there is, it’s still a decent save for people who see themselves using YouTube Premium service for a full year.
What do you get with YouTube Premium?
No matter which plan you decide to go with, you’ll experience the same features and benefits. The great thing about the Premium subscription is that there are no limits and there’s no upsell. Once you activate your subscription, you have full access to everything this membership has to offer.
Even though YouTube is a free platform, included features will improve the viewing experience. Do you ever get annoyed by the constant ads at the beginning and even in the middle of every video? This is something you won’t have to deal with anymore.
With YouTube Premium, ads are removed, you can download videos for offline watching, and you won’t have to worry about keeping the app open at all times. You can download video to iPhone or minimize the app on your phone to still listen to your favorite music.
If you only happen to subscribe to YouTube Music Premium, you’ll get the same benefits, but only on the official music videos from verified uploaders. This membership type is cheaper but you’ll still have to go through a painful amount of ads on non-music videos.
Are there any other apps better than YouTube Premium?
With YouTube’s strict policy against ad-blockers that’s on the rise, it’s harder to avoid ads, let alone experience other benefits of the Premium membership without paying the subscription. We have to remind you that YouTube is the world’s biggest video platform on the internet of its kind.
It’s also one of the oldest platforms where you can find anything from personal content, vlogs, pranks, music, official music videos, and more. If you plan on monetizing your videos, there are even systems in place to make some money by placing advertisements in your videos.
However, if you have enough of YouTube and you are looking for an alternative, there are a couple of options. One of the most similar options is Vimeo. Since YouTube is a huge competitor, Vimeo is trying to take a different approach to video content, but it’s still a video platform where users can upload their content, but also do so much more.
At Vimeo, you can make videos, edit them with integrated tools, share your content, and even hold virtual events, video training, or use it as a platform for team communication. Vimeo is pretty innovative and they’re trying to benefit the users through different sets of features, so while it’s a platform that’s similar to YouTube, it’s also unique in its way. That’s exactly why Vimeo might be a good alternative for some users, while others might still prefer the GOAT platform, YouTube.
How many people can use one YouTube Premium account?
We know what you’re thinking. Can you use YouTube Premium, just like everyone used Netflix before the restrictions, right? Well, truth be told, it’s almost impossible to share YouTube Premium with other users, except the family via the Family membership model.
It’s highly inconvenient to share a YouTube account since it’s tied to Google and access to all other apps and platforms from Google, including Gmail and others. With one user per account being the norm, and up to 5 account shares for the Family subscription model, it’s best to get your subscription.
But before you do that, you should still check with your family members and see if someone is already subscribed to Premium. Since the Premium Family plan can host up to 5 family members, you can share one price with one or more family members. This way, everyone gets to enjoy the benefits of an enhanced YouTube experience without paying a fortune or breaking the bank every month.
Is YouTube Premium worth it?
YouTube Premium is a fairly simple concept. Some people love it and others hate it, but it’s something you’d have to get if you are sick of ads, sick of wasting your phone’s battery by having to keep the app open, and not being able to watch anything offline.
The price is pretty affordable, but luckily there are discounts for students and better ways for families to use and share one plan. If you’re a part of a family plan, it becomes much cheaper to maintain the membership as one fixed price can be split between a couple of family members.
While Premium membership doesn’t offer a lot, there’s also a Music Premium membership. These are two different membership types with the main difference being the intended use. Music Premium only provides benefits to music content, while Premium to all videos on the YouTube platform.
