YouTube Testing ‘Premium Lite’ Subscription, Ad-Free YouTube at Lower Cost

BY Sanuj Bhatia

Published 2 Aug 2021

youtube-premium-lite

YouTube is testing a new subscription called YouTube Premium Lite in Europe. Premium Lite subscription would offer an ad-free YouTube experience at 40% less cost, but with some fewer features in comparison to the full-blown Premium subscription.

The new subscription was first spotted by a user on ResetEra and has been confirmed to The Verge by Google since then. Google says YouTube Premium Lite is targeted towards an audience who want an ad-free YouTube experience but don’t care about other features that the full Premium subscription offers.

Premium Lite users will be able to watch YouTube ad-free but will not be able to take full advantage of the Premium features like background playback or offline downloads.  YouTube says that the tier is being tested in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden right now.

A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge:

“In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland), we’re testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs €6.99/month (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube.”

YouTube’s high-end Premium subscription is priced that €11.99/£11.99 per month in Europe and $11.99 per month in the United States. In comparison to the higher-end subscription tier, Premium Lite would cost 40% less at €6.99/£6.99 per month. However, it loses out on features like background playback, YouTube Music listening, and picture-in-picture mode.

But for those who only need an ad-free YouTube experience, the new subscription will be an attractive choice. The new tier subscription is only under the testing phase right now. Google says that it is considering rolling out more plans based on audience feedback.

What are your thoughts on the new YouTube tier? Would you be interested in such a membership given it doesn’t support background payback? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

[Via The Verge]