YouTube Premium Lite is a scaled-down version of its big brother, YouTube Premium. The idea behind the two services remains the same – an experience without ads. Lite never promised toremove ads completely, but it did promise something in between not having anything and having a full-fledged subscription. When it first came out, I went hands-on and came away impressed with how much I liked it. I didn’t notice any intrusive ads, and although theinitial blog postsaid I should see them on Shorts,I didn’t.
YouTube Premium Lite
YouTube Premium Lite removes most ads from YouTube for $8 a month.
I save hundreds a year with this specific YouTube Premium plan
Share your YouTube Premium membership with family members, and save a ton of cash in the process.
I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come
Things are already changing
The thing about Premium Lite is it’s already teetering on the line of value. For just a few bucks more, you can completely eliminate ads, get access to YouTube Music, and have the ability to download videos. I can’t lie, regular Premium holds a lot of value, and I think it’s easy to justify for a lot of people. Speaking for myself, I don’t use YouTube Music or download videos, so it’s worth it for me to save a few bucks. However, if Google keeps creeping in with more ads through the Premium Lite subscription, it feels like I’ll have to start weighing the full-fledged subscription again.
I can’t help but be fearful of what’s to come. I watched YouTube TV firsthand go from something jam-packed with value turn into something completely different over the years. I still enjoy YouTube TV, but there’s no denying that it doesn’t have the same value as it once did, especially when you look at the massive price difference from when it launched to where it is now. I’m not saying YouTube Premium Lite is going to do the same thing, but it already feels like it’s going down a similar road. There’s no telling what the service will look like even a year from now, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the initial intent feels intact.
I used to think YouTube Premium wasn’t worth it. Here’s what changed my mind
The value might be there now for YouTube Premium.
Google has a rocky history
Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself
While Google is one of the most popular corporations today, there’s still a graveyard of failed ideas. Stadia comes to mind as a recent example, but Premium seems like it’s going to avoid a similar fate. Premium Lite still has a reason to exist, but it does feel like it’s going to act as more of a pipeline into the more expensive Premium tier.
Google said as much in the blog post by revealing more Lite members upgraded to Premium subscriptions than the other way around. For what it’s worth, I bucked that trend by downgrading. YouTube is the number one streaming platform according to Nielsen ratings, so the company is rolling in money no matter how you slice it. Obviously, Premium subscriptions are more valuable than the Lite ones, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Google start to dismantle the cheaper tier.
It’s nice to have the option to choose what I want from my subscription, but as more ads start to creep in, I don’t feel like that sense of choice will be there anymore. There’s still $6 separating the two tiers, so while that’s not a massive difference, it’s enough for me to stick with Lite. If the time comes and ads start showing up on all videos, just in a limited form, I think I’d make the jump back to the regular Premium. I imagine this is something Google wants to happen in the long run, but I’m still going to hold out as long as I can. Whether that’s a few months or a few years, it’s really tough to say at this point. I’ll just enjoy the ride while it lasts as that’s all I can do.
More people should use this lesser-known YouTube Premium feature
YouTube Premium’s most-loved feature is its ad-free videos, but there’s another feature I find myself using a lot.
