YouTube Premium Increases Subscription Fee to $14 per Month
Without any official announcement, Google has discreetly raised the cost of YouTube Premium by a notable $2, as observed on the updated signup page by 9to5Google. The monthly price has now escalated from $12 to $14, while the annual subscription has surged from $120 to $140, resulting in a savings of approximately $28 for those who opt for the yearly plan. Additionally, YouTube has also hiked the price of Music Premium from $10 to $11 per month, aligning with similar price adjustments made by Apple and Amazon.
In addition to removing ads, YouTube Premium offers features such as offline viewing and background playback (without it, your video will stop playing when the app is minimized or the phone’s screen is off). It also enables higher quality 1080p streaming on some platforms.
Last year, Google increased the Family Premium package to $23 per month and charged current monthly subscribers a new fee the following month. In the past, the company was more generous — when it rebranded YouTube Red as Premium in 2018, it kept the former $10 subscription price and still honors it for some users, according to 9to5Google.
At the same time YouTube is raising prices, it has been cracking down on ad blockers that let you watch videos without ads. Some users have seen a pop-up telling them that YouTube is blocking their ability to play videos unless they disable their ad blocker or whitelist the site. “Ads enable YouTube to remain free for billions of users worldwide,” it reads. Without ads, the company urges users to get a YouTube Premium subscription so “creators can still get paid.”
