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If you’re tired of YouTube ads, you may be willing to purchase YouTube Premium to avoid them. YouTube Premium includes other features, such as picture-in-picture streaming and an integrated subscription with YouTube Music at $14/month. However, YouTube offers a mid-tier YouTube Premium Lite subscription that limits ads and also offers picture-in-picture streaming.
Also: YouTube launches cheaper Premium Lite plan – but are the trade-offs worth it?
If you want a completely ad-free experience and all the premium benefits then you can choose YouTube Premium subscription. Still, you can choose the Lite subscription to avoid the shortcomings of the free tier at a lower price.
Here’s everything you need to know before you decide.
Specifications
| youtube premium | premium lite | |
| price | $7.99/month | $13.99/month |
| ad-free videos | Yes | most videos |
| background play | Yes | most videos |
| Music subscription included | Yes | No |
| Download and play offline | Yes | most videos |
You should choose YouTube Premium if…
1. You want to bundle video and music
YouTube Premium subscription includes ad-free video viewing and YouTube Music subscription. If you’re willing to cancel your $11/month Apple Music or $13/month Spotify subscription, you can switch to YouTube Premium for $14/month.
Unlike Apple Music, YouTube Music lacks lossless audio and Dolby Atmos, and unlike Spotify, it lacks an extensive audiobook library. However, with a subscription, you can access ad-free music videos on YouTube, and YouTube Music offers many popular podcasts ad-free.
2. You can’t stand ads – period
If you can’t tolerate these ads, especially if you watch YouTube more than you watch Netflix or Hulu, you will benefit greatly from a YouTube Premium subscription. With a subscription, all videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids are ad-free, you can download videos to play offline, and you can continue playing videos even when your screen is locked.
Also: How to Download YouTube Videos for Free – 2 Easy and Reliable Ways I Always Use
YouTube ads range from political ads and local business messages to obscure mobile games and AI-generated ads. If you’re lucky, you may skip them in 30 seconds or less, while other times, ads run for 60+ seconds. On mobile, you’ll often encounter two unskippable ads throughout your video.
You should choose YouTube Premium Lite if…
1. You can’t justify $14/month
Even though you hate YouTube ads, you can’t afford to pay $14/month to remove them. Luckily, the Lite subscription is $8/month, but not all videos are ad-free. According to YouTube, ad-free content is only available for gaming, fashion, beauty and news videos. Music content and YouTube Shorts may still contain advertisements.
The Lite subscription lets you download videos to play offline and play videos even when the screen is locked, but these features are limited. User-generated content like YouTube Shorts, official music videos, and songs from YouTube’s partners are excluded from download and background play within this membership tier.
2. You don’t want to switch from Spotify or Apple Music
If you’re not ready to part with Spotify or Apple Music, YouTube Premium Lite is the best middle ground for upgrading your YouTube account without paying more for unused features.
Also: Spotify vs. YouTube Music: I paid for both services, and this one was worth more
Although the YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscription bundle is more cost-effective than a Spotify or Apple Music subscription plus YouTube Premium Lite, you may be able to give up your favorite features to save a few bucks a month.
If you watch a lot of YouTube, chances are your favorite videos are compatible with the ad-free parameters of the Lite subscription. And now, you can even watch videos in picture-in-picture mode with just a Lite subscription, thereby justifying the expensive premium tier hardware.
author’s choice
I watch a lot of YouTube and despite being frustrated by the constant ads, I have never been able to pay for YouTube Premium. I’m more willing to pay for YouTube Premium Lite, because most of the videos will be ad-free, I won’t overpay for a YouTube Music subscription I won’t use (I’m loyal to Apple Music), and it’s only $8/month.
