YouTube has quietly brought back YouTube Premium Lite, a more affordable option for users who want an ad-free experience but don’t need all the features of the full premium package. While the idea of a cheaper plan sounds appealing, many users are questioning whether it truly offers enough value to justify the price.
What Is YouTube Premium Lite?
YouTube Premium Lite was initially introduced as an experimental plan in select European countries in 2021. It provided users with an ad-free experience but removed many of the perks found in the standard YouTube Premium tier. Now, it has returned, and while it still offers an alternative to constant ad interruptions, it doesn’t include some of the most useful premium features.
What Does YouTube Premium Lite Offer?
YouTube Premium Lite is basically a stripped-down version of YouTube Premium. Here’s what you get with this plan:
- Ad-free videos: Enjoy YouTube videos without interruptions from ads.
- Works across devices: The ad-free experience is available on mobile, desktop, smart TVs, and game consoles.
That’s about it. Unlike the full Premium subscription, there’s no background playback, no offline downloads, and no access to YouTube Music Premium.
What YouTube Premium Lite Doesn’t Include
To truly understand what you’re getting, it’s important to look at what isn’t included in the Lite plan:
- No YouTube Music Premium: You won’t have access to YouTube’s music streaming service, meaning you’ll still deal with ads on YouTube Music.
- No background play: Videos will stop playing as soon as you leave the app, which is a significant drawback for many users.
- No offline downloads: Unlike the regular Premium plan, Lite users can’t save videos for offline viewing.
How Much Does YouTube Premium Lite Cost?
The pricing of YouTube Premium Lite varies by country, but based on previous launches, it is often about 40% cheaper than the standard Premium tier. For example, in European countries where it was initially tested, it was priced around €6.99 per month, compared to the full YouTube Premium, which usually costs around €11.99 per month.
Is YouTube Premium Lite Worth It?
For users who only care about removing ads and don’t use YouTube Music or background play, Premium Lite could be a decent option. However, for just a few extra dollars each month, full YouTube Premium offers a significantly better experience.
Considering that many competing services like Spotify and Netflix bundle multiple features into their premium offerings, YouTube Premium Lite feels underwhelming. It removes ads but fails to provide the perks that make a paid subscription truly worthwhile.
Should You Subscribe?
Whether or not you should subscribe depends on how you use YouTube:
- If you only want an ad-free experience, YouTube Premium Lite might be enough.
- If you value background play and offline downloads, the full premium plan is a much better deal.
- If you listen to music on YouTube Music, you’ll likely find Lite too limiting.
Final Thoughts
YouTube Premium Lite is back, but it doesn’t offer much beyond an ad-free experience. While it may work for some users, the lack of background play and offline downloads make it feel like an incomplete subscription. Unless you strictly want to remove ads from YouTube videos, you’re probably better off choosing the full YouTube Premium plan for a little extra money.
