I was skeptical, but YouTube Premium Lite is the best value in streaming

Summary

YouTube Premium Lite offers nearly ad-free experience for $8/month
Limited ads on some content such as music videos
Missing features include YouTube Music, downloads, background play

Let’s be real for a second. Nobody likes ads, but the way the world is going, it’s getting harder and harder to live without them. Ad blockers can only take you so far, and while it’s nice to have that as an option on my computer, my TV and phone aren’t as fortunate. YouTube Premium is a subscription service that lets me ditch the ads for $14 a month, but I came to the realization that the price was too high, so I eventually ditched the service.

Unfortunately, it led me back into a world filled with ads, and there was no way for me to get around that without paying the price. I kept my fingers crossed for a cheaper option, and it finally arrived in the form of YouTube Premium Lite. If you want a way to nearly eliminate ads on YouTube without breaking the bank, Premium Lite is a good option. It doesn’t come with as many bells and whistles as the full-fat Premium does, but that’s not what it sets out to do.

Editor’s Choice

YouTube Premium Lite

YouTube Premium Lite removes most ads from YouTube for $8 a month.

Pros & Cons

Lower price than Premium
Next to no ads
Easy to sign up and cancel
Works across all devices

No YouTube Music Premium subscription
No background play or ability to download videos

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Price, availability, and specs

A cheaper alternative

YouTube / Pocket-lint

YouTube Premium Lite cuts down Premium’s price from $14 to $8 a month. This comes at the price of losing YouTube Music, so it might be worth staying on the more expensive service if you utilize that subscription. Speaking for myself, I don’t use YouTube Music often at all, so it was well worth it for me to pay a lower price for what I want Premium for.

As of right now, Premium Lite is only available in the United States, Thailand, Germany, and Australia. Even if you live in one of those countries, your mileage may vary. I had to sign up using a different account entirely since my main profile didn’t have the option for Premium Lite despite being a Premium subscriber in the past. In the end, there was no harm, no foul, but it’s annoying to resubscribe to all my favorite channels again.

For this price, you get no ads on all regular videos, but there are limited ads elsewhere. You’ll notice a banner ad occasionally on the home page, and you’ll run into them when you load up a music video. Also missing is the ability to download videos and background play, so Premium Lite is a stripped-down experience. There’s not anything wrong with that, but it’s something to be aware of before choosing a plan.

YouTube Premium Lite

Free trial: 1-month free trial
Ads: Most content ad-free
Downloads and background play: No

What I like about YouTube Premium Lite

Not many changes for me

Premium Lite is undoubtedly a service with less value than the regular Premium, but that’s precisely what I like the most about it. Intrusive ads are gone from anything I watch, and I get to pay a lower price. I didn’t use YouTube Music, download videos, or use background play at all, so losing out on all that doesn’t mean a thing to me.

The best thing Premium Lite has going for it is an ad-free experience for a lower price. For me, the biggest boost comes from having no ads on my TV as that’s increasingly become the way I watch YouTube. Swapping over from Premium to Lite has been a seamless experience, and I can’t imagine ever going back to the full-fledged version. While there are still ads for certain videos, there hasn’t been anything that’s affected me yet.

Everything is very straightforward as all you have to do is sign up and start watching videos. You can change your subscription any time you want through your Purchases and Memberships tab, so upgrading to regular Premium or canceling is just a few clicks away. To be completely honest, there aren’t a lot of differences between Lite and regular Premium. If you’re in it for an ad-free experience, I see no downside to downgrading the service. You miss out on some things that you may value more than I do, but I believe it’s a worthy trade-off.

After 1,400 hours watched I can’t give up this streaming service

YouTube Premium has become so valuable to me that it’s hard to imagine parting with it.

What I don’t like about YouTube Premium Lite

It loses value for some people

While it’s not a glaring issue for me, it’s easy to see how other people might be disappointed when signing up for a Premium Lite membership. The biggest loss is a YouTube Music subscription. While Spotify or Apple Music might be bigger names, YouTube Music works all the same, and it’s included with a Premium subscription. Signing up for Spotify costs $12 on its own for an individual plan, so you can save a lot of cash if you want an ad-free experience on YouTube while still maintaining a music subscription. For what it’s worth, I didn’t have any issues when I tried YouTube Music, I just didn’t use it enough to justify paying for the higher Premium tier.

Another feature that you miss out on is the ability to download videos. This is nice to do when you’re going somewhere without the internet, perhaps on a road trip or flight — you can download hours of videos beforehand to have something to entertain you. I never felt the need for something like that, but I’m sure there are people who see a lot of value there.

These are the two big things missing from Premium Lite in my eyes, so it’s important to weigh your needs before signing up. Ultimately, regular Premium is $6 more than Lite, and if you think you can get more mileage out of it, it’s far from a bad deal. For me, I wouldn’t use the extra features, so it’s a better deal for me to cut it out and go with Lite. It’s also worth mentioning there’s not a family plan for Premium Lite, so the regular Premium family plan is all you have if you want to save costs with extra accounts.

YouTube app on an iPhone with a purple background.

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I say go for it

YouTube

Ads are such a nuisance, so if you can spare a few bucks a month to completely avoid them, I say it’s more than worth the price. Since more people are using YouTube on devices other than their computers nowadays, regular ad blockers don’t cut it anymore. This means you need to subscribe to get rid of the ads, and Premium Lite is a great choice for that.

Both Premium and Premium Lite have their share of pros and cons, so if you do your research beforehand, it’s really hard to go wrong. For anybody in it for the ad-free experience, Lite is more than good enough. The limited ads you see don’t ever feel intrusive, and on my TV I don’t notice anything different at all. It’s only on my desktop that I’ve noticed banner ads, and even those are rare. At $8, it’s worth signing up for at least a month to see if you like it. If you’re anything like me, your subscription won’t ever lapse again because you’ve become too accustomed to a life without interruptions.