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YouTube is killing a cheaper ad-free plan you didn't know about
- YouTube is reportedly killing its YouTube Premium Lite offering.
- This was a cheaper ad-free YouTube plan in select markets.
YouTube Premium wasn’t the only official way to get ad-free access to YouTube, as the company also piloted a cheaper option in some countries. Now, it turns out YouTube is shutting down this cheaper tier.
YouTube recently sent an email to customers (h/t: The Verge) confirming that they were shutting down the so-called YouTube Premium Lite option.
“We’re writing to let you know that after 25 October 2023, we will no longer be offering your version of Premium Lite,” read an excerpt of the email. The company also told users that it would “continue to work on different versions of Premium Lite” based on feedback. That sounds like the Lite plan could come back at some point in a different guise.
Are you a YouTube Premium subscriber?
YouTube Premium Lite was first piloted back in 2021 in various European countries, setting you back €6.99 a month as opposed to Premium’s €11.99 monthly fee. This delivered ad-free playback but lacked other Premium perks like background playback, offline downloads, and a YouTube Music subscription.
Either way, we hope Google broadly offers a cheaper plan in the future as YouTube Premium certainly costs a pretty penny in the likes of Europe and the US.