YouTube has introduced Premium Lite, a new subscription tier that costs less than the standard Premium plan. Unlike the full Premium service, which offers features like ad-free viewing, video downloads, and background playback, Premium Lite focuses on providing a more basic experience with fewer features.
The image below shows the differences between YouTube Premium and YouTube Premium Lite.
Subscribers to Premium Lite will not have access to offline downloads or background play.
However, the service aims to remove ads from the majority of videos, particularly in categories such as gaming, fashion, beauty, and news. However, YouTube has specified that ads might still be present in music-related content, YouTube Shorts, and while searching or browsing.
YouTube Premium Lite is priced $6 less than the full Premium plan, which costs $13.99, offering an annual saving of $72. Whether this plan suits you depends on how you use YouTube.
Currently, Premium Lite is being tested in the US, with plans to expand to Germany, Thailand, and Australia soon. These countries were part of an earlier pilot phase. YouTube also aims to introduce Premium Lite to more countries throughout the year, potentially including Pakistan.
YouTube has announced that its Premium service now boasts over 125 million subscribers worldwide, including those on trial plans. The introduction of Premium Lite seems aimed at appealing to a wider audience, particularly those who value an ad-free experience over extras like YouTube Music or the ability to download videos.
