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YouTube Premium quietly raises subscription prices
With no official announcement, YouTube is quietly charging subscribers a little more for its YouTube Premium service.
Instead of $11.99 a month, the upgraded experience will now cost $13.99 a month for Android users and $18.99 for iOS users (up from $15.99 a month). The price of an annual subscription jumped as well, from $120 to $140.
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The family plan, which increased in price last fall, remains unchanged for now at $22.99 per month.
For the increased price, YouTube Premium allows users to download videos, watch ad-free, play videos while using other apps, and other features. The ad-free part of that is important, as YouTube has been cracking down on ad-blockers over recent months. The company relies on ad revenue to keep the service free, but many users have complained about the number of ads and feel the crackdown is simply a way to push subscribers towards Premium.
The new prices, which appeared on the service's signup page earlier this week, apply to both new and current subscribers and come on the heels of other streaming price increases. Earlier this week, Netflix eliminated its lowest-cost ad-free subscription plan and Peacock announced its first-ever price increase.
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Given that the main tier of YouTube Premium hasn't increased in price since 2018, the change isn't entirely unexpected. But with prices rising for subscriptions and services everywhere, some people will certainly decide it's not worth the cost.
The cost of the company's Music Premium service is also increasing to $10.99 per month from $9.99. That price hike, which was announced by YouTube, was expected given similar changes by both Amazon and Apple to their music services.
Across both Premium and Music, the two YouTube services have more than 80 million subscribers.