YouTube is testing out a slightly stripped-down version of its Premium subscription service, dubbed YouTube Premium Lite, with availability limited to select European countries for the moment.
First spotted by ResetEra user jelmerjt, Premium Lite looks to be a more affordable option for those who are solely interested in giving ads the axe. Rather than paying €11.99 per month for the full package, you’ll be able to pay €6.99 per month for ad-free viewing on both YouTube and YouTube Kids. According to The Verge, Premium Lite for the moment is only available to users in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden
That €5.00 difference between plans sees the removal of all of Premium’s extra features (aside from being ad-free). So no downloading videos to watch offline, no playing videos in the background on your mobile phone, no YouTube Music Premium, and no YouTube Originals.
The sole purpose of Premium Lite—unless YouTube decides to change anything between now and its global rollout—is to avoid seeing ads.
Whether or not it’s worth the price to avoid seeing advertisements is up to you to decide.
However, it’s worth noting that while ad-blockers will do the job for free, a Premium (and presumably Premium Lite) subscription does earn revenue for creators. So if you hate ads but still want to support your favorite channels, it’s worth considering.
As of now, YouTube has not revealed any additional details about global release dates or pricing in other countries. That being said, if regular Premium costs €11.99 in Europe and $11.99 in the US. it’s likely that Premium Lite will be around $6.99 per month when (and if) it comes stateside.
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