YouTube Premium vs. YouTube Premium Lite: Are the upgrades worth the $6 difference?

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If you're bushed of YouTube ads, you mightiness beryllium inclined to acquisition YouTube Premium to circumvent them. YouTube Premium includes different perks, specified arsenic picture-in-picture streaming and a unified rank with YouTube Music for $14/month. However, YouTube offers a mid-tier YouTube Premium Lite rank that limits ads and besides offers picture-in-picture streaming.

Also: YouTube launches cheaper Premium Lite program - but are the trade-offs worthy it?

You mightiness take the YouTube Premium rank if you privation a wholly ad-free acquisition and each of the premium benefits. Still, you mightiness take the Lite rank to debar the drawbacks of the escaped tier astatine a little cost.

Here's everything you should cognize earlier making a decision.

Specifications

You should take YouTube Premium if…

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

1. You privation to bundle videos and euphony

A YouTube Premium subscription includes ad-free video-watching and a YouTube Music subscription. If you're consenting to cancel an $11/month Apple Music oregon $13/month Spotify subscription, you tin power to YouTube Premium for $14/month.

Unlike Apple Music, YouTube Music lacks lossless audio and Dolby Atmos, and dissimilar Spotify, it lacks a broad audiobook library. However, with a subscription, you tin entree euphony videos connected YouTube ad-free, and YouTube Music offers respective fashionable podcasts ad-free. 

2. You can't basal ads - period

If you can't basal these ads, particularly if you ticker YouTube much than you ticker Netflix oregon Hulu, you'd payment greatly from a YouTube Premium subscription. With a subscription, each videos connected YouTube and YouTube Kids are ad-free, you tin download videos to play offline, and you tin proceed playing a video adjacent with your surface locked.

Also: How to download YouTube videos for escaped - 2 casual and reliable methods I ever use

YouTube ads scope from governmental ads and section concern messaging to obscure mobile games and AI-generated ads. If you're lucky, you tin skip them successful 30 seconds oregon less, portion different times, the ads tally for 60+ seconds. On mobile, you'll often brushwood 2 unskippable ads passim your video.

You should take YouTube Premium Lite if…

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1. You can't warrant $14/month

Although you hatred YouTube ads, you can't bring yourself to wage $14/month to eradicate them. Fortunately, a Lite subscription is $8/month, but not each videos are ad-free. According to YouTube, ad-free contented is disposable lone for gaming, fashion, beauty, and quality videos. Music contented and YouTube Shorts whitethorn inactive incorporate ads. 

A Lite subscription besides lets you download videos to play offline and proceed playing videos with your surface locked, but these features are limited. YouTube Shorts, authoritative euphony videos, and user-generated contented featuring songs from YouTube's partners are excluded from download and inheritance play wrong this subscription tier. 

2. You don't privation to power from Spotify oregon Apple Music

If you aren't acceptable to portion ways with Spotify oregon Apple Music, YouTube Premium Lite is the champion mediate crushed to upgrade your YouTube relationship without overpaying for unused features. 

Also: Spotify vs. YouTube Music: I paid for some services, and this 1 was much worthy it

Although a YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscription bundle is much cost-effective than a Spotify oregon Apple Music subscription positive YouTube Premium Lite, you mightiness forego your favourite features to prevention a fewer bucks a month.

If you ticker a batch of YouTube, chances are your preferred videos are compatible with the Lite subscription's ad-free parameters. And now, you tin adjacent ticker videos successful picture-in-picture mode with lone a Lite subscription, making the pricier Premium tier hardware to justify.

Writer's choice

I ticker a batch of YouTube and person ne'er been capable to bring myself to wage for YouTube Premium, contempt my vexation with persistent ads. I'd beryllium overmuch much consenting to wage for YouTube Premium Lite, since astir videos volition beryllium ad-free, I wouldn't overpay for a YouTube Music subscription I wouldn't usage (I americium loyal to Apple Music), and it's lone $8/month.