In March this year, YouTube rolled out a cheaper Premium Lite subscription plan in the US and several other countries. It brings ad-free video playback while stripping away other Premium perks to reach a lower, more affordable monthly subscription price point of $8. YouTube is now expanding Premium Lite to more regions, including one of its biggest markets yet: India.
YouTube has updated its support page to reflect that users in India, Japan, and the Philippines can now subscribe to Premium Lite. The main highlight of Premium Lite is that it removes ads from almost all videos on YouTube, only showing them for music videos, Shorts, and when users search or browse.
Like YouTube Premium, you can enjoy an almost ad-free YouTube experience across multiple devices with the Lite plan.
If you only use YouTube for streaming videos of your favorite content creators, the cheaper Lite plan might just work for you. In India, YouTube Premium Lite costs Rs 89 per month (~$1), making it noticeably cheaper than the regular Premium subscription, which costs Rs 149 (~$1.69) monthly.
YouTube already boasts of over 125 million Premium users worldwide, and expanding the Lite subscription to a massive and price-sensitive market like India could give that number a significant boost. It will also be appealing to users, as it will provide them with a nearly ad-free YouTube experience at a fraction of the usual Premium cost.
YouTube Premium Lite makes sense if you don’t need the extras
The lower subscription price comes with a trade-off, as many features from the full Premium plan are omitted. This includes ad-free access to YouTube Music, background play, and offline playback. Still, if you only use YouTube for watching videos, the Lite plan should be more than good enough.
Google says the Premium Lite “rollout is underway” and full availability could take a few weeks. So, if you don’t see the option to subscribe to the cheaper plan now, check back after a few weeks. And if you are already subscribed to YouTube Premium, you’ll have to wait until your current subscription expires to switch to Lite.
With the addition of these three countries, YouTube Premium Lite is now available in a total of 22 countries.
