YouTube is the most used streaming platform globally, as you can find any type of content – short–form, long–form, and so much more available! With so many videos available free of charge, you might ask – why am I being pushed to subscribe to YouTube Premium? Does it justify the price tag?
In this article, we will answer the question that bothers many: is YouTube Premium worth the subscription and a few tricks that can help you access a cheaper YouTube Premium plan?
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium is a subscription–based premium service offered by YouTube. It provides ad–free streaming of all videos, offline and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to exclusive original content, and more.
The paid service by Google started in 17 years about four years ago but later expanded to 95 countries worldwide, although it’s temporarily unavailable in The Russian Federation.
Now that you have an idea of what this service means, let’s see the benefits of using it.
Advantages of using YouTube Premium
Here is a list of a few perks of subscribing to Google’s services.
Ad–free experience when watching YouTube videos
YouTube offers so much value, and this is why it’s a go–to choice for billions of YouTube video watchers around the world.
However, if you’re not subscribed to the YouTube premium plan, you might get fed up with those pesky ads interrupting your YouTube videos; there is a solution. You can sign up for YouTube Premium, which gives you an ad–free experience when watching videos.
But when you have no ads, this means you can watch YouTube across all devices, and all content will be without ads. That will definitely lead to a better user experience.
Of course, some might argue that there are other free ways to watch YouTube without ads, like free ad blockers, but some of them might harm your PC or mobile phone, so be careful if you want to proceed with such tools.
Will YouTube Premium stop YouTube TV ads?
Yes, even though it’s a different service, you can watch YouTube TV without ads if you’re subscribed to YouTube Premium.
Watching videos offline
With a YouTube Premium plan, you can watch videos offline on your devices. This means you won’t need an internet connection to stream videos from YouTube. You can also download videos to your device so you can watch them later, even if you’re not connected to the internet.
Every YouTube Premium subscriber can download the video and watch it when they commute to work or if they do not have Internet access (for example, when abroad).
We need to mention something, though. You cannot download videos in 4K, as only Full HD videos are currently supported.
Still, if you want to download some music playlist to play in the airplane or watch a vlog, offline video streaming might be the perfect option for you!
Stream videos while switching between apps
If you’re someone who uses their phone for entertainment while they do other things, then you know how important it is to have YouTube Premium. Without YouTube Premium, you can’t play videos in the background, which is quite annoying, as many other streaming apps let you do that.
However, the YouTube Premium plan allows you to stream videos while switching between apps. This allows you to listen to your favorite YouTubers while still using your phone for other things.
Access to original Premium content
YouTube offers a variety of content, some of which is available only to subscribers of the paid plan.
With YouTube Premium, you get access to premium content that you can’t find anywhere else. This includes ad–free videos, exclusive channels, and access to YouTube Originals.
YouTube Music Premium and Google Play music for free
When you subscribe to YouTube Premium, you automatically gain access to Google Play Music. This vastly underhyped service has a library of over 40 million songs, ad–free listening, and offline playback.
You can also create custom radio stations and listen to recommended tracks based on your listening history. Although it doesn’t have the same social features as Spotify, Google Play Music is an excellent option for anyone looking for a comprehensive music streaming service.
However, if you make a detailed comparison between Google Play Music and Spotify, you may realize that the latter isn’t better by much, but with YouTube Premium, it’s only one of the perks.
YouTube Premium Plan – is it worth it?
You are probably a YouTube fan, and you might be wondering if the YouTube Premium plan is worth it. After all, it does offer some benefits that free users don’t get, like viewing without ads and access to Google Play Music. So what’s the catch?
Before you sign up for YouTube Premium, there’s one important thing to remember: dynamic pricing applies. This means that users across the globe will pay different amounts for the service based on their location. In other words, if you’re in the United States, you’ll probably pay more than someone in India for the same service.
So is YouTube Premium worth it? That really depends on how much you value watching content without advertisements and access to YouTube Originals. If those things are important to you, then YouTube Premium may be worth the price.
However, in many Western European countries, it’s even higher than that – Swiss customers pay almost $17 per month, while in Denmark, you have to pay $16.83.
And with the YouTube Premium family plan, you might see yourself paying even more, especially after the October price hike when the fees were indexed in many countries.
Now, you have to pay $22.99 in the US, CA$ 22.99 in Canada, and in the UK, the family plan increased from $17.99 to £19.99, and there were quite a few notable increases, as reported by TechCrunch.
Can I stream YouTube Premium for free?
No, you can’t stream YouTube Premium for free, but a YouTube Premium free trial is available. With the free trial, you can enjoy YouTube Premium’s benefits for a limited time. After the trial ends, you’ll be charged the monthly price unless you cancel.
You can now enjoy 1 month for free, which is considered more than enough to see if it will serve your needs.
And although you can’t get the service for free, there are some good options to get a discounted price.
How to save money from a YouTube Premium subscription?
What if we told you there is a way to legally save money from your plan price without visiting dodgy websites and seeking a “hack” for YouTube Premium? Let’s see two ways that will see you pay less for your subscription without putting your laptop or mobile phone at risk.
Using a VPN to tackle high prices
YouTube Premium is a great service that allows you to download videos and watch them offline, but the price can be a bit high for some people. Luckily, there’s a way to get around this: using a VPN.
A VPN, or virtual private network, is a tool that encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server in another location. This has a few benefits: first, it can help you bypass geographical restrictions, like if you’re trying to watch a video only available in certain countries. Second, it can hide your IP address from websites, which can be handy for preventing targeted ads and other unwanted attention. And third, it can help you save money on services like YouTube Premium.
How does this work? Since your traffic is routed through a server in another location, you can trick websites into thinking you’re accessing them elsewhere. You can access region-locked content and get around price differences between countries.
As a result, you save a significant amount of money from your YouTube Premium plan with a VPN. However, we need to mention that not all VPNs are suitable for YouTube, so we advise you to check our article with the best YouTube VPNs.
While many prevalent articles say that using a server in Argentina is the best option, this statement isn’t exactly true. Argentina might be not far away from Canada and the US, but you’ll suffer from much slower speeds in Europe or Asia.
As a result, logging from Ukraine or Turkey might be the best option for European and African users, while an Indian server might be your ultimate bet if you’re located in Asia or Australia.
Final words
YouTube Premium is a great option for those who want to get the most out of their YouTube experience. For a monthly fee, you access YouTube without any ads, as well as access to exclusive content and features. While the price may seem steep at first, there are ways to get discounts on YouTube Premium subscriptions – if you’re a student, there’s an obviously great choice at your disposal, but even if you’re older, you’re not out of luck, as VPNs can be an excellent way to get a better deal.