YouTube Premium’s latest price hikes have come as part of a wave of other services doing the same. For a service that offers niche upgrades over the free version, are you going to cancel YouTube Premium and go back to free?
This month marks the time YouTube Premium increased from $11.99/month to $13.99/month in the US for new and existing customers. That $2 difference seems low, but it can be boiled down to the principle and what users are getting from the higher monthly fee.
YouTube Premium does offer a slew of features that make watching videos a little bit easier. Subscribers get an ad-free experience, downloadable videos, background play, and access to YouTube Music without advertisements. The app also lists experimental features that paid users can try out for a limited time before they become public.
For some, an ad-free experience alone is worth the price to a certain degree. For others, that degree was $11.99.
The free version of YouTube is still perfectly viable. Ads are tolerable to a point and nothing besides that impedes your ability to watch videos to your heart’s content. The question does arise whether or not YouTube will start impairing the free experience beyond the regular ad to drive more toward Premium, though that hasn’t happened yet, and canceling the paid service is viable. Free YouTube is still tolerable and accessible.
The company does have an ear open. Recent posts on Twitter indicate that Google is looking for feedback before users cancel YouTube Premium. The most popular issue it seems would be limited plan options, which makes sense given that the only two available are a $14 individual plan and $23 family subscription. Adding a middle ground between free and the current single paid tier would likely go over pretty well.
This argument as to whether or not YouTube Premium is worth it is valid for all regions the subscription is available, however, the US is the only current area to experience the $2 price hike. Fortunately, other regions are still seeing $11.99/month. That could change soon, possibly depending on the company’s experience raising the price in the US.
Given the current offerings YouTube Premium has in place, are you going to keep your Premium subscription or cancel it and go back to free with ads? That $2 adds up, and the previous price point was already seemingly high for what users are getting. Let us know in the poll below, and let us know your experience in the comments section.
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