Those signed up to an Individual or Student YouTube Premium plan will soon pay more each month for their subscription. The price increase is already in effect for those signing up to YouTube’s Premium and Student plans for the first time as well as those restarting a subscription.
A price increase for these plans was probably to be expected considering YouTube increased the price of a Family Premium plan late last year. That price increase took the cost up to $22.99 a month and also affected legacy Family plan subscribers as well.
Now, a similar situation is unfolding for those signed up to the other plans. If signing up today to the Individual plan, new subscribers will pay $13.99 a month, $2 more than they would have paid before. Likewise, the cost of an Individual annual plan has increased by $20 per year to $139.99. As for the Student monthly plan, that has now increased $1 to $7.99 a month.
Similar to the situation for Family plan subscribers, those already signed up to an Individual or Student YouTube Premium plan can expect their subscription cost to increase, accordingly. As users are billed on different dates, depending on when they signed up, the exact date they will begin paying the higher rate will depend on their individual billing cycle.
For reference, YouTube only recently rolled out a number of upgrades and improvements to the Premium experience. These included the availability of an ‘enhanced bitrate’ version of 1080p, SharePlay support for iOS users, expanded support for queuing to phones and tablets, and the ability to continue watching across different devices.
Whether or not it is worth a home remaining subscribed to YouTube Premium following the latest price increases, will depend on the needs (and budget) of the individual home.
In general, the main benefits of a YouTube Premium subscription include ad-free viewing on all videos (including full-length movies), ad-free listening via YouTube Music, and the ability to download videos for offline playback on supported devices.
