The price of YouTube Premium has increased to $13.99 per month in the US, a $2 increase compared to what it used to cost. That’s according to Google’s sign-up page for the servicewhich has been quietly updated to reflect the new price, which was the first spotted by 9to5Google. In addition to the monthly price increase, the cost of an annual subscription to YouTube Premium increases by $20 to $139.99.
What’s currently unclear is if and when the YouTube Premium price increase might apply to existing subscribers. When Google last increased the ad-free price of YouTube as part of its 2018 rebrand from “YouTube Red” to “YouTube Premium,” former YouTube Red subscribers were able to continue paying the old price of $9.99 per month. 9to5Google Abner Li reports that YouTube is still honoring this lower price on his personal account five years after the rebrand.
More recently, however, YouTube hasn’t been so generous. When it raised the price of its Premium family plan for new signups last October, existing subscribers had to pay the higher price starting the following month. We’ve reached out to Google for more information, including details on whether this week’s price increases will apply internationally.
YouTube Premium offers a collection of functionality improvements to the video streaming platform. Subscribers can watch YouTube videos ad-free and download them to watch without an internet connection. There’s also support for background playback, so subscribers can listen to the audio of a video while using other apps or with their phone screen turned off. More recently, Google updated YouTube Premium with a higher quality 1080p steam option on select platforms. And most importantly, a subscription puts an end to Google’s incessant nagging.
