YouTube is expanding its $7.99 per month Premium Lite subscription with offline video downloads and background play. Previously, these features were exclusive to the full Premium plan, which costs $13.99 per month. The company stated the additions resulted from user feedback, as pilot program participants requested these options to make the subscription more attractive.
YouTube Premium Lite launched in March as a lower-cost tier that removes ads from “most” videos, including content in gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, and news. However, the plan continues to display ads on music content and music videos, and it does not include access to the ad-free YouTube Music app. With the addition of offline downloads and background play, ad-free music content remains the only significant differentiator between the Lite and full Premium tiers.
Premium Lite first launched in Thailand, Germany, and Australia. It expanded to the U.S. last year and is currently available in Canada, Brazil, the U.K., India, Mexico, and parts of Europe and Asia.
According to parent company Alphabet’s Q4 earnings report, YouTube’s overall revenue, combining ads and subscriptions, reached $60 billion in 2025. YouTube’s ad revenue grew 9% to $11.38 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenue for the “subscriptions, platforms and devices” group rose 17% to $13.6 billion in Q4, driven by growth in YouTube subscriptions.
Alphabet reported more than 125 million YouTube Music and Premium users worldwide in March 2025. As of Q4 earnings, the company reported over 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, including YouTube Premium and Google One.
