I spent a month with YouTube Premium Lite, and I'm already canceling my subscription

To say that I’ve been waiting for YouTube Premium Lite’s arrival in my country with bated breath is an understatement. For years, I wanted a version of YouTube Premium that removed ads but didn’t include extra bundled services like YouTube Music.

So, when I saw the pop-up to finally try the service appear in my YouTube app, I jumped at the opportunity. But after a month of using the subscription, I’m left with a bitter taste in my mouth.

YouTube Premium Lite had one job, and it failed

YouTube Premium has never appealed to me for one major reason — I don’t use YouTube Music, and I don’t want to switch. This aversion to YouTube Music was really cemented in my mind when I tried out its free version last year. Due to medical expenses, I had a period when I canceled all my subscriptions except Google One. Spotify’s free version is still bearable, but YouTube Music’s free experience on mobile is just untenable for me.

As such, I patiently waited for YouTube Premium Lite to arrive in South Africa. That moment arrived when Google officially launched Lite in all countries where Premium is available. I knew that the cheaper plan still includes ads on YouTube Shorts and music videos, but figured that since I don’t watch shorts, this wouldn’t really bother me.

I finally signed up for the service when it arrived, excited to be free of the ads that plague me when watching YouTube on my TV. But when I started scrolling through the app after activating my plan, I noticed that sponsored videos still appeared constantly across the app. On my TV, the first video in my recommended feed is always an ad. This didn’t change with YouTube Premium Lite.

On the mobile app, after every few videos, I saw a sponsored placement or ad. I realized that when browsing and searching for videos, Premium Lite users still receive ads. Now that I was a paying customer, this constant advertising felt infuriating. I had made peace with ads in shorts and music videos, only to realize Google had snuck ads into other parts of the app anyway. I felt like I was now paying to be advertised to.

All I wanted was a plan with no bloat that got rid of ads. Instead, I ended up giving YouTube money while still having to deal with advertisements.

Even at a lower cost, I don’t feel like I’m getting my money’s worth

When I saw the cost of YouTube Premium Lite, it wasn’t as low as I’d hoped. At R49.99 per month (about $3.1 USD), it’s 39% cheaper than YouTube Premium (R81.99). In other words, you’re paying more than half the price of Premium, but reaping far fewer benefits. By itself, YouTube Music costs R64.99 per month, yet unbundling the service from YouTube Premium only saves you R32. Then you’re still dealing with fewer features, the remaining ads, and the fact that offline downloads don’t work for every video.

In the US, YouTube Premium Lite is 43.8% cheaper than YouTube Premium. So, depending on the market you live in, your plan could offer slightly better value. But I don’t think it offers enough value for how much you’re sacrificing. Even in the US, YouTube Music costs $11.99 per month on its own, compared to $8.99 per month for Premium Lite and $15.99 per month for YouTube Premium. Sure, you save $7 by opting for Premium Lite, but you’re giving up a service that’s supposedly worth $12 a month, and you’re still getting ads and fewer features.

With YouTube Premium Lite, you also don’t get the option of a Family Plan or an annual plan. Overall, it feels like you’re paying more than half the price of YouTube Premium for less than half the value. YouTube Premium would already have been a grudge purchase for me, since Google has pushed many users onto the plan by aggressively increasing ad frequency. But getting me to pay while still serving ads regardless of what content I watched and delivering less value left a bad taste in my mouth once I was on one of its plans.

I see why so many people continue to opt out of YouTube Premium

Despite Google increasing ad frequency on videos, a recent Android Authority survey showed that the majority of our polled readers still don’t pay for YouTube Premium. Most use an ad blocker. Meanwhile, others either put up with the ads or have stopped using YouTube entirely.

And I see why. Users asked Google for a cheaper alternative to remove ads, but it couldn’t even commit to removing them completely. The refrain that a subscription supports creators rings hollow when many have to rely on video sponsors in the face of algorithmic changes. YouTube’s own blog post on its Partner Revenue Program notes that only 30% of subscription revenue from Premium and 60% from Premium Lite goes toward the revenue pool for creators. That’s a significant portion that doesn’t go to the people making the content we watch. Watching ads at least gives them 55% of revenue (though only 45% for shorts).

I get that companies have bills to pay too, but given that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently posted record profits, I’m not about to excuse any of the company’s anti-consumer antics. I want to support the creators I follow, but I also don’t want to feel like I’m constantly being ripped off.

I thought that YouTube Premium Lite would be the answer to the conundrum — allowing me to escape ads while supporting creators. But instead, the experience left me feeling like I was paying YouTube to keep showing me ads, just not as many. It’s a bad deal for me personally, and one I don’t intend to repeat.