I want to cancel: YouTube Premium quietly hikes its US prices for the first time in three years, forcing many users to consider the unthinkable

Date:
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:07:04 +0000

Description:
Google has aggravated YouTube Premium subscribers once again with an unexpected price hike.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter YouTube Premium has silently raised its tier prices Google started emailing users about the change before announcing it For a lot of subscribers, this could be the last straw YouTube Premium is the latest subscription service to hike its prices in the US, but the timing couldnt be more awkward especially since it follows the controversy of its 90-second unskippable ads for free users.

As spotted by eagle-eyed users on Reddit , YouTube has already increased its monthly fees across all of its plans, including its budget Premium Lite tier which was launched only last year . With the new changes in place, subscription prices have gone up by as much as $4. The standard YouTube Premium individual plan has now increased to $15.99 a month from $13.99,
while the new Family plan fee is now $26.99 a month instead of $22.99.
YouTube Premium Lite will now cost $8.99, increasing by $1, and Music Premium is $11.99/month, up from $10.99. Article continues below You may like YouTube might be planning to charge users to use its playback-speed tool Google rolls out unskippable ads to YouTube's TV experience to lure more Premium users Furious US Netflix fans lash out over new price hike as other users look on with concern

Unlike Netflix where customers are no stranger to a frequent price increase, fee hikes don't come as often to YouTube Premium members. The last time
Google raised its subscription prices was back in 2023 when individual plans went from $11.99 to $13.99, with the Family plan increasing to $22.99 the
year before. Its safe to say that existing members are quite frustrated with this move, but its the vagueness on Googles behalf that seems to be bothering them the most.

For starters, it took Google a while to speak on the change (the company gave a statement to Variety ), leaving subscribers to find out for themselves via email. However, not everyone was informed, and those whove received emails
are still scratching their heads why is Google hiking these prices?

One user shared a screenshot of their email which detailed the following: To continue delivering great service and features, were increasing your price to $20.99 a month. We dont make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.

The thing is, users arent falling for it. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. No more YouTube premium from r/youtube The biggest difference between YouTube Premium and a platform such as Netflix is that the latter has a continuous output of original content, therefore it has somewhere valuable to invest money generated from subscription fees. Another user pointed this out , claiming that YouTube doesnt have original content on Netflixs scale to invest in, as all of its hosted content is made by creators with YouTube channels, leading users to question where their money is really going.

With this in mind, YouTube has also come under fire recently for its
90-second unskippable ads on its TV app. But despite the companys comment against claims that it is conducting secret tests, the price hikes give us a good enough reason to believe that Google is trying to lure even more free users over to the dark side but will it cost them the loyalty of long-time subscribers in the process? Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/software/i-want-to-cancel-youtube-premium- quietly-hikes-its-us-prices-for-the-first-time-in-three-years-forcing-many-use rs-to-consider-the-unthinkable


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