YouTube beefs up its $7.99/month Lite subscription with offline downloads and background play

YouTube is expanding its much affordable, $7.99 per period Premium Lite subscription work with caller features, including the quality to download videos for offline entree and ticker videos successful the background, adjacent if the surface is disconnected oregon you’re utilizing different apps. These options were antecedently lone disposable to customers connected its full plan, which costs $13.99 per month.

The institution said the additions were the effect of idiosyncratic feedback, arsenic customers successful its aviator programme shared that they wanted these circumstantial features to marque the subscription much attractive.

Launched past March, YouTube Premium Lite introduced a much modestly priced subscription tier that would region ads from “most” videos connected the platform, including those crossed fashionable verticals similar gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, news, and more. However, ads would proceed to beryllium shown connected euphony contented and euphony videos. Plus, customers connected the Lite program won’t person entree to the ad-free YouTube Music app.

With the accomplishment of these caller features, ad-free euphony contented volition present beryllium the lone crushed to upgrade to the afloat Premium subscription. It volition besides apt marque the Lite tier much charismatic to customers who didn’t privation to wage conscionable for ad-free contented but wanted different upgrades, arsenic well.

The Lite subscription tier was archetypal introduced successful Thailand, Germany, and Australia, earlier coming to the U.S. past year. It’s present disposable crossed a fig of other planetary markets, including Canada, Brazil, the U.K., India, Mexio and different parts of Europe and Asia.

YouTube’s subscription concern has been steadily growing. Combined with ads, YouTube’s wide gross reached $60 cardinal successful 2025, according to accusation shared by genitor institution Alphabet earlier this period during Q4 earnings.

The institution besides reported that YouTube’s advertisement gross accrued 9% to $11.38 cardinal successful the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, the “subscriptions, platforms and devices” group’s gross accrued 17% to $13.6 cardinal successful Q4, which the institution attributed to beardown maturation successful YouTube subscriptions, peculiarly YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.

Alphabet reported much than 125 cardinal YouTube Music and YouTube Premium users worldwide successful March 2025. The institution didn’t stock an updated metric during its Q4 net earlier this month, but said that it present has much than 325 cardinal paid subscriptions crossed user services, including YouTube Premium and others, similar Google One.