To address this, YouTube introduced a few years ago a kind of lightened version of the full YouTube Premium subscription, called YouTube Premium Lite.
The main difference of Premium Lite compared to the full version is that ads are shown as usual with music videos. Other video content is ad-free (with certain, relatively rare exceptions) for Premium Lite subscribers.
Another significant difference is that the full version of the Premium subscription also includes the YouTube Music Premium music service, which Premium Lite does not include.
Like the full version, YouTube Premium Lite allows you to play videos in the background, even when the phone screen is off - meaning videos can be used as a kind of podcast substitute, as audio only.
Unfortunately, Premium Lite has only been available in a handful of countries: for example, in Europe, most countries don't have it as of now.
Now YouTube has confirmed that YouTube Premium Lite will soon be available worldwide. Exact date and price in each country hasn't been revealed yet, but in those countries where it is already available, YouTube Premium Lite costs about half what the "full" YouTube Premium costs.
Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 10 Aug 2026 17:13
