YouTube Premium price gone up in the US

YouTube Premium has raised its prices on for its subscription service in the US without any prior notice to subscribers.

First reported by 9to5Google, the adjustment was picked up by the company on the YouTube Premium sign-up page in the US.

The YouTube Premium individual plan has been bumped from $11.99 (R214) to $13.99 (R250) per month, while subscriptions through iOS will now cost $18.99 (R339).

YouTube revealed that it was doing this update on the prices in the US to “continue delivering great service and features”. The company said it believes this new price reflects the value of YouTube Premium.

What the Premium subscription does is that it lets users watch YouTube without ads, use background and offline playback, and stream music on demand with the YouTube Music app. The standalone YouTube Music Premium subscription price in the US is also increasing from $9.99 (R179) to $10.99 (R194). Existing subscribers are set to pay the new prices on their next billing cycle.

There hasn’t been any price increase for the individual Premium plans since 2018. Nobody yet knows whether or not YouTube also plans to change prices in other countries, although 9to5Google said that any future international increases should come with a 30-day notice.

YouTube substantially increased the price of its Family plan in several countries in October 2022, but did not make any changes in South Africa.

The YouTube Premium sign-up page in South Africa shows no price adjustments, nor has the company sent out price increase notifications to local subscribers.