YouTube Premium Lite unlocks two higher-tier features for Lite subscribers

YouTube’s lower-cost premium streaming offering has been given a boost by inheriting two key features from the higher-priced tier.

Known as YouTube Premium Lite, the plan costs $7.99 a month and removes most advertising from videos from across the YouTube platform. Subscribers will now also be able to download most videos for offline viewing and take advantage of background play at no extra cost.

Offline viewing is a popular option for users on the go since it doesn’t rely on having an active Internet connection to view content.

Background play allows users to stream videos on compatible mobile devices while using other apps or when the screen is off, making it a popular feature with multitaskers and users who might opt to listen only to audio while doing other things.

The upgraded features do not apply to YouTube Shorts or to music content, such as official and premium music videos, Art Tracks, children’s songs, as well as user-generated content that includes content from our music partners, YouTube notes. These restrictions typically apply to covers, dance videos or content with a popular song in the background.

First introduced in March 2025, YouTube Premium Lite is seen as a more cost-effective option for users looking to reduce in-content advertising. 

Most advertising can be removed from music content if users upgrade to the top premium tier, which costs $17.99 a month. These users also get access to YouTube Music, which includes ad-free access to over 100 million tracks and podcasts.

Lite subscribers do not get access to continue watching, jump ahead, queuing or high quality audio and video features, among other benefits.

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YouTube Premium Lite is still in the pilot stage in several markets and the Google-owned company says features will be rolled out in the coming weeks in all regions where the plan is currently sold. It did not offer a more concrete timeline.

Select marketing and help articles has also not been updated, as of this writing, to reflect the new benefits.

YouTube says it added these features based on user requests and feedback from its various pilots.

YouTube Premium stems from earlier iterations of similar video and music services known as YouTube Red and Music Key.