YouTube Upgrades $7.99 Premium Lite Plan With Great New Features

Google expanded YouTube Premium Lite from its limited pilot program to the United States back in March of 2025, and just under a year later, it has received two additional features that make it an effective alternative to YouTube Premium for users not interested in Shorts or Music.

While YouTube Premium Lite still does not offer ad-free music or music videos, or have features like Jump ahead, Queueing, or Continue Watching, which are still reserved for Premium, it offer core YouTube videos without advertisements. With this latest upgrade, it also offers video downloads and background play. So, if you use an alternative like Spotify or Apple Music and don't care about Shorts, you can easily save the extra $6 you'd spend for full-blown YouTube Premium.


Based on how the Premium and Premium Lite are structured, it's clear that Google believes YouTube Music offers a lot of value, but putting Shorts into this odd in-between category not covered by Premium Lite is quizzical. It's probably because Shorts have exploded in recent years and are highly profitable.

Another notable downside of YouTube Premium Lite is the requirement that it is paid for monthly, instead of offering the option for a discounted annual payment. If YouTube allowed a year of Premium Lite to be purchased at a similar 15% discount to Premium, that would effectively provide over a month of free coverage for users willing to pony up for the annual payment. Hopefully that option is made available at some point. For now, though, the addition of downloads and background play to Premium Lite is definitely a step in the right direction.