YouTube enhances Premium Lite plan with offline downloads, background playback
What's the story
YouTube has announced an upgrade to its affordable subscription service, YouTube Premium Lite. For $7.99 a month, the plan now offers offline downloads and background playback. These features were previously exclusive to users of the full plan costing $13.99 per month. The move comes after user feedback during a pilot program indicated demand for these specific enhancements in the subscription model.
Subscription details
What is YouTube Premium Lite?
YouTube Premium Lite, which debuted about a year ago, offered an affordable subscription tier that removed ads from "most" videos on the platform. This included content across popular categories like gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, news etc. However, music-related content and videos continued to show ads. Plus, Lite plan users didn't get access to the ad-free YouTube Music app.
Enhanced appeal
New features make Lite plan more appealing
The introduction of offline downloads and background playback makes the Premium Lite tier more appealing to customers. Previously, ad-free music content was one of the main incentives to upgrade to the full Premium subscription. Now, with these new features, users who were hesitant about paying just for ad-free content can enjoy other upgrades too.
Global expansion
Availability and growth of YouTube's subscription business
The Lite subscription tier was first launched in Thailand, Germany, and Australia, before reaching the US last year. It is now available in Canada, Brazil, the UK, India, Mexico among other countries across Europe and Asia. YouTube's subscription business has been steadily growing with its overall revenue hitting $60 billion in 2025.
Revenue increase
YouTube's ad revenue grew by 9% in Q4 2025
YouTube's ad revenue grew by 9% to $11.38 billion in Q4 2025. Meanwhile, the "subscriptions, platforms and devices" group's revenue rose by 17% to $13.6 billion in Q4 2025. This growth was attributed to strong performance in YouTube subscriptions, especially YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.