Another Round of Fee Increases Hits YouTube Premium Subscribers

YouTube Premium raised prices for individual and family plans in over a dozen countries on September 21, with some users seeing increases of over 50%, prompting cancellations.

This latest round of price increases primarily targets European countries. According to the Reddit thread below, some prices have surged by over 40%, shocking many users. The most significant changes are in Sweden, Singapore, and Colombia, where the family plan increased by more than 50%.

YouTube Premium increases in over 10 countries! Family Plan hits nearly 40 USD in one of them!
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Notably, users who subscribed through Apple faced even greater increases. One Reddit user in Sweden experienced a 60% hike, which appears to be a “tax” for using Apple’s billing. In contrast, those who subscribe directly through Google see lower increases. However, if users switch from Apple to Google, they’ll still face higher costs.

A notification regarding the price hike was sent to subscribers of the YouTube Premium family plan | Source: ST READER

Google’s email to users about the price hike states that the increase is necessary “to continue delivering great service and features” and “support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.” Similar language has appeared in earlier communications, such as when there were US price hikes last summer.

Last year, YouTube raised the Premium price for U.S. subscribers from $12 to $14, which may lead to cancellations. In June, the platform began testing server-side ad injection, making ads harder to skip and causing issues for some ad blockers, prompting Google to promote YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience.

The new increase also follows YouTube’s efforts to target users signing up via VPNs to access cheaper subscriptions, with prices varying significantly by country (e.g., $14 in the U.S. vs. $2.44 in Ukraine). The platform is now prompting users to update their billing information if their signup location doesn’t match their current access country, resulting in membership cancellations.

Many users are canceling their subscriptions, with one from Denmark stating that the increase makes YouTube the priciest streaming service, exceeding the total cost of HBO, Amazon Prime, and Netflix combined.