YouTube beefs up its $7.99/month Lite subscription with offline downloads and background play
Source: TechCrunch
New Features
YouTube is expanding its more affordable $7.99 per month Premium Lite subscription with two new features:
- Offline downloads – users can save videos for playback without an internet connection.
- Background play – videos continue playing when the screen is off or when users switch to other apps.
These capabilities were previously limited to the full Premium plan ($13.99 per month) and were added in response to feedback from Lite pilot participants.
Original Lite Offering
When it launched in March 2025, YouTube Premium Lite provided an ad‑free experience on “most” videos across categories such as gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, and news, while ads remained on music content and music videos. The tier also did not include access to the ad‑free YouTube Music app.
Availability
The Lite tier debuted in Thailand, Germany, and Australia before arriving in the United States. It is now offered in many additional markets, including:
- Canada
- Brazil
- United Kingdom
- India
- Mexico
- Various European and Asian countries
(Full list of supported locations: )
Financial Impact
- Combined with ad revenue, YouTube’s total revenue reached $60 billion in 2025 (Alphabet Q4 earnings).
- YouTube ad revenue grew 9 % to $11.38 billion in Q4 2025.
- The “subscriptions, platforms and devices” segment rose 17 % to $13.6 billion in Q4, driven largely by growth in YouTube Music and YouTube Premium subscriptions.
Alphabet reported more than 125 million YouTube Music and YouTube Premium users worldwide as of March 2025 and over 325 million paid subscriptions across its consumer services (including Google One) later in the year.