YouTube Premium's new plan is good enough to ditch ad-blockers

Skip to main content Comment YouTube YouTube Premium YouTube finally gave you a proper alternative to ad-blockers, and now it’s time to pay Will Sattelberg | Feb 25 2026 - 7:30 am PT YouTube has spent the bulk of its existence fighting against unsanctioned download sites and ad-blockers, but the past few years have seen Google really ramp up its war. Ad-blocking users have been treated to missing comments and video descriptions, error messages, missing view counts, increased buffering, loading failures, and much, much more. I get it — no one likes ads, and YouTube’s ads in particular have gone from 5-second pre-rolls and mid-video breaks to something far more in line with traditional streaming services. Modern YouTube ads often feel like they’re overwhelming the video that surrounds them. But with this week’s changes to YouTube Premium Lite, I’m here to say the war is over, and unfortunately for those who like to keep their video platforms free from both unwanted charges and interruptions, it’s Google that’s won. For the first time since the launch of paid YouTube plans, I think Google is offering a rock-solid plan that delivers the bulk of what users want without unnecessary bloat or frustrating restrictions. If you hate the act of watching YouTube today but can’t imagine living without it, well, it’s time to put your wallet where your mouth is. Google’s YouTube Premium Lite plan, at launch and following this week’s changes. I’m not trying to sound like a shill for YouTube. It’s a deeply flawed video site without a much-needed competitor to keep it in check — and no, I don’t count TikTok or Instagram Reels in my comparison. YouTube has a fairly negative relationship with many of its creators, often changing terms on the fly or issuing takedown notices without enough clarity into the reasoning behind it. I don’t need to summarize two decades of YouTube controversies; if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have the worst ones committed to memory. I will, however, defend YouTube Premium. As a day-one Google Play Music subscriber, I’m still on a grandfathered $8/month plan that I’ve carried for nearly 15 years (seriously, it’ll be 15 years this May). That was a great deal for a music streaming subscription at the time, and although I’ve since moved away from Google’s music services following the transition to YouTube Music (something you can hear discussed at length in a recent episode of my podcast The Sideload below), I’ve never once thought about dropping this monthly charge from my credit card. Advertisement - scroll for more content YouTube Premium is a godsend. I’ll admit I don’t use downloads particularly often — a feature my career makes unfortunately annoying, because you can’t manually revoke authentication from devices, and I review a lot of Android phones, so please, Google, fix this — but ad-free viewing and background play are all but necessary if you’re frequenting YouTube more than a couple of times a week. However, at $14 per month, I can understand why even heavy users are hesitant to sign up, especially if you already pay around that much for a music streaming that you aren’t looking to replace. When Google launched YouTube Premium Lite in the US last year, I was really hoping this was the plan I could finally recommend to my friends. Ditching the YouTube Music bundle meant the monthly price dropped to $8 per month, but it came with so many caveats even I could feel my head spinning. Ads remaining on music videos weren’t particularly surprising — if these videos were ad-free, why would you pay for YouTube Music? — but the lack of video downloads and background play meant an ad-free experience is all your $8 subscription earned you. One step forward, eight steps back. But after a particularly hostile 2025, YouTube’s Premium Lite plan is finally what I’d hoped for from the start. With today’s changes, $8 per month now scores you downloads and background play on all non-music, non-Shorts uploads — and that’s most of YouTube. The company’s support page still warns that ads “may” still appear when searching or browsing the site, but this is immediately a much more appealing proposition than anything offered by this plan over the past 12 months. If you’re someone who’s been on the fence, this does seem like the perfect time to finally sign up. I’m sure the comments section will be filled with people calling for my head for daring to suggest paying to improve an experience that YouTube has made unnecessarily annoying to interact with. Honestly, I really do get why someone might feel like they’re being held hostage here, and by no means do I think those feelings are invalid. But the rise of AI-generated content and ad rates that are practically in freefall means the entire internet, for better or for worse, is moving in the direction of paywalls, Patreon plans, and other ways of generating income. For as big as they are, YouTube isn’t immune to any of that. Top comment by GoldController Liked by 29 people Many will never pay YT a cent due to its extreme censorship. Adults covering news cannot even say certain words, say, pertaining to violence and war. YT says it's for advertiser friendliness, yet large media organizations are not effected. Just one example. View all comments And, again, as a Premium subscriber who has seen what current ads look like whenever my partner uses their (non-paid) account on our living room TV, allow me to say: not having to jump through hoops rocks. You really can’t discount how nice it is to log into any device to watch a video without having to worry about two minutes of pre-roll. No third-party YouTube clients that can shut down at any time, no ad-blockers that cause outages or missing features every couple of months. Just… watching a video. At the end of the day, utilizing ad-blockers on YouTube hurts creators just as much as it hurts the overarching corporation — arguably more, when you consider the scale. YouTube Premium Lite is, for a lot of people, an affordable-enough plan that I don’t see enough reason to put up with this war anymore. I have no doubt plenty of people will refuse to surrender, and in fact, will see this very argument as some sort of corporate apologia. But I just want to watch the next four-hour Jenny Nicholson video in peace, and now, YouTube’s improved Premium Lite plan is going to make that a lot more affordable for a lot more people. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: Guides YouTube YouTube is Google's massive video streaming plat… YouTube Premium Author Will Sattelberg will_sattelberg Will Sattelberg is a writer and podcaster at 9to5Google. You can reach out to Will at will@9to5mac.com, or find him on Twitter @will_sattelberg