YouTube expands its $7.99 per month Lite plan with offline downloads and background playback

YouTube is rolling out upgrades to its lower-priced Premium Lite subscription, priced at $7.99 per month. The company said the plan will now include two features previously reserved for the full Premium tier: the ability to download videos for offline viewing and the option to play videos in the background while using other apps or even when the screen is turned off. Those capabilities were formerly available only through YouTube’s standard Premium plan, priced at $13.99 per month.

YouTube said the decision to add these features came directly from user feedback. Customers participating in the service’s pilot program reportedly asked for offline downloads and background playback, saying those additions would make Premium Lite feel like a stronger value and a more compelling subscription.

Introduced last March, YouTube Premium Lite offered a cheaper alternative for people who wanted fewer ads without paying for the full Premium package. The Lite tier removes ads from “most” videos on the platform, including content in major categories such as gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, news, and more. However, ads still appear on music-focused content and music videos. In addition, Lite subscribers do not receive access to the ad-free YouTube Music app, which remains tied to the full Premium subscription.

With offline downloads and background playback now included in Premium Lite, ad-free music is the primary reason users step up to the full Premium plan. This change also likely makes the Lite subscription more appealing to people who didn’t want to pay solely for ad-free viewing but were interested in other Premium-like conveniences.

The Premium Lite plan first launched in Thailand, Germany, and Australia before expanding to the United States last year. YouTube has since made the plan available in additional markets, including Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, India, Mexico, and other regions across Europe and Asia.

YouTube’s subscription business has continued to expand alongside its advertising revenue. Alphabet said earlier this month during its Q4 earnings report that YouTube’s combined revenue from subscriptions and advertising reached $60 billion in 2025.

Alphabet also reported that YouTube’s ad revenue grew 9% to $11.38 billion in the fourth quarter. At the same time, the company said revenue from its “subscriptions, platforms and devices” segment rose 17% to $13.6 billion in Q4. Alphabet attributed that increase to strong growth in YouTube subscriptions, especially YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.

Alphabet previously disclosed that YouTube Music and YouTube Premium had surpassed 125 million users worldwide as of March 2025. The company did not provide a more recent total during its Q4 earnings earlier this month. Still, it said it now has more than 325 million paid subscriptions across its consumer services, including YouTube Premium and other products such as Google One.