YouTube Premium is now more expensive — here's how I make it worth the money

It's nothing new to see subscription prices go up these days. Almost every service seems to be getting more expensive year after year.

But if there's one subscription I still find myself justifying despite the price hikes, it's probably YouTube Premium.

The problem, though, is that YouTube keeps raising the price.

The latest YouTube Premium increase has now kicked in across the US, with some plans seeing prices rise by as much as $4 per month.

And that makes it much harder to justify paying for the service month after month.

Yet despite using YouTube Premium for years and now paying the higher price, I've still found myself sticking with it.

The reason is simple: There are a handful of features bundled into the subscription that I use every single day, and they've become surprisingly difficult to live without.

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These two features are still worth paying for

Ad-free viewing and background playback remain the biggest draws

Let's get the obvious one out-of-the-way first: Ad-free viewing is still the biggest reason to subscribe to YouTube Premium.

I watch YouTube for at least an hour and a half every day, and with YouTube aggressively increasing the number and length of ads, especially on smart TVs, where some ad breaks can stretch well beyond a minute, I can't see myself going back to the ad-supported experience.

Being able to watch videos without interruptions simply makes YouTube feel the way it was meant to be used. It's still the primary reason I continue paying for the subscription.

If these were the only benefits, I'd probably still pay for YouTube Premium.

The next big one is background playback. I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts and long-form discussions on YouTube.

With the FIFA World Cup now underway, I'll probably be listening to football analysis and match discussions for an hour or two almost every day.

The problem is that regular YouTube doesn't let you continue listening when you leave the app or lock your phone.

Background playback remains locked behind YouTube Premium, and that feature alone is enough to keep me subscribed.

Don't overlook YouTube Premium's lesser-known perks

The little things add up more than I expected

Ad-free viewing and background playback aren't the only reasons I still pay for YouTube Premium. A few smaller perks have become increasingly valuable over time.

For starters, one of the biggest reasons I still see value in the subscription is that it includes YouTube Music.

It's hard to argue against YouTube Music having one of the largest music libraries, and I've always found its recommendation algorithm better than both Spotify and Apple Music.

Plus, since it's bundled into YouTube Premium at no extra cost, it means I'm effectively getting two subscriptions for the price of one, even if that price has become harder to swallow lately.

Another quality-of-life feature that's become surprisingly useful for me over the past few months, especially since I've been taking a lot of flights, is offline downloads.

I usually save a bunch of videos before boarding, mostly podcasts, and it makes long flights significantly easier to get through (it also helps me fall asleep a lot faster).

Then there are other smaller features as well. Things like Jump Ahead, which uses AI to skip through less interesting parts of a video and jump straight to the sections most people watch.

You also occasionally get access to experimental YouTube features before everyone else. It's not a game-changing perk, but it's nice to try new things early.

The best YouTube Premium deal isn't YouTube Premium

Google's AI subscriptions now bundle in Premium benefits

That said, I don't think the best way to justify YouTube Premium anymore is by paying for YouTube Premium directly.

It's still an expensive subscription. I think the better way to go around it right now is through Google's AI plans.

At Google I/O last month, Google announced that it's bundling YouTube Premium with some of its AI subscriptions.

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In the US, Google AI Pro now includes YouTube Premium Lite, while Google AI Ultra includes the full YouTube Premium subscription.

That means for the $20 per month you pay for Google AI Pro, you're also getting the equivalent of a $9-per-month YouTube Premium Lite subscription included.

Similarly, if you're subscribed to the $100-per-month Google AI Ultra plan, you get the full YouTube Premium subscription.

The one downside is that these benefits aren't shareable with family members. But if you're the only person using YouTube Premium, this is probably the best value you can get.

More, as a part of the Google AI paid plan, you also get access to other features on top of YouTube benefits, including expanded Gemini usage, access to Google's latest AI models, and my personal favorite, 5TB of cloud storage shared across Google Drive, Photos, and Gmail.

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YouTube Premium is hard to give up

That's ultimately what makes YouTube Premium easier for me to justify in 2026.

The price increase still stings, and I completely understand why many people are reconsidering their subscription.

But every time I think about canceling it, I end up realizing just how much I actually rely on it every day.