YouTube adds offline downloads to Premium Lite subscription

YouTube is expanding its Premium Lite subscription tier, which costs $7.99/month, by adding offline downloads and background play. These features, which allow users to save videos for later viewing and play audio while using other apps or with the screen off, were previously exclusive to the full YouTube Premium plan, which costs $13.99 per month. The company first launched the Premium Lite tier last March to offer a lower-priced subscription option.

The Premium Lite subscription removes ads from most videos on the platform, but it does not remove ads from music content. Consequently, the new features will likely make the Lite tier more attractive to customers who want upgrades without paying for ad-free music content. With these additions, ad-free music content becomes the primary differentiator for the full Premium subscription.

The Lite subscription tier was first introduced in Thailand, Germany, and Australia, before coming to the U.S. last year. It is now available across a number of other global markets, including Canada, Brazil, the U.K., India, Mexico, and other parts of Europe and Asia. The expansion comes as parent company Alphabet continues to grow its subscription and advertising businesses. During its fourth-quarter earnings, Alphabet shared several key financial and user metrics for YouTube and its broader consumer services:

• Overall Revenue: YouTube generated $60 billion in overall revenue in 2025, according to information shared by Alphabet.
• Ad Revenue: YouTube’s ad revenue increased 9% to $11.38 billion in the fourth quarter.
• Subscriptions and Devices: Revenue for the “subscriptions, platforms and devices” group increased 17% to $13.6 billion in the fourth quarter, which the company attributed to growth in YouTube subscriptions, particularly YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.
• User Base: Alphabet reported more than 125 million YouTube Music and YouTube Premium users worldwide in March 2025.
• Total Subscriptions: Alphabet now has more than 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, including YouTube Premium and others.

Why it matters

The update makes the Lite tier more attractive to customers who want features like offline downloads and background play without paying for the full Premium subscription. As a result, ad-free music content now serves as the primary differentiator for YouTube’s higher-priced subscription tier.