YouTube is raising prices for its Premium subscription plans across many countries including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Argentina. News of the price hike emerged after several users in these regions received emails about a rise that will be effective from November 21.
The video streaming service’s Premium plan for families lets up to five people use features like ad-free videos, downloads for offline consumption, and background play under a single subscription.
On Thursday, several people on Reddit first noted that Canada-based users were getting emails about the change in the monthly rate from CA$17.99 to CA$22.99 for the Premium family plan. But soon folks from the US also posted about the tariff being raised from $17.99 per month to $22.99.
Users from the U.K. also said the YouTube Premium family plan is now getting costlier by £2 — from £17.99 to £19.99 per month.
The situation is a bit more dire for Argentina-based YouTube users. The company is increasing prices for both individual and family Premium plans by quite a lot. The Individual plan will cost ARS 389 ($2.53) per month up from ARS 119 ($0.78) per month, and family plans will cost ARS 699 ($4.55) per month up from ARS 179 ($1.17) per month.
That’s a staggering hike — of around 220% and 290%, respectively.
Here are some other countries where YouTube has hiked the prices:
- Turkey (Family plan): TRY 29.99 ($1.61) per month to TRY 59.99 per month
- Turkey (Student plan): TRY 9.99 ($0.54) per month to TRY 19.49 ($1.05) per month
- Japan (Family plan): ¥1,780 ($11.83) per month to ¥2,280 ($15.16) per month
- Indonesia (Family plan): IDR 89,000 ($5.70) per month to IDR 99,000 ($6.34) per month
- Brazil (Family plan): $BR 31.90 ($6.06) per month to $BR 34.90 ($6.44) per month
We will update this list as we learn more.
A number of other companies have also announced price hikes. In recent weeks, for example, Apple has raised prices for App Store purchases to counter fluctuation in currency against the dollar and rising inflation across the globe. This could be a likely reason for the increase in YouTube’s paid plans for families.
It’s a frustrating situation for users — who can provide feedback to YouTube through this page. However, there’s no guarantee YouTube will roll back the price increases in response to user feedback.
The price hike also affects legacied family users — folks who migrated from legacy Google Play Music — who currently pay YouTube $14.99 per month. They will also have to pay $22.99 per month. But the price rise for those users is happening later (in April next year).
YouTube has been trying to earn more money through premium subscriptions. Recently, it ran an experiment asking free users to upgrade to watch videos in 4K. Earlier this week, the company ended the test.
As noted above, multiple companies have raised the prices of their subscription plans this year. In January, the cost of a Netflix subscription increased between $1-$2 for different tiers. In February, Amazon Prime revised its rates from $12.99 per month to $14.99 per month; or $119 per year to $139 per year. Other services like Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu have also made their plans costlier.
(October 21, 6:10 PM IST) The story updated with price changes for users in Brazil and Indonesia.
(October 21, 9:10 PM IST) The story updated with a statement from Google.