YouTube Premium is the streaming subscription most people have conflicted feelings about. On one hand, YouTube is free and you have been using it for years without paying. On the other hand, the ads have gotten longer, more frequent, and increasingly unskippable. In 2026, at $14 a month, is Premium worth it?
What YouTube Premium Actually Includes
The subscription covers four main things: ad-free viewing on all YouTube content, background playback (video continues when you lock your phone or switch apps), YouTube Music Premium (a full music streaming service comparable to Spotify), and offline downloads for videos and music.
The ad removal is the feature that sells the subscription for most people. YouTube's ad experience has degraded significantly in the past two years. Pre-roll ads are longer. Mid-roll ads interrupt at worse points. Ad blockers have been increasingly blocked by YouTube itself. For heavy YouTube users, the ad-free experience is a meaningful quality-of-life improvement.
YouTube Music: Hidden Value
YouTube Music Premium is included at no additional cost. At $11 a month as a standalone service, YouTube Music is a legitimate Spotify competitor with the deepest catalog of live performances, remixes, covers, and rare recordings of any music platform. If you use YouTube for music regularly, this alone nearly justifies the $14 bundle price.
Background Playback
The ability to lock your phone while listening to YouTube videos (podcasts, long-form educational content, music) is one of those features that seems minor until you have it. For people who use YouTube audio as background while doing other things, this is a daily quality-of-life upgrade.
Is $14 Worth It?
If you watch YouTube more than an hour per day and use it for music, yes. The combined ad removal and YouTube Music value makes $14 reasonable. If you watch YouTube occasionally and use Spotify for music, the value proposition is weaker.
Getting YouTube Premium Cheap
Through Norths Clearance, YouTube Premium is available at a significant discount from the $14 standard price. Browse all entertainment subscriptions for current pricing. Credentials delivered within 24 hours.
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