YouTube pilots cheaper ‘Premium Lite’ plan for streaming without ads

YouTube Premium Lite includes ad-free viewing across YouTube's main app on web, iOS, Android, smart TVs, and games consoles, as well as in the YouTube Kids app.

FILE PHOTO: YouTube app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (REUTERS)

American tech giant Google is piloting a more affordable premium subscription tier for YouTube that will offer ad-free viewing without YouTube Premium's other features like offline downloads or background playback.

The new 'Premium Lite' plan was spotted by a user recently, and YouTube subsequently confirmed the test offering in a statement given to The Verge.

Premium Lite is currently being tested in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

A YouTube spokesperson, in a statement, said, "In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland), we're testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs EUR 6.99/month (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube."

Premium Lite includes ad-free viewing across YouTube's main app on web, iOS, Android, smart TVs, and games consoles, as well as in the YouTube Kids app.

However, it won't include any YouTube Music benefits like ad-free listening, and it doesn't include Premium's other features like background playback, or offline downloads.

For those, who hate the amount of ads on YouTube, but aren't too interested in Premium's other features like offline download, Premium Lite sounds like a tempting proposition.

At its current pricing, it costs around 60 per cent of the price of a regular Premium subscription, while only offering around a quarter of its benefits. YouTube has said that the current subscription is in an experimental phase, and that it's considering rolling out more plans based on audience feedback.