YouTube Premium subscribers just got a massive surprise price hike
These days, YouTube’s usually in the news for all the wrong reasons. The company’s been experimenting with new ways to make some extra cash from free users, whether it’sloading up toelevenunskippable ads before a single videoor locking4K playback behind a paywall. In both of those cases,those experiments have ended, potentially saving anyone unwilling to cough up $12 a month from a worse experience. Unfortunately, paying users in the US and Canada aren’t so lucky, as a massive price hike for family plans is now in effect.
Twodifferent Redditorspostedscreenshots of emailsthey received this afternoon. The email is sparse for details, simply stating that the price for YouTube Premium family plans has been bumped up to $23 CAD per month. That’s a $5 cost increase, effective starting on the next billing cycle for current subscribers, and immediately for new subscribers. Daniel Bader, Technical Brands Lead at Valnet and former AP EIC, confirmed this new price is already live when trying to sign up in Canada. Not long after, these prices also rolled out to US customers, both with current subscriptions and those looking to sign up.
Left: An email sent to a user on Reddit.Right: The current price when signing up for a family subscription in Canada.
In the email, YouTube doesn’t specify why this sudden price increase is hitting users, chalking it up to a necessary change to “continue delivering great service and features.” It doesn’t seem like any additional tools are lined up for Canadian Premium family plan members; they’ll just need to pay nearly 30% more per month for their continued service.
United States
$22.99 (was $17.99)
£19.99 (was £17.99)
Turkey (single plan)
29.99 TRY (was 16.99 TRY)
Turkey (family plan)
59.99 TRY (was 29.99 TRY)
Argentina (single plan)
389 ARS (was 119 ARS)
Argentina (family plan)
699 ARS (was 179 ARS)
New Zealand
29.99 NZ (was 19.99 NZ)
¥2,280 (was ¥1,780)
Grandfathered family users, currently priced at $14.99, are also affected by this change, albeit with an extension to April at current rates. Although YouTube didn’t provide much of a heads-up for users prior to this change, it does seem as though the company knew it would receive heat for this. As spotted by commenter jonathan3579, Google set up asupport pagefor anyone looking to give feedback on this price increase.
As for the single-user plans, it doesn’t seem to be subject to a similar change. Daniel Bader confirmed he did not receive an email for his individual Premium plan, and it’s still listed in account settings at $11.99. I’m also subscribed on an individual plan in the US and haven’t seen an email, though it’s a grandfathered $8 per month subscription and may not be subject to any price hikes. We’ve reached out to Google for comment, and will update our coverage with any response.
UPDATE: 2022/10/20 16:11 EST BY WILL SATTELBERG
Not limited to Canada, price increase coming to the US and other regions too
Although we initially only saw emails rolling in for price hikes in Canada,emails to US subscribers have also popped up on Reddit, proving this isn’t a regional change at all. Commenters have also spotted the change in the UK, Turkey, and Argentina. It doesn’t seem like anyone with an individual plan is seeing higher prices, but if you’re on a family plan, prepare to pay $23 per month starting on your next billing cycle. We’ve also updated our coverage to include context about Google’s feedback page for this price hike.
The note-taking app I should have used all along
Broader branding hints at wider paid-tier ambitions
Some scary urban digital legends
Generative AI, now poolside
We just learned a little bit more about Light No Fire in a video about the Voyagers update for No Man’s Sky
Storage upgrades have never been so important
