It’s been five years since the launch of YouTube Premium. ghroughout these five years, legacy subscribers have paid just $7.99 or $9.99 for Premium service. But the fun comes to an end in January 2024. Legacy YouTube Premium subscribers will begin paying $13.99 a month—the same price that everybody else pays.

In June 2018, YouTube Red and Google Play Music subscribers were automatically upgraded to YouTube Premium. The upgrade came at no additional cost. New members were charged the full price of YouTube Premium (which was $11.99 in 2018), but Google honored its original pricing scheme for “grandfathered” or “legacy” members.

But the price of YouTube Premium leaped to $13.99 in July 2023. Price hikes are always unpopular, but this one was accompanied by some devastating news; “grandfathered” pricing is on its way out. Legacy subscribers were provided a grace period of “at least three months” to prepare for their new $13.99 monthly rate.

The grace period ends in January. Legacy subscribers who paid $9.99 will now pay $4 extra each month, which adds up to an additional $49 each year. Those who paid just $7.99 will be charged $6 more each month. That’s an extra $72 per year.

To Google’s credit, these “grandfathered” YouTube Premium plans were extremely generous. At $9.99 or $7.99 a month, a legacy YouTube Premium membership (which includes YouTube Music) was cheaper than most streaming subscriptions. The fact that Google committed to legacy pricing for five years is impressive, too.

We need to mention the elephant in the room. This is the first year that YouTube has seriously cracked down on ad-blockers. As a result, the YouTube platform is generating more ad revenue and driving new customers toward its Premium subscription. Many people feel that a price hike is in poor taste, as it punishes the people who aren’t using ad-blockers. This is especially true for legacy subscribers who have already proven their commitment to the YouTube platform.

If you want to cancel your YouTube Premium subscription, visit the YouTube Paid Memberships page. If you’re eligible for a YouTube Premium student or family plan, I suggest looking into it, as it could save you some money.

Source: 9to5Google via The Verge