Ad-free streaming gets cheaper: YouTube Premium Lite arrives in India – Pricing, benefits and more
YouTube has rolled out its Premium Lite subscription in India, offering viewers an ad-free experience at a fraction of the cost of its full Premium service. The plan, priced at Rs. 89 per month, is positioned as a budget-friendly alternative for those who primarily want uninterrupted video playback without the additional features of the flagship Premium package.
Affordable Alternative to Premium
The company stated that Premium Lite will remove adverts from “most” videos, particularly in categories such as gaming, beauty, fashion, and news. However, unlike the standard Premium plan, Lite does not include background play, offline downloads, or access to YouTube Music. Viewers may also continue to encounter adverts on Shorts, music-related content, and within search results or browsing pages.
YouTube Premium Lite is compatible across devices, including smartphones, laptops, and smart televisions, providing flexibility for users seeking an ad-free viewing experience on larger or smaller screens.
What Premium Lite Offers
The introduction of Lite significantly undercuts YouTube’s existing subscription tiers in India. While the annual Premium plan is currently priced at Rs. 1,490, monthly rates begin at Rs. 149 for individual users, Rs. 219 for a duo plan, and Rs. 299 for families with up to five members. Students are also offered a concession at Rs. 89 per month—the same price point as Lite.
The service first debuted in the United States in March 2025 at $7.99 (roughly Rs. 709) per month, making the Indian rollout notably more affordable.
With this launch, YouTube appears to be targeting price-sensitive markets, giving viewers who are primarily interested in ad-free playback a cheaper route into its subscription ecosystem.
Meanwhile, YouTube Music set to be the next testing ground. The company is trialling a new feature called AI Hosts, designed to appear while users are listening to tracks.
The announcement was made last week through a blog post introducing YouTube Labs, a fresh initiative aimed at experimenting with AI-driven tools and experiences on the platform.
“YouTube Labs is a new initiative dedicated to exploring the potential of AI on YouTube,” said Aparna Pappu, Vice President of YouTube Labs, in the post.
The concept mirrors the existing Google Labs programme, where new AI features are piloted among select users. Feedback from these experiments helps the company refine its tools before deciding on a broader rollout.
