YouTube Premium users across the globe are facing significant price hikes as Google increases subscription costs in over a dozen countries. This follows earlier price jumps in various regions, including the United States last summer. The latest increases vary by region, with some countries experiencing hikes between 30% to 50%. For instance, in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, the Family plan will rise from €18 to €26 starting November, while the individual plan will increase by €2 to €14.
Countries affected by these changes include Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, UAE, Switzerland, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Colombia, Thailand, Singapore, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Denmark. Although most Reddit reports are from European users, the price hikes also impact the Middle East, Colombia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. YouTube had already raised its subscription prices in India by 15–20% in late August.
Honestly, every YouTube app alternative I’ve tried has been better, and my only issue is occasionally streams break, which is due to changes from YT, not the app. Instead of putting effort into making the experience worse elsewhere, why not make the experience on the official app better? Features I really like on other apps:
Some of those are premium features (why?), and others just don’t exist in the YT app. If the experience was better and the price was reasonable, I’d probably pay. But it’s not, so I use alternatives.