YouTube Premium users are no strangers to price hikes. In the US, there has been at least one price hike every year since 2022, prompting many users to opt for alternatives like ad-blockers and newer versions of YouTube Vanced (ReVanced).
Earlier this year, in January to be specific, YouTube TV’s latest price hike went into effect. This took the price all the way up to $83/mo, from $73/mo. Although there have been no other intimations of a YouTube TV or YouTube Premium price hike in the US since, what’s happening in Australia right now may offer hints at what’s to come.
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As highlighted by Australian YouTube Premium users on a Reddit post, the streaming giant is hiking the price of its family plan in the country.
The plan is going up to $40 from $33, marking a $7 (21 percent) increase. That’s in Australian dollars. In USD terms, that’s equivalent to the plan going up to $26/mo from $21.40/mo. The current YouTube Premium family plan pricing in the US is $23/mo. Go figure.
Individual, Student, and Lite plans appear safe for now
As always, the email states that the hike comes as a measure to deliver “great service and features.” The change kicks on users’ next billing date.
As of the information available right now, there’s no indication of the hike making its way to other (Individual, Student, Lite) plans in the country. However, there is indication about the hike being applicable in more regions.
According to a stray comment on the Australian user’s Reddit post, the family plan price hike has made its way to Europe too. We checked this on the company’s French YouTube Premium page, as seen in the screenshot above, and to our surprise, the page highlights the family plan’s price as €29.99/mo, up from €25.99 as of September last year.
We couldn’t verify whether the hike is making its way to other countries in the EU. The hike in two different continents, however, raises serious concerns that other regions might also face similar price adjustments.
