YouTube Premium costs $13.99/month for ad-free viewing, background play, and YouTube Music. Whether it's worth it depends almost entirely on how much you watch - and whether you already pay for music elsewhere.
If you watch 2+ hours of YouTube daily and hate ads, the math works. If you have Spotify and only watch YouTube occasionally, you're paying for a music service you don't need and ad-free videos you barely use.
At $13.99/month, YouTube Premium gives you:
YouTube's average ad load in 2026 is approximately 5–8 minutes of ads per hour of content - higher on popular channels with multiple mid-rolls. For someone watching 2 hours of YouTube daily, that's 10–16 minutes of ads every day, or 60–96 minutes per week, or 52–83 hours per year.
At $13.99/month ($167.88/year), you're paying roughly $2–$3 per hour of ads eliminated. Whether that math works depends entirely on how much you value your time and how much the ads genuinely bother you.
For parents with kids who watch YouTube Kids, the ad-free experience is a different kind of value - avoiding ads targeted at children for toys, fast food, and games has appeal independent of time savings.
YouTube Music Premium is included in YouTube Premium. Standalone YouTube Music Premium costs $10.99/month. This means if you value YouTube Music at its standalone price, YouTube Premium ($13.99) is only $3 more than YouTube Music alone - an exceptional bundle deal.
The catch: YouTube Music is not competitive with Spotify for most users. Spotify's recommendation algorithms, social features, playlist creation, and podcast integration are all superior. YouTube Music's advantage is music videos and unofficial tracks (live performances, remixes, covers) that appear on YouTube but aren't on Spotify.
If you already pay for Spotify: YouTube Premium becomes $13.99 for ad-free YouTube and background play only - $3 more than YouTube Music standalone but without the music value (you're not using it). In this case, the question is whether ad-free YouTube is worth $13.99/month to you specifically.
If you don't pay for a music service: YouTube Premium bundles a competitive music service at an effective price of $3/month above its standalone value. This is a strong deal for people who'd use YouTube Music.
New subscribers can try YouTube Premium free for one month. Cancel before the trial ends to avoid being charged.
YouTube Premium Family at $22.99/month covers up to 5 household members. Split between 4 people, that's $5.75/person/month for ad-free YouTube and YouTube Music Premium - significantly cheaper than individual plans. If multiple household members watch YouTube regularly, the family plan makes the math considerably better.
Worth it if: You watch 1.5+ hours of YouTube daily and find ads disruptive, you don't pay for Spotify and want a music service, you have kids who watch YouTube Kids, or you use background play regularly (YouTube as background music or podcasts while your phone is locked).
Not worth it if: You already pay for Spotify (music is redundant), you watch YouTube casually for 20–30 minutes a day, you use an ad blocker on desktop and only occasionally watch on mobile, or you primarily watch YouTube on a TV where background play is irrelevant.
The ad blocker consideration: uBlock Origin and similar browser extensions effectively block YouTube ads on desktop at no cost. YouTube Premium's value is primarily for mobile viewers who can't use an ad blocker. If most of your watching is on a computer with an ad blocker, Premium's core value proposition disappears.
Your YouTube account and history are fully preserved on the free tier. Cancellation guide with every method.