Grandfathered YouTube Premium users will see price increase in January

Abner Li | Dec 7 2023 - 4:43 pm PT

YouTube in July announced the US price increase for Premium, but grandfathered accounts got to keep the old rate for a few more months. According to an email today, that’s now set to change in January.

The price of an individual YouTube Premium subscription went up by $2 to $13.99 per month for current and new customers in July.

However, those that were grandfathered by Google Play Music and/or YouTube Red got “at least three extra months at [their] current price before the price increase will impact” them. At the time, YouTube said the price would not increase before December to show its appreciation of loyal members.

That period is now coming to an end, and $9.99 – or even $7.99 – grandfathered users will now pay $13.99/month for YouTube Premium starting in January.

We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.

YouTube announced the latest Premium features in mid-November, and told customers to expect “new features and exclusive benefits that help you dive deeper into the content you love” in the future.

Those that want to cancel can manage their subscription here, while YouTube is also now rolling out this price hike internationally.

On a possibly related note, it appears that some grandfathered YouTube Premium members that use YouTube Music are seeing an “Upgrade” tab in the bottom bar. That’s typically reserved for free users or those on free trials, but a bug is causing the promo to appear for paying customers.