YouTube is testing a new cheaper subscription tier in Europe called “Premium Lite,” which offers an ad-free viewing experience but lacks the YouTube Premium level’s other features.
As mentioned by MacRumors, a user on ResetEra first spotted the new offering. The new tier was later confirmed by Google. The “Lite” service tier allows users to stream videos ad-free but does not allow users to download videos for offline viewing or allow background playback.
A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge:
“In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland), we’re testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs €6.99/month (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube.”
YouTube says that the subscription plan is still in an experimental phase and that it could still roll out other plans to gauge user feedback.