New salvo for American subscribers of YouTube Premium : on April 10, 2026, they discovered by simple email that their individual plan increased by 2 dollars to go to $15.99 per month, or approximately €15. No blog posts, no press releases Googlejust a discreet notification… and a rising bill.
In a context where YouTube hunts down ad blockers and multiplies endless advertisements to push towards Premium, this increase goes very badly. Especially since the United States often serves as a laboratory before repercussions in Europe. Something to seriously worry French subscribers.
YouTube Premium increases its prices: what new prices in the United States?
For new subscribers, the new grid is already in place. The individual plan goes from $13.99 to $15.99 (≈€15). The Family plan goes from $22.99 to $26.99 (≈€25). YouTube Premium Lite and the student offer each take 1 dollar, from $7.99 to $8.99 (≈€8.50). The annual subscription goes from $139.99 to $159.99 (around €150).
The additional cost is even more violent for those who pay via the App StoreApple : the individual plan is billed at $20.99 (nearly €19.50) per month, or 5 dollars more than on the web. On the music side, YouTube Music Premium also jumped to $11.99 (≈€11). For existing subscribers, the increase will apply from the June 7, 2026 billing cycle.
In the email sent to customers, the justification is contained in an agreed sentence: “In order to continue to offer you quality service and features, we are increasing the price of your subscription”. A formulation very close to that used by Netflix before his conviction in Italy.
YouTube Premium increase: France spared for the moment, but for how long?
Officially, nothing is moving in France. The individual offer remains at €12.99 per month, the Family plan at €29.99, the Duo at €19.99, and Premium Lite like the student subscription at €7.99. But the history is not reassuring: in 2023, the American increase from $11.99 to $13.99 was followed for a few weeks by a move from €11.99 to €12.99 here.
The Family has also been bludgeoned: from €19.99 at launch to €23.99, then €29.99 since July 2025, or +50% in a few years. In the United States, the individual rate has increased by 33% since 2023. YouTube Premium thus follows the same spiral as Netflix, Spotify Or Disney+with no major improvement visible to the average user.
As a backdrop, Italian legal precedent weighs: the Rome court ruled that Netflix had not given a “justified reason” for its increases between 2017 and 2024, and ordered reimbursements of up to €500 per subscriber. A signal which could, ultimately, inspire European regulators for all streaming.
YouTube Premium more expensive: extended ads, anti-adblock and subscriber options
The pill goes down all the worse as the free experience deteriorates. YouTube tests unwatchable 90-second ads on connected TV, before calling it a “bug” in the face of outcry. At the same time, the platform aggressively tracks ad blockers. Result: either you endure a flood of advertisements, or you pay… and more and more expensively.
On Reddit, many users announce that they will cancel at the next deadline, believing that the increase is too high. The most informed also check where they pay: avoiding the App Store and going through the web saves $5 per month in the United States, a gap that could be found in Europe.
One question remains for the French: wait with your fingers crossed or anticipate a further increase by reevaluating your streaming subscriptions. Given the rate of increases, Google clearly testing how far he can pull the rope.