YouTube Premium has a new cheaper two-person subscription tier and is currently testing it in select markets, according to a report from Moneycontrol on Monday. But it’s not for US subscribers. The pilot program is being tested in India, France, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It’s uncertain if it will be expanded to other markets.
«We’re experimenting with new ways to provide greater flexibility and value to our YouTube Premium subscribers, including offering a two-person Premium plan option, allowing two people to share a subscription at a reduced cost,» a YouTube spokesperson told CNET in a statement.
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A representative for Google, YouTube’s owner, said it didn’t have any information to share regarding expansion into other territories.
In India, this new tier is being offered for 219 Indian rupees, or $2.60. There’s also a separate and cheaper YouTube Music two-person offering that’s 149 Indian rupees, or $1.77. If this two-person tier does come stateside, it’ll likely be much more expensive than what’s being offered in India.
YouTube is a core part of Google’s business. The streaming site brought in $36.1 billion of ad revenue in 2024, according to Statista. That accounted for 13.66% of Google’s overall revenue.
At the same time, running a freely available global streaming site with over 2 billion monthly active users is expensive. Apart from ads, Premium has been a way to drive revenue for the site. A premium subscription gives users an ad-free experience, access to YouTube Music and allows them to download video.
Google has recently been looking at other ways to incentivize Premium subscriptions, which currently cost $14 per month for individuals and $23 for families. In March, it added YouTube Premium Lite subscription, which doesn’t include YouTube Music, restricts video downloads and blocks background playback when your screen is off. Premium Lite does have a more attractive price, however, at $8 per month for individuals.
