YouTube Premium raised US prices in 2026 — the before and after
Published · figures update with the dataset, last · methodology
YouTube Premium raised its US prices in 2026. We know precisely because we archive every collection run rather than overwriting it — the same US records we observed on came back higher at our next observation in July 2026.
The individual plan went from $13.99 to $15.99/mo — a rise of 14%, or $24.00 a year. Every US tier moved.
What changed, tier by tier
| Plan | Was | Now | Change | Extra / year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual (Monthly) | $13.99 | $15.99 | +14% | $24.00 |
| Individual (Annual) | $139.00 | $159.99 | +15% | $20.99 |
| Family | $22.99 | $26.99 | +17% | $48.00 |
| Student | $7.99 | $8.99 | +13% | $12.00 |
The family plan took the largest increase at +17%, which is the tier most households actually hold. Note that the annual plan rose too — prepaying no longer sidesteps the increase, it only delays it.
How the new US price compares to the rest of the world
At $15.99/mo, the US individual plan now sits 120% above the global median of $7.28/mo across the 46 countries we track. The cheapest is 🇳🇬 Nigeria at $1.24/mo.
| # | Country | USD / mo | vs new US price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | $1.24 | −92% |
| 2 | 🇪🇬 Egypt | $1.29 | −92% |
| 3 | 🇮🇳 India | $1.55 | −90% |
| 4 | 🇹🇷 Turkey | $1.69 | −89% |
| 5 | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | $1.72 | −89% |
| 6 | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | $1.94 | −88% |
Why this kind of increase is hard to verify anywhere else
Every price site publishes what a subscription costs today. Almost none can tell you what it cost last quarter, because refreshing their data overwrites it — the previous number simply stops existing. We keep each collection run as a dated archive, which is the only reason the comparison above can be made at all.
That also sets the limits of the claim, and we would rather state them than imply more precision than we have. We observed the old prices on 2026-05-09 and the new ones in July 2026. The increase happened somewhere between those two dates; we do not know the exact day YouTube applied it, and we do not claim to. What we can show is that it happened, by how much, and on which tiers.
What to do about it
- Existing subscribers are usually moved on renewal, not immediately. Check the renewal date on your account rather than assuming the new price already applies.
- The annual plan still costs less per month — $15.99/mo against the yearly plan's effective rate — but it rose in step, so the relative saving is unchanged.
- Family is worth the arithmetic. Split across the members it permits, it remains well below the individual price per person even after the increase.
- Region-switching is the largest lever and the one with the most friction. The gap to Nigeria is 92%, but YouTube runs payment-side country checks — see our YouTube Premium checkout guide for what actually passes.
Current prices for every country are on the YouTube Premium page, and our methodology explains how collection dates and observation dates differ — the distinction this article depends on.
Every figure in this article is computed from our dataset at build time — when prices change, the article changes. Nothing here is legal or financial advice.