YouTube Premium raises prices in Europe - what this means

YouTube Premium raises prices for European subscribers. This increase comes as the platform ramps up restrictions on ad blockers and seeks to convert free users to paid subscriptions.

The increase

YouTube Premium is raising its prices in Europe. According to Numerama, the increase affects European subscriptions—without specific details on exact amounts or countries covered in the source article.

The context: the noose tightens around the free user

This price hike doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Since 2023, YouTube (Google) has been waging an active war against ad blockers:

• Detection and blocking of ad blockers with progressive warning messages
• Playback limitations on non-subscription accounts
• Degraded experience to push conversion to Premium

The goal is clear: convert a larger share of the free user base to paid subscriptions.

The math to do

YouTube Premium offers: no ads, background playback (mobile), offline downloads, and access to YouTube Music. To weigh against: the monthly price, and whether you watch YouTube enough for it to be worth it.

Alternatives to consider:

• uBlock Origin on Firefox remains the most effective desktop solution for blocking ads (and YouTube continues trying to detect it)
• Brave Browser includes a built-in resistant ad blocker
• NewPipe on Android (open source, no Google account required)
• Invidious – a free and ad-free YouTube frontend