- YouTube is trialling a two-person subscription
- It costs less than two individual subscriptions, and less than a family plan
- It’s currently available in France, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong
YouTube is currently piloting a two-person YouTube Premium membership in select countries that allows a two people to split a subscription without going all-in on a family plan.
Much like Spotify Duo, YouTube’s two-person tier allows two people who live together to split a subscription at a cost that’s lower than if both subscribed separately, and also cheaper than a full family plan.
YouTube told TechCrunch that it’s part of the company’s experiments looking into “new ways to provide greater flexibility and value to our YouTube Premium subscribers.”
For example, in France, one of the test countries, an individual plan costs €12.99 per month and a family plan is €23.99, while a two-person plan is €19.99.
Based on these prices we’d expect a US-based duo plan to cost perhaps $18.99 (so maybe £16.99 or AU$26.99), though we’ll have to see if YouTube deems the test a success or not.
If you want to try this two-person subscription sooner rather than later you’ll need to live in India, France, Taiwan or Hong Kong.
Otherwise you’ll want to consider splitting a family plan or opting for another of YouTube’s cost-cutting experiments, YouTube Lite. That plan just rolled out in the US and it costs $7.99 per month – compared to $13.99 per month for a full plan.
It allows you to watch “most” videos ad-free but doesn’t include ad-free music videos, YouTube Music access, or offline background play. So it’s ideal if you want YouTube Premium but already have access to a music streaming service.
Duo sounds perfect for me and my partner, as while we use a fair few streaming services, the one we both rely on most is YouTube.
I had thought about snagging a Premium plan for a while, but an individual account each is way too much, and a family plan feels like overkill. But I’m still not sure I’m ready to pay for YouTube.
While the ads have gotten worse, they are (generally) far from unbearable in my experience, and certainly not so bad that I’d consider jumping from paying nothing to paying $13.99 / £12.99 / AU$16.99 a month – or even splitting a duo plan.
The biggest advantage would be offline video, but I can only see that being essential when I’m on a flight – which has been a few times so far this year, but not enough to warrant paying every month.
To that end I’m waiting for something truly essential from YouTube Premium that elevates the experience above simply being ad-free. As tempting as duo plan is, it’s not yet enough to seal the deal for me.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
