Give your bank account a tissue; YouTube Premium will soon become more expensive for grandfathered users

A price hike is always bad news, and here we are again, telling you about another price increase. As 9to5Google reported, YouTube has started sending emails to users with grandfathered YouTube Premium accounts, notifying them that their subscription fee will be $13.99 starting in January.

In July, YouTube raised the price of YouTube Premium by $2, forcing subscribers to start paying $13.99 per month instead of $11.99. However, back then, it also announced that users with grandfathered accounts like those from Google Play Music or YouTube Red wouldn't start paying the higher price for "at least three extra months." This was due to YouTube wanting to show appreciation for legacy users' loyalty.

So, in other words, grandfathered users, who are currently paying $7.99 or $9.99 per month for YouTube Premium, will need to shell out $13.99 every month, just like the rest of us. And we completely understand how you feel if you are a user with a grandfathered account, since the difference from $7.99 to $13.99 is a really big one.

As for why YouTube decided to increase the price of its Premium subscription in the first place, the company shared back in July that the price hike is for it to continue delivering great service and features.

What are my options?

Well, the annual fee of the individual plan of YouTube Premium is $139.99, so you will score savings of $27 if you pay for the whole year. Alternatively, you can cancel your subscription and go for another streaming service. For example, Spotify's Premium Individual plan costs $10.99 per month, and if you sign up right now, you will get a 3-month free trial.

However, we should also note that YouTube Premium allows you to stream videos on a gazillion topics and even download clips for offline watching, something its competitors like Spotify and Tidal don't offer. So, if you choose to leave YouTube Premium, you will also lose this advantage.