POLL: Do you pay for ad-free YouTube?

3yr ago

38 replies

I've noticed recently that YouTube are offering me very tempting free trials to upgrade to their ad-free version which also includes original premium content. While I was excited by the idea of ad-free YouTube when they announced the news a few years back, as a frugal person I never made the investment. Do you pay for ad-free YouTube, and if so, do you feel it's worth it?

Yes

No

Replies

CTO @ AngelList Talent

No, but I should.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@vesln what stops you from making the jump? Here in the UK it costs as much as my Spotify membership and I don't use YouTube as much as Spotify (at least not for listening to music which is when I find ads the most disruptive) so that makes it feel like it's not worth it.

CTO @ AngelList Talent

@abadesi It's the same for me, I can't justify the cost. That said, the ads are getting very annoying and no longer as targeted as they used to be, so I feel like I have to make the switch.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@vesln I've noticed that, too! I'm getting ads for random health treatments that have no relevance to me.

Devanand Premkumar

Security Researcher

@abadesi @vesln : I agree with Veselin. Doesn't make sense to get into a paid subscription while the same is pretty much on the free mode except for the occasional, pesky ads.

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar

Forbes 30 under 30 | Technologist

My reason for not paying is a bit different. I have been targeted by interesting set of ads and that has helped me discover new relevant products and youtubers. So I don't mind it at all. Also, at this point, I have just gotten used to the waiting I suppose. I do know a few people who pay for it and are quite happy.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@rishigb I know what you mean, I don't mind waiting either. But the ads have been getting repetitive and less relevant for me.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@rishigb This could be because I don't tend to like any videos so they may not know what I like / dislike.

Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar

Forbes 30 under 30 | Technologist

@abadesi Oh damn. I did not think about this at all. You are right. I remember how just 6 months ago the ads were totally irrelevant, till I started liking the videos and things changed.

Designer @ Snyk - Ex Product Hunt

I just don't get that bothered by the ads, you can nearly always skip after 5 seconds and the other benefits they offer such as background play, isn't appealing enough to justify the cost. The only benefit I like is saving videos for offline use, but for £11.99/month - nope.

Edison Espinosa

Founder @ Foxie, & EJ

Adblockers you guys and I don't want to pay being a frugal person myself for all of these services, netflix, spotify, youtube, hulu etc and now new ones like disney and applet tv+ it's going to be too much and we're all going to have to side or stick to 2 or 3

I'm making Karma.fm!

Heck no. If I can avoid giving my money to an organization that punishes (however inadvertently) LGBTQ+ creators, I will.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@eve_hammond whoa I didn’t know about this!!

Creating consumer stuff

I mostly use the youtube app on my phone and have been a premium user since it was introduced. I like the no ads, background play features too much to let them go for a few bucks (169 INR per month in my case)

Lasers handler

I use adblockers and alternative clients!

I do. 12€ for YT music and YT premium is a great deal for me.

Entrepreneur

Ad block, bro

Founder, Casa (Manage Discord)

I'd love to meet people who do. Compared to things you can pay for online, ad-free YouTube is the lowest on my list, or not even on the list altogether. I would be very interested to see the data of people who pay for Ad-free Youtube broken down by income level and geographic location.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@dhruv_bhatia there are some in this thread!

Musician, Software Engineer, Traveler

I did when I subscribed to Google play music, but I don't sub too play music anymore because the selection and interface didn't suit me

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@james_slater I haven't checked out Google Play because I'm on an Android but want to do a poll about preferred music streaming services soon!

I do. But through a VPN in India. I only pay €2ish per month because of geo pricing. I think the price for YouTube Premium is way too expensive.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@daan_crefcoeur wow that's clever! Didn't even think of that hack.

𝗜𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲 (𝗲𝘆𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗻)

YouTuber, Podcaster, Streamer

Yes and it is totally worth every penny.

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@ileane do you use YouTube for music as well as video content? Thanks for sharing.

Nah, just don't watch as much Youtube! Unless it's Y Combinator office hours :)

Founder & CEO, Hustle Crew

@jonathan_sun1 what about for music? and music videos? I love watching music videos hehe

@abadesi Apple Music dude!

Product Engineer

It also gives me free youtube music subscription, I was paying the same for spotify, I was getting two things here on the same plan, hence started paying for this.

Sales Operations Manager, Grundfos

I use YT Premium because I have an early bird discount, and I LOVE ad-free YouTube. I am often tempted to bail for Spotify or Apple Music , and Google's Music solution (long live GPM or YT Music?) could use much more work to be really good. Right now, it's just good enough.

Boris Sergijevic

Senior IT Developer

Hello @Abadesi, I believe that busyness people who work in the field relevant to marketing, creative work or some kind of product development, should not block all ads and should be exposed to ads on daily basis as much as they could. And that is from two reasons: First, we need to be introduced to all new things which are happening, and get new creative ideas, as well as to catch new marketing tricks and trends. And second, we need to be aware how marketing ads affect people, experiencing it from the first hand. We would surely be somewhat subjective and more tolerant to extensive amount of ads, but when we feel something is boring or its too much, it will give us insight how other people might feel about ads. That way business people develop a good sense and taste for executing a good and effective marketing, and constantly upgrade the knowledge and experience, which will on one way or another result better product and company.

kafamda 40 tilki !

I do because I use youtube a lot for watching news and tutorials. I have ad blocker on my desktop but I need ad-free in mobile, which I also use it for listening music. I think I've been using premium for 2 years almost

PMM @ Plum | Prev. @ Freshworks Hiver

So, the story in India is a little different. Unfortunately the Spotify catalog here is very very limited. So paying for a Spotify subscription is pointless. And I find YouTube ads annoying. Paying for ad-free YouTube also gives me access to YouTube Music which has a HUGE music catalog. While the app experience is far from satisfactory, I at least get a wide variety of choice. So yes, I do pay for ad-free YouTube.

texan

I purchased the google play family plan, shared it with 4 others in my family. Unlimited Play Music streaming and Youtube are well worth it for the daily commute.