YouTube Premium membership offers an ad-free experience for streaming platforms YouTube and YouTube Music. The Google-owned company recently increased the prices of all the available plans of YouTube Premium in India. The new prices are already visible on the site with the family membership seeing a 58% increase. The company will allow existing users to comply with the new pricing by the next billing date in September, or their subscription will end before the new price takes effect from the date after that in October.So, users who are dissatisfied with YouTube Music’s price hike can subscribe to other popular alternatives like Spotify and Apple Music. Here’s how the premium plans of YouTube Music, Spotify and Apple Music compare against each other:
Premium plans for YouTube Music, Spotify and Apple Music: Price and more compared
| Premium plans |
Spotify |
Apple Music |
YouTube Music
|
| Mini |
Rs 29 (weekly plan, single device only, offline listening up to 30 songs, basic audio quality) |
N/A |
N/A |
| Student |
Rs 59 for two months and Rs 59 per month after that, one verified Premium account, is available exclusively to students at an accredited higher education institution and ones who haven’t subscribed before |
Rs 59. (university students only) |
Rs 89 (only available to full-time students at higher education institutions in select countries, and eligibility will be verified by a third-party verification service, valid for up to 4 years maximum) |
| Individual |
Rs 119 for two months and Rs 119 per month after that. |
Rs 99 per month |
Rs 149 (monthly), Rs 159 (monthly prepaid), Rs 459 (quarterly prepaid), Rs 1490 (annual prepaid) |
| Duo |
Rs 149 for two months and Rs 149 per month after that, supports 2 Premium accounts |
N/A |
N/A |
| Family |
Rs 179 for two months and Rs 179 per month after that, up to 6 accounts and explicit content control |
Rs 149 |
Rs 299 (up to 6 accounts) |
Premium plans for YouTube Music, Spotify and Apple Music: Things to keep in mind
Before choosing a subscription from any of these streaming platforms, users need to note that Spotify and YouTube Music offer free tiers which come with ads and other limitations.
However, Apple Music doesn’t have a free tier, but currently, the company is offering 3 months free for new subscribers. After 3 months users have to pay Rs 99 per month. University students can also get 1 month of Apple Music for free along with access to Apple TV+.
Users can also bundle Apple Music with up to 3 other services for a combined lower monthly price. Apple also offers 3 months of Apple Music free with the purchase of eligible devices.
Apple Music premium plans support Spatial Audio and lossless audio. Users get access to exclusive interviews and live concerts while the Apple Music Sing feature allows users to do karaoke. With the premium plans, users can listen across all their devices both online and offline.
YouTube Music Premium is included in your YouTube Premium membership which offers over 100 million songs ad-free, offline downloads, and plays music even while the screen is locked.
Meanwhile, a Spotify premium subscription offers ad-free music listening, offline downloads, the ability to play songs in any order, high audio quality, listening with friends in real-time, organising listening queues and listening insights (not in Mini).
