YouTube Premium costs $16.99/month in Australia. That's $203.88 a year for ad-free videos, background play, and YouTube Music. If you've been meaning to cancel for months but keep forgetting, here's exactly how to do it.
Current pricing (AUD)
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Premium (Individual) | $16.99/mo | Ad-free, background play, downloads, YouTube Music |
| Premium (Family) | $39.99/mo | Same as Individual, up to 5 household members |
| Premium (Student) | $10.49/mo | Same as Individual, requires verification |
| Premium Lite | $8.99/mo | Ad-free on most videos only. No Music, no downloads, no background play |
The family plan was recently hiked from $32.99 to $39.99, a 21% increase. Individual and student plans haven't changed yet.
Cancel on web (easiest)
- Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships and sign in
- Click Deactivate next to your membership
- Click Continue to cancel
- Pick a reason (doesn't matter which), click Next
- Click Yes, cancel
You'll get a confirmation email. Your benefits stay active until the end of your current billing period.
Cancel on Android
- Open the YouTube app
- Tap your profile picture (top right)
- Tap Purchases and memberships
- Select YouTube Premium
- Tap Deactivate and confirm
Cancel on iPhone or iPad
If you subscribed through Apple (common if you signed up in the app), YouTube can't cancel it. You need to go through Apple:
- Open Settings > tap your name > Subscriptions
- Find YouTube Premium and tap Cancel Subscription
If you signed up on the web and just use the iOS app, the web method above works fine. Check youtube.com/paid_memberships to see who bills you.
YouTube shows a retention screen during cancellation with offers like a free month or a downgrade to Premium Lite ($8.99/mo). If you want to fully cancel, click past these. The "Pause" option is also not a cancel. It suspends billing temporarily and then resumes automatically.
Your Premium benefits last until the end of your current billing cycle. After that: ads return on all videos, background play stops, downloaded videos disappear, and you lose YouTube Music Premium access. Your account, playlists, watch history, and subscriptions (channels you follow) are all kept. No data is deleted.
What you actually lose
Ad-free viewing. This is the main draw. YouTube will go back to showing pre-roll, mid-roll, and banner ads. On longer videos, you might see multiple ad breaks.
YouTube Music Premium. This is the one that catches people off guard. YouTube Music is bundled with Premium at no extra cost. Cancel Premium and you lose it. If you use YouTube Music as your main music app, you'd need to subscribe to YouTube Music separately (available as a standalone plan, roughly $10-12/month).
Background play. Videos stop playing when you switch apps or lock your phone. This matters if you listen to music, podcasts, or long-form content through YouTube.
Offline downloads. Any videos you've saved for offline viewing will become unavailable.
Family plan note: If you're on a family plan and you're the manager, cancelling removes Premium for everyone in the group, not just you.
The ad blocker question
This is the elephant in the room. Browser extensions like uBlock Origin block YouTube ads on desktop for free. YouTube has been cracking down on ad blockers since 2023, and some users report that blockers periodically stop working as YouTube updates its detection. It's a cat-and-mouse game.
On mobile, ad blocking is harder. There's no uBlock Origin for the YouTube app. Some people use alternative apps or browsers, but the experience is clunkier than the official app.
If you mostly watch YouTube on a computer and you're comfortable with an ad blocker, the ad-free benefit of Premium is largely redundant. If you watch on a TV, phone, or tablet, ad blockers aren't really an option.
Alternatives to full Premium
- Premium Lite ($8.99/mo): Ad-free on most videos, but no YouTube Music, no downloads, no background play. Ads may still appear on music content and Shorts. Good if ads are your only gripe.
- YouTube Music standalone: If you only care about the music app, you can subscribe to YouTube Music Premium on its own for less than full Premium.
- Just use the free tier. YouTube is still free. The ads are annoying, but the content is the same.
YouTube sorted. But it's probably not the only subscription on autopilot.
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See what you're paying forChris Raad
Chris is the founder of Subtracker. He built this tool after experiencing the pain of discovering thousands of dollars in unused SaaS sprawl just before tax time.