At its core, YouTube Premium is the paid tier of YouTube. It costs about $14/month for an individual or $23/month for a family plan (up to 5 people). It removes all ads, allows for offline downloads, enables background play on mobile, and includes a full subscription to YouTube Music.

For parents, the "No Ads" part is the obvious win. We don't want our kids being targeted by weirdly specific marketing or seeing trailers for horror movies in the middle of a Bluey clip. But for the kids, the "why" is a little more nuanced.

When a kid says they "need" Premium, they are usually frustrated by the limitations of the free app that interrupt their digital flow.

This is the big one. On the free version of the YouTube app, if you close the app or lock your phone, the video stops. With Premium, the audio keeps playing.

Why does this matter? Because kids today use YouTube like a podcast service. They want to listen to a 40-minute deep dive into the lore of Five Nights at Freddy's while they are building a house in Minecraft or scrolling through Discord. Without background play, they are tethered to the YouTube screen. Premium gives them the "clout" of being able to multitask like a pro.

If you’ve ever been on a road trip where the cellular data hit a "dead zone" just as a MrBeast video reached its climax, you know the specific brand of chaos that ensues. Premium allows kids to download videos directly to their device. For them, it means they always have their "comfort" videos ready. For you, it means not blowing through your data plan in the first three hours of a vacation.

Many parents don't realize that YouTube Premium includes a full music streaming service. If your kid is already asking for Spotify or Apple Music, a YouTube Family plan might actually save you money by bundling the two. Kids love this because YouTube Music has access to "unreleased" tracks, remixes, and covers that aren't on other platforms—specifically the weird "Ohio" remixes or Skibidi Toilet parodies that they find hilarious.

Ask our chatbot if YouTube Premium is worth it for your specific family size

The decision to go Premium usually depends on where your kid is in their "digital lifecycle."

At this age, they shouldn't even be on the main YouTube platform. YouTube Premium does apply to the YouTube Kids app, removing ads there too. This is highly recommended if you can swing it. The ads on the free version of YouTube Kids are often "influencer-style" toy unboxings that are designed to trigger a "I want that" meltdown. Removing them makes for a much calmer viewing experience.

This is when they start wanting to watch "main" YouTube for gaming tutorials or creators like DanTDM. This is the "danger zone" for Autoplay. One major downside of Premium is that because there are no ad breaks, the "Autoplay" feature can pull a kid into a rabbit hole for hours without any natural "stopping points."

For teens, YouTube is their primary search engine and entertainment source. At this point, the educational value of YouTube (learning to code on Scratch or watching Khan Academy tutorials) is often hampered by the distracting nature of ads.

It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes ads serve a purpose: they are a speed bump.

When a kid is watching the free version, a 30-second ad is a moment where they might look up, realize they’ve been sitting in a dark room for two hours, and decide to go get a snack. With YouTube Premium, the transition from one video to the next is seamless. This can make "screen addiction" or "doomscrolling" through YouTube Shorts much more intense.

If you go Premium, you must be more diligent about setting time limits.

Learn how to set up YouTube parental controls and time limits

Let’s be real: Google (who owns YouTube) makes the free version of YouTube annoying on purpose. They want you to buy the subscription.

Is it "brain rot"? That depends entirely on the content. YouTube is home to some of the most incredible educational content ever created—think Kurzgesagt or Veritasium. It is also home to some of the most mind-numbing, loud, and over-stimulating content imaginable.

YouTube Premium doesn't change the quality of the content; it just changes the delivery. If your kid is watching garbage, Premium just gives them the garbage faster and without commercial breaks.

If you’re considering the upgrade, use it as a bargaining chip or a "Digital Citizenship" milestone.

Try saying this: "I'm willing to look into the Family Plan, but we need to talk about the 'Autoplay' trap. Since there won't be ads to break up the videos, how are you going to make sure you don't lose three hours to a 'Shorts' rabbit hole?"

Or for the budget-conscious: "If we get the YouTube Family Plan, it includes YouTube Music. That means we’re cancelling the other music subscription. Are you cool with moving your playlists over?"

YouTube Premium is a luxury, not a necessity. However, if your family spends a significant amount of time on the platform, the removal of targeted advertising and the addition of offline play makes the digital environment a lot cleaner and more functional.

Just remember: No ads does not mean no supervision.

Check out our guide on the best educational YouTube channels for every age

Ask our chatbot for a comparison of YouTube Premium vs. Netflix for kids