YouTube Premium users across the globe are facing significant price hikes as Google increases subscription costs in over a dozen countries. This follows earlier price jumps in various regions, including the United States last summer. The latest increases vary by region, with some countries experiencing hikes between 30% to 50%. For instance, in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, the Family plan will rise from €18 to €26 starting November, while the individual plan will increase by €2 to €14.
Countries affected by these changes include Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, UAE, Switzerland, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Colombia, Thailand, Singapore, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, and Denmark. Although most Reddit reports are from European users, the price hikes also impact the Middle East, Colombia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. YouTube had already raised its subscription prices in India by 15–20% in late August.
And that, kids, is why you should pirate. Paying customers are restricted and being ripped off. Piracy gives freedom, it pays off, it makes sure you dont have to agree to stupid user agreements which take away you rights. Make sure to support your favorite creators though, through other platforms like Patreon. Don’t take the money away from them. Just take away the power and control away from the evil mega corps like Google and Meta.
You don’t even need to pirate, just use an ad blocker and support your creators directly. My perspective is that, unless you agree to their TOS, it’s on them to prevent any activity that’s unprofitable to them, and so far, uBlock Origin on Firefox works fine on YouTube directly.
Take what you would’ve spent on YouTube premium at a more reasonable price and send that to the creators you follow.
Just Vivaldi browser works too. On your phone I recommend grayjay.app