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YouTube Premium cost me 30% extra for months until I noticed - check your plan ASAP

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Why This Matters

This article highlights the importance for consumers and the tech industry to regularly verify subscription billing sources, as billing through third-party platforms like Apple can significantly increase costs—up to 30% more for YouTube Premium. Recognizing and correcting these billing discrepancies can lead to substantial savings and better consumer awareness. It also underscores the need for transparency and easy management options across digital subscription services.

Key Takeaways

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

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ZDNET's key takeaways

You may be overpaying for YouTube Premium via Apple billing.

Check your billing source to confirm your subscription price.

Cancel and resubscribe on desktop to save on monthly costs.

Recently, I took a hard look at my subscriptions after realizing I was spending about $350 a month across more than a dozen services. By canceling some, switching to ad-supported tiers, and finding bundle deals, I've whittled that down to around $150. But during the process, I noticed one eye-poppingly expensive subscription on my monthly statements: YouTube Premium.

Also: There's an easy way to skip YouTube's new unskippable ads

I had the Family plan and was paying $29.99 a month. I thought it cost less than that, so I looked it up, and sure enough, the standard price is $22.99 a month. So why was I overpaying? Long story short, at some point, I somehow ended up subscribed through Apple instead of directly through Google. That difference is about a 30% markup to cover Apple's in-app purchase fees.

I genuinely didn't know when I switched or how I missed the price difference, but it's clearly an easy mistake to make. In the interest of service journalism, here's how to check if you're doing the same.

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