You no longer have to blame YouTube for not offering its premium subscription in Kenya, as the product is now available in the country. If you are wondering why this is important, then I will give you two primary reasons: YouTube has been cracking down on third-party apps that offer premium features, including YouTube Vanced, which has since been discontinued (likely after a litigation threat), and ad blockers for browser-based access. Secondly, people are generally averse to YouTube ads and have asked the Google-owned video streaming platform to offer the premium service to them. However, Premium has, for a long time, been limited to select countries across the globe. So, its arrival here will go a long way in allowing people to enjoy the full potential of the platform, but at a cost.
Benefits of YouTube Premium
Well, there are quite a few:
- You will watch videos without any ad interruptions
- You can download videos for offline viewing
- You can play videos in the background
- All these benefits are accessible on devices associated with your account, including television platforms
YouTube Premium Pricing in Kenya
For an individual, you will pay KES 500 per month.
First-time users, which is most Kenyans, will enjoy the service for free for the first month. The offer will also include YouTube Music, which is also available in Kenya now.
If you want more people to enjoy the service, you can add 4 (totaling 5 members) to your subscription for KES 950 per month.
The student offer is cheaper at KES 290.
YouTube Music
YouTube has all the music in the world (I would argue its collection is more robust than that of other streaming services). Named YouTube Music, the service, as mentioned, is available in Kenya now, but users can choose to purchase it separately from YouTube Premium. It allows users to stream video music content, among other perks such as an ad-free experience and offline listening, but at a cost. The audio streaming quality is lower than what Spotify’s highest tier offers. YouTube Music maxes out at 256 kbps, whereas Spotify can go up to 320 kbps.
YouTube Music Pricing in Kenya
KES 420 for an individual
KES 670 for a family of 5.
KES 209 for students.
All these plans come with one month free.
