If you are paying $18.99 for YouTube Premium, you may be among many subscribers who are unnecessarily spending extra for ad-free videos. That’s because purchases made through Apple’s App Store are subject to a 30% commission fee, which many apps pass on in the final cost. YouTube Premium subscribers who signed up on an iPhone or iPad are paying roughly $5 more per month, with the direct rate from YouTube currently at $13.99.
If you didn’t read anything about this additional charge while signing up, that’s intentional. Apple is very strict about what apps can and can’t say during the sign-up process, and one of the biggest no-nos is directing customers to cheaper alternatives. This has dragged Apple into several court battles, including with European Union regulators and Epic Games.
Fortunately, the workaround is simple: cancel the subscription through Apple’s App Store, then go directly to the YouTube website and sign up there. Going through the web avoids the charge altogether, even on an iPhone or iPad. Your subscription will continue until the end of the billing period, meaning you can switch without losing access.
Apple’s 30% toll booth charge, explained
As YouTube is part of Google, Android users do not see the same inflated price when subscribing. However, for other subscription purchases outside of Google’s own apps, expect to see the same additional 30% fee when subscribing to major apps through the Google Play store.
All apps with a subscription model are subject to this 30% charge, so it’s worth checking if you have any other subscriptions made through Apple’s App Store. Not all apps offer a web subscription, but most do, and it typically comes with no commission fee.
In some cases, such as Spotify and Netflix, there is no way to subscribe through the app. Due to their brand recognition, these services can forgo the potential revenue loss from users downloading on iOS but being unable to subscribe. For smaller operators, this is not the case, and they are also unable to redirect users to payment windows outside iOS or Google Play. Spotify has publicly criticized Apple for not allowing it to direct users to where to subscribe outside the app, while Patreon has also clashed with Apple over similar restrictions.
