How to Get YouTube Premium Cheaper: $3.70/Month, No VPN

For years, it was surprisingly easy to get YouTube Premium cheaper. With a VPN and a Turkish Apple ID, you could pay a fraction of the local subscription price. But those days are largely over. YouTube has significantly tightened its checks, scrutinizing payment methods, billing details, and IP addresses much more closely. What used to take a few minutes can quickly turn into a frustrating trial-and-error process – and, in many cases, it no longer works at all.

Fortunately, there is still a way to get YouTube Premium for less. In this article, I’ll show you an alternative that makes it possible to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an even lower price. Unlike the old VPN and foreign Apple ID workarounds, this method is remarkably simple.

YouTube Premium for Just $3.70 (€3.14) a Month

In recent years, top-up services and digital marketplaces have become increasingly popular. They allow you to upgrade your existing YouTube account to Premium at a reduced price, for instance, through voucher codes or family and group subscriptions, without requiring a VPN or foreign payment methods.

One such option is GamsGo, a London-based company. You can continue using your existing YouTube account with all your playlists, recommendations, watch history, and settings. We’ve had very good experiences with it ourselves.

GamsGo currently offers three months of YouTube Premium for around $12.95 (€11.41), or 12 months for around $42.71 (€37.63). On the annual plan, that works out to roughly $3.56 (€3.14) per month.

Ordering is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

How to Get YouTube Premium via GamsGo – Step by Step

It only takes a few simple steps to activate YouTube Premium on your existing account.

1

Choose YouTube Premium

Select YouTube Premium on GamsGo and choose the subscription period you want, such as 3 or 12 months.

2

Complete your order

Complete your purchase using one of the many available payment methods.

3

Receive your activation link or code

Once your order is complete, you will receive either an activation link or a redemption code by email. There is no need to set up a VPN, create a foreign account, or deal with any other technical workarounds.

4

Activate YouTube Premium

Simply open the activation link or redeem the code you received. You can continue using your existing YouTube account, with your playlists, watch history, recommendations, and settings all staying in place.

The exact activation method may vary depending on the offer currently available.

Of course, besides GamsGo, there are other platforms and sellers that offer YouTube Premium top-ups. We have mainly used GamsGo, where the top-up process has worked reliably every time.

We have limited practical experience with other providers, so we cannot reliably assess how dependable they are.

Buying ready-made YouTube Premium accounts

Another option is to purchase ready-made YouTube Premium accounts from marketplaces such as G2A or Kinguin. Rather than upgrading your own account, you receive login credentials for an account with Premium already activated.

However, we generally advise against this option. While these accounts may work fine at first, they tend to become less reliable over time. Common problems include additional security checks, phone or email verification requests, password changes, and accounts that suddenly become inaccessible.

Additionally, your existing playlists, subscriptions, recommendations, and watch history are not automatically transferred. If you want to use YouTube Premium long term, upgrading or topping up your existing account is usually more convenient.

Top-up vs. ready-made YouTube Premium account

The main difference is whether you continue using your existing YouTube account or receive access to a completely separate account.

With a top-up, premium access is added to your existing account, so your playlists, subscriptions, watch history, and personalized recommendations remain the same.

With a ready-made Premium account, however, you receive login details for a separate account that has already been set up. This usually means starting from scratch with your subscriptions, playlists, recommendations, and watch history.

Why do the old VPN and Turkish Apple ID tricks rarely work anymore?

In the past, it was often enough to connect to a country with lower YouTube Premium prices using a VPN and sign up from there. Today, however, Google checks your region much more strictly. Users increasingly report error messages such as “We couldn’t verify your country” or are asked to provide a local payment method.

The previously popular workaround involving a Turkish Apple ID and Apple gift card balance has also become far less reliable. Some users now encounter messages such as “Payment Method Required”, even when there is still sufficient credit available on the account.

These methods are not completely impossible, but they have become significantly less reliable and usually require much more effort than they used to.

Countries where YouTube Premium is still relatively cheap

If you still want to try subscribing through a VPN despite the stricter regional checks, there are several countries where YouTube Premium remains comparatively inexpensive. Some of the cheaper options currently include India, Turkey, the Philippines, Argentina, and Ukraine.

The following countries are currently among the cheapest options:

The benefits of YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium offers much more than just ad-free videos. The biggest advantage is, of course, that ads before and during videos are removed completely. If you use YouTube every day, the difference becomes noticeable very quickly.

There are also several other useful features:

• Watch videos without ads
• Play videos in the background, even when your phone is locked
• Download videos for offline viewing
• Get YouTube Music Premium included
• Switch seamlessly between your smartphone, PC, tablet, and smart TV
• Keep all your playlists, subscriptions, watch history, and personalized recommendations

YouTube Premium Lite as a cheaper alternative

Another way to save money is to subscribe to YouTube Premium Lite, which is cheaper than the regular Premium plan.

However, Premium Lite is becoming less and less attractive as an alternative. While it removes ads from most regular videos, you may still encounter them on music videos, Shorts, and during searches or browsing. Features like offline downloads and background playback are not included in most regions either.

For these reasons, Premium Lite is not a good alternative for users who mainly want an ad-free experience. While the lower price may be appealing, the limitations are becoming increasingly noticeable, and for many viewers, the savings simply aren’t worth the trade-off.

Which method makes the most sense in 2026?

For most users, topping up an existing YouTube account is the most practical option. The main advantage is that you can continue using your account, including all your playlists, subscriptions, watch history, and personalized recommendations. You won’t need to deal with VPNs, foreign payment methods, or extra accounts either.

While traditional VPN methods may still work in some cases, they have become significantly less reliable. Ready-made Premium accounts can be problematic because you’re taking over an account created by someone else. This makes you more likely to encounter verification requests, password changes, and other access issues.

If you want to use YouTube Premium with your own account and keep things simple, a top-up is the most convenient option.