Subscriptions, one by one

YouTube Premium costs 1,559 over ten years.

At roughly 12.99 a month, YouTube Premium is 156 a year, 1,559 over a decade and 3,118 over twenty years, at today's price and before increases. Here is the receipt and what the same money is in real things.

SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPT

worth-one · single item

YouTube Premium12.99/mo

Per year156
5 years779
10 years1,559
20 years3,118

10 years buys ≈
• 5% of a 30,000 car
• 520 coffees at 3
• 19 weeks of groceries at 80
• 1.3 return flights at 1,200

TOTAL, 10 YEARS1,559

Is YouTube Premium worth 1,559?

Maybe. That is not the point of the page. The point is that streaming subscriptions are priced to feel small per month, and 12.99 feels small. 1,559 over a decade does not. Both numbers are the same purchase; only the framing changes. If you use YouTube Premium every week, the decade price may be one of the best deals you have. If you opened it twice last month, you now know what "I'll cancel it eventually" costs per year: 156.

What the 10-year figure assumes

Today's price, no increases, no annual-plan discount, no shared family plan, no free months. Real ten-year cost is usually higher because prices rise; this is the floor. Currency is left generic on purpose: the figures are close enough in EUR, USD and GBP to use as they are, and you can edit any price in the full calculator.

The cancel maths

Cancelling YouTube Premium for six months a year (most people binge in bursts) saves about 78 a year and 779 over ten years. Downgrading to a cheaper tier, sharing legitimately with a household, or rotating between services are all cheaper than the default of paying every month forever.

Other services: Netflix · Spotify · Disney+ · Amazon Prime · Apple Music · iCloud+ / Google One (200 GB) · ChatGPT Plus / an AI assistant · a gym membership · PlayStation Plus / Xbox Game Pass · a dating app.

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