YouTube is an American online video sharing platform owned by Google. It was founded on February 14, 2005, by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, it is the second-most-visited website in the world, after Google itself. YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to playlists, report, comment on videos, and subscribe to other users. It offers a wide variety of content, including music videos, comedy shows, how-to guides, recipes, hacks, and more.
YouTube is available on PCs, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. It offers features such as creating a personal YouTube channel, uploading videos, liking/commenting/sharing other YouTube videos, and creating playlists to organize videos. YouTube also provides tools and features for creators to optimize their content, including end screens and cards, captions and subtitles, a video editor, and thumbnail testing. YouTube provides comprehensive analytics tools that help creators understand their audience and improve their content strategy.
While YouTube is free to use, YouTube Premium offers an ad-free experience, background play, and offline downloads. As of January 2026, YouTube Premium costs $13.99 per month for an individual plan, with discounts available for students and families. YouTube also offers an annual plan for $139.99. YouTube Premium includes YouTube Music Premium, which gives ad-free access to songs and videos in the YouTube Music library. A "Premium Lite" plan was tested in some regions, offering ad-free viewing for a lower price, but it was discontinued in October 2023.