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It really depends on how much you use it - if you watch a lot of videos, skip through tons of ads, and want to listen to music on YouTube Music, it's probably worth it; but if you only check in occasionally, the free version does the job just fine.
I've been using Premium for a while now, and honestly, the biggest advantage for me is being able to listen to music without ads while doing other stuff. YouTube Music is a decent replacement for Spotify if you're not super into collaborative playlists or discovering new music. Now, if you just want to watch videos without ads, the truth is the price increase over the last year was pretty aggressive.
What really makes a difference is if you bundle it with YouTube Music. Just for removing ads on its own? Then it gets more questionable. Some people think it's cheap to pay 12 euros a month or whatever it costs now to avoid dealing with ads, but it's also true that the free version isn't that invasive - you can live with it if you don't mind skipping the ads. It really comes down to how much you're willing to spend on streaming services.
The price has gone up quite a bit over the past few years, so the answer really depends on what you actually care about. One thing nobody mentions: if you're with Vodafone, MEO or NOS, check your telecom packages because some of them include YouTube Premium or decent discounts - sometimes it ends up cheaper that way than subscribing directly. At the end of the day, the real question is whether ads actually bother you or if you're just considering it because "everyone has it," because those are two completely different scenarios.
Don't fall for the temptation to renew just because it's sitting there in the app - do you actually need the functionality or is it just habit? I only signed up when I started using it a lot in the background while I'm out of the house, and that's when it makes sense, but if you're only using it sporadically, the free version with some annoying ads isn't the end of the world.
I think people are focusing way too much on YouTube Music and ads, but the annoying detail nobody mentioned is that the price keeps going up and you don't even notice it - you sign up, use it for a month, then it becomes automatic and you only catch it when you check your bank statement. It's really only worth it if you actually use background playback (listening while you work, drive, work out) and not just scrolling when you're bored; otherwise it becomes one of those phantom subscriptions that drains money every month.
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