I was in the same position until a few weeks ago; mainly used YT for podcasts, downloading videos to watch while travelling etc.
If you have an Android phone, get the NewPipe app from F-Droid. It has pretty much everything that YT Premium offers, but free. It’s been working really well for me.
NPC@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’ve had new pipe before switching over to premium. After coming from vanced, new pipe still just feels too clunky for me and like the recommendation feed and using shorts here and there. If new pipe was more like vanced was, I’ll probably switch back but until then I’ll think I’ll cough up for premium