Do you need an account to watch YouTube?

As of 2015, no account is needed to watch videos on YouTube. A YouTube account does, however, allow users to access additional features, such as saving a video for later viewing, subscribing to channels to receive regular updates and setting up a personal YouTube homepage.

Without an account, YouTube users can still search for specific videos or browse from pre-set video categories. Both those with accounts and those without accounts can watch YouTube videos on computers or multimedia devices, such as smartphones and tablets. YouTube also provides a live streaming and video rental service for live events and movies; however, these features require an account.