There are two very different products sold under the name "buy YouTube views". The first is advertising: your video is promoted through Google Ads and real viewers watch it. The second is bot traffic: fake accounts or click farms inflate your counter.
Bot views feel cheaper, but they carry real risk. YouTube regularly audits traffic quality and removes fake views. Channels that rely on them can see purged counts, demonetization, or strikes — and the "views" never watch, like, comment, or subscribe, so the video's performance signals actually get worse.
Ad-powered views cost more per view because a real ad auction is happening behind them. In exchange you get watch time from real people, safe delivery, country targeting, and analytics you can verify inside YouTube Studio.
A simple test before buying from anyone: ask where the traffic comes from. If the answer is not "Google Ads campaigns you can see in analytics", walk away.