Netflix US increased the prices of its plans last year. Subscriptions currently stand at $9.99 per month for the Basic tier, $15.49 for the Standard tier and a hefty $19.99 for the Premium tier. The latter is one of the most expensive monthly streaming subscriptions on the American market right now.
Now, there are new rumours that suggest that the company may increase them once again. Here is what we know so far.
When could Netflix raise its prices?
The Wall Street journal reported that Netflix could implement a price hike in the US and Canada “a few months” after the SAG-AFTRA strike ends. Whilst the Hollywood writers strike are over, the actors ones are still petitioning for a fair deal from studios.
Negotiations started on 2 October, but there’s currently no word on when the strike will officially end. If it happens in the coming weeks, then that would fall in line what we’ve seen from previous Netflix price increases.
Netflix US raised its prices in October 2017, January 2019, October 2020 and January 2022. Whilst that’s not a set pattern, it shows price increases taking place between every 13 and 20 months. Therefore, we could see one coming as early as the beginning of 2024 in America.
This is just an estimation of course – we have no official confirmation from Netflix.
The UK has often followed America with a price change to subscriptions. However, Netflix UK did not increase its prices in 2022. In fact, the last time the platform changed its prices for was December 2020.
Prior to that, Netflix UK had price increases in October 2017 and May 2019. Therefore, without official confirmation, it’s hard to say when Netflix UK may increase its prices.
How much could Netflix subscriptions increase by?
It isn’t certain that Netflix will increase the price of its subscriptions, but we can estimate how much the increase would be by looking at previous increases.
The official US Netflix pricing changed by the following amounts in January 2022:
- Standard Plan: Increased from $13.99 per month to $15.49 per month
- Premium Plan: Increased from $17.99 per month to $19.99 per month
The price increases work out to $1.50 more for the Standard tier and $2 more for the Premium. At the time, the Basic plan increased by $1, but this plan is no longer available to new subscribers. Instead, the cheapest plan is Standard with Ads, which costs $6.99 per month.
If the same increase happens again across all the plans, then we could be looking at $7.99 per month for Standard with Ads, $17.99 for Standard and $22.99 for Premium.
In the UK, subscribers can currently choose from Standard with Ads for £4.99 per month, Standard for £10.99 per month and Premium for £15.99 per month. The prices in the UK actually work out a little cheaper than they are in the US when converted, so there could be an increase of £1-£3 per month across the plans available.
Once we know more, we will update this article.
Is there any way to avoid a Netflix price hike?
Short of cancelling your Netflix subscription, no. Netflix does not offer annual plans like Disney+ and Amazon Prime do.
If Netflix does increase its prices, the best way to save money is to either downgrade your plan or leave the service and get your streaming needs from a rival platform.