Netflix has confirmed a significant price hike in the United States – and several other nations – as the price of streaming continues to surge.
In its most recent investor report, Netflix says the increases will span three of its plans in the United States, while customers in Canada, Portugal and Argentina are on the hook.
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Brits, for now, will not face any price increases. However, the initial hikes usually result in a domino effect throughout the territories where Netflix is available.
As such, the cheapest Netflix plan, the ad-supported plan, will now cost $7.99 (up from $6.99). The standard tier with HD video and no ads is now $17.99, which is a $2.50 increase on the previous price of $15.49.
Perhaps most shockingly though, the Premium tier with 4K video now costs $24.99, which is a $2 increase. $25 for Netflix. So we’re doing that, are we?
“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix. To that end, we are adjusting prices today across most plans in the US, Canada, Portugal and Argentina,” Netflix says in the letter to investors.
Netflix didn’t increase its prices in the US in 2024 so this was to be expected. It’s still a blow though, given pretty much every other streaming service did.
$25 for Netflix? Wow!
I know it’s the top tier offering the best resolution, offering, more simultaneous screens and other benefits (like being able to pay for add more than one extra member, if you can call that a benefit). But the threshold of $25 Netflix subscriptions has been reached, and exceeded in states that charge sales tax.
That feels like a watershed moment for streaming and one that many consumers will be aghast at. They’ll retreat back to the standard tier, which is now almost $20 including tax, or the ad-supported tier as they seek to maximise the amount of services they can subscribe to without blowing their entire streaming budget.
The end result looks very much like cable used to be: Loads of ads, paying for loads of stuff you don’t actually watch, and still not having everything you want to see because there are just too many services charging a hefty premium. And, let’s not forget, there are still must-watch items that remain the preserve of cable.
The streaming revolution has officially jumped the shark.
