New year, same streaming headaches: Netflix raises prices by up to 16 percent

[Karlston]

The cheapest ad-free plan increases from $15.49 to $17.99.

A scene from the Netflix original series Squid Game.

Credit: Netflix

 

Today Netflix, the biggest streaming service based on subscriber count, announced that it will increase subscription prices by up to $2.50 per month.

 

In a letter to investors [PDF], Netflix announced price changes starting today in the US, Canada, Argentina, and Portugal.

 

People who subscribe to Netflix's cheapest ad-free plan (Standard) will see the biggest increase in monthly costs. The subscription will go from $15.49/month to $17.99/month, representing a 16.14 percent bump. The subscription tier allows commercial-free streaming for up to two devices and maxes out at 1080p resolution. It's Netflix's most popular subscription in the US, Bloomberg noted.

 

Netflix's Premium ad-free tier has cost $22.99/month but is going up 8.7 percent to $24.99/month. The priciest Netflix subscription supports simultaneous streaming for up to four devices, downloads on up to six devices, 4K resolution, HDR, and spatial audio.

 

Finally, Netflix's Standard With Ads tier will go up by $1, or 14.3 percent, to $7.99/month. This tier supports streaming from up to two devices and up to 1080p resolution. In Q4 2024, this subscription represented "over 55 percent of sign-ups" in countries where it's available and generally grew "nearly 30 percent quarter over quarter," Netflix said in its quarterly letter to investors.

 

"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," Netflix's letter reads.

 

Netflix most recently raised subscription prices in 2023, when the Premium plan went up by $3 and the Basic plan increased by $2 (Netflix killed off the Basic plan in 2024).

 

Ads continue to be a central focus for Netflix moving forward. As it stands, Netflix's ad business wasn't yet large enough to be broken out in Netflix's Q4 2024 earnings report but should be relevant by 2026, the streaming company said.

 

"We’re on track to reach sufficient scale for ads members in all of our ads countries in 2025," Netflix told investors. "A top priority in 2025 is to improve our offering for advertisers so that we can substantially grow our advertising revenue."

 

In Q4 2024, Netflix gained more subscribers than it ever has in a single quarter, buoyed by live sporting events and a new season of one of its most popular series, Squid Game. The streaming platform added 18.91 million subscribers for a total of 301.63 million. Netflix has said it will not report quarterly subscriber numbers in future reports.

 

In addition to record subscriber gains, Netflix also saw its largest quarterly revenue gain—up 16 percent to $10.2 billion—since 2021 in Q4 2024.

 

With Netflix already enacting a successful password crackdown, launching an ad-supported subscription offering, and topping subscriber counts, there are limited ways for it to fuel growth. It also needs billions of dollars to pay for and continue to win the rights to stream live events. Netflix plans to get some of these funds from current subscribers' wallets.

 

Source

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