When it comes to video-on-demand streaming platforms that are out there in the world, there’s none as popular as Netflix, which arguably set the ball rolling. However, Netflix hasn’t been without its fair share of unpopular decisions: getting rid of popular content, cracking down on password sharing, and regular price hikes.
Oh, speaking of price hikes… Yep, you’re not going to like to hear this if you’re a Netflix user in the United States and a few other countries, but the streaming platform has decided to bump up your monthly subscription fee, and that’s despite a milestone year. Let’s talk about it.
Netflix Users in the United States Will Be Paying As Much As $2.50 Extra Every Month
Netflix is the de facto choice for most when it comes to streaming platforms. Sure, there are a lot of other popular options around, like Hulu, Disney+, Max, and Prime, but Netflix has been around the longest of the bunch. Unfortunately, for its many customers in the United States, Canada, Portugal, and Argentina, the company is going to be making one of the most unpopular decisions that we see among digital services.
You guessed right: it’s a price hike. Netflix is going to be increasing its prices in a handful of countries, the US included, and this is not bound to go down well with the company’s subscribers. For full context, this is going to be the third price hike that users are seeing in a three-year span, and that’s not fun.
The Standard plan with ads is going to get a $1 increase, moving from $6.99 to $7.99 each month. The ad-free Standard plan pushes up by $2.50—the largest increase among any of the plans—from $15.49 to $17.99. Finally, the Premium plan will go from $22.99 to $24.99, a $2 hike. Over a year, that’s going to amount to quite a lot, especially for those who might have more than one streaming service they’re subscribed to.
Netflix Is Hiking Prices Despite a Record Year
What’s interesting is that Netflix definitely didn’t struggle in Q4 of last year. The company surpassed the 300 million mark for global paid memberships, adding nearly 20 million new users—the biggest increase since its global operations began. It also broke records with Squid Game 2, the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul boxing event, and the Christmas NFL games.
Despite all of that though, customers are still going to have to pay more each month now, and that’s sad.
Netflix Has Been Consistent with Price Hikes Since January 2022
Back in January 2022, Netflix users were shocked to go from paying $17.99 a month on the Premium plan to $19.99. However, for the rest of 2022 and most of 2023, they managed to escape any further price increases—as it should be. Unfortunately, by October of 2023, the platform introduced a relatively large $3 increase to its Premium plan, pushing that up to $22.99.
2024 managed to remain price hike-free, but the company is starting off the year with one, adding an extra $2 to its Premium plan, as mentioned earlier.
That means in what is exactly a three-year timespan, the company has increased its prices three times (and also killed off its Basic tier). The closet of 2021 had people paying $18 a month and now they’re paying $25—I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix’s Premium plan surpasses $30 by 2030. At that point, it’ll be a wonder if it is still worth it.
