Netflix has raised its prices in the United States pushing its top 4K plan up to the $20 a month mark and making the Standard tier more expensive than all rivals.
The $1-$2 per month raises pertain to all of the company’s plans, meaning that the basic tier (standard definition and one screen) is now $9.99 a month (up from $8.99). You’ll pay an extra $1.50 a month for the Standard plan (HD with two simultaneous screens), which now goes above $15 to $15.49 a month.
Significantly, that’s more than HBO Max’s $14.99 a month (which actually offers 4K HDR), Showtime, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount Plus and any other major streaming service you’d like to mention. It’s more than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate too.
Actually, for the price of the Netflix Premium subscription, you can actually mix and match a few of the others and save a few quid.
“We’re updating our prices so that we can continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options,” Netflix told Reuters. “As always we offer a range of plans so members can pick a price that works for their budget.”
This is the first price hike since October 2020, but the price of the standard subscription has almost doubled in the last decade (it started as $7.99 in 2011 and remained that way until April 2014).
The price hike will surely make UK users nervous that another price hike is on the way. The company last raised its UK prices a year ago, just as the third lockdown commenced.
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The Standard HD monthly went up by £1, from £8.99 to £9.99. The Premium tier, which unlocks a host of 4K HDR content and a larger number of concurrent streams, went up £2, from £11.99 from £13.99. Those on the basic 1-screen, SD plan remained at £5.99.
So, if the US model is followed, we’re just a couple of months from a potential UK price hike too. Unfortunately for Canadian viewers, their subs are going up along with the Americans’ too.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
