Netflix Will Soon Cost You $1-$2 More Each Month
It’s the streaming service’s first subscription increases since October 2017
It will soon cost you more money to stream Netflix shows and movies like Stranger Things, The Crown and Bird Box.
The streaming service is rolling out double-digit increases to all of its monthly subscription plans, which will result in price hikes of $1 to $2 per month.
Netflix’s most popular plan, which allows high-definition streaming from up to two screens simultaneously, will jump 18 percent, from $11 a month to $13.
The basic plan, which offers one standard-definition stream, will increase 13 percent, from $8 to $9 per month. And Netflix’s priciest plan, which allows for up to four 4K streams at once, will see a 14 percent price hike from $14 to $16. That will put the monthly cost of Netflix above HBO Now for the first time.
“We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience for the benefit of our members,” said a Netflix spokesperson.
The company noted that this is the first increase to its basic plan since it launched in 2010 and that the increases reflect the improvements it has made to its services, especially its investments in original content, which totaled $8 billion in 2018.
Netflix last raised rates for its two-stream and four-stream plans in October 2017. At that point, the two-stream plan jumped from $10 to $12, and the four-stream plan increased from $12 to $14.
The hikes will take effect immediately for new subscribers, and will be rolled out to existing subscriptions over the next few months. Existing members will be notified by email, as well as within the Netflix app 30 days before the new prices are applied to them.
In addition to the U.S., these increases will also apply to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Netflix bills in U.S. dollars—including Uruguay, Barbados and Belize—and exclude major markets like Mexico and Brazil.
Netflix is raising prices as many of its streaming competitors have kept their own subscription fees steady for several years. Hulu hasn’t increased its monthly SVOD fee since it added an ad-free tier in 2015 ($8 for limited ads; $12 for ad-free), and CBS All Access has left its pricing structure intact since rolling its own ad-free offering out in 2016 ($6 for limited ads; $10 for ad-free).
HBO has kept the $15 cost of HBO Now steady since the direct-to-consumer service launched in 2015.
Amazon, however, did raise the annual price of its Prime subscription last May, from $99 to $119.
Netflix now has 137 million global subscribers, and continues to expand that number each quarter as several other major media companies are preparing their own rival services, set to launch within the next year. Disney, AT&T and Apple should roll out their new OTT offerings this year, while NBCUniversal said on Monday it will debut a streaming service in early 2020.
