This isn’t really news anymore, but it’s a repeating cycle. So, here we are, again. Netflix has just — quietly, mind you — raised the price of its subscription bundles. For starters, the base tier that occasionally throws a few ads in your face now costs $8.99 per month, up from the $7.99 monthly fee.
What else is going up?
In the natural order of things, “thou shalt pay more to see fewer ads.” Netflix is living by that code pretty seriously. Naturally, it has hiked the price of its Standard and Premium plans, too, ones that spare you the pain of watching ads midway through a deep binge-watching session. The latter plan used to cost $24.99, but it’s ready to hurt your monthly subscription bill by rising to $26.99. The Standard (without ads) plan is jumping from $17.99 to $19.99 moving forward.
But that’s not all. Remember Netflix fuming at moochers and rolling out a strategy that lets you ethically add more members to your current plan? Well, now, if you want to add a new pair of eyes to your Standard plan, it’s going to cost $7.99 per head each month, up from $6.99 not too long ago. Of course, they would still see ads, just like you. For skipping ads, you must cough up $9.99 each month for new additions.
If you and your co-subscriber want to avoid the bane of ads while living the Premium plan life, the hit of adding a new member has been raised from $8.99 to $9.99 per month. It’s just a dollar, or two, but the hike is pretty much here. And if the world of techno-capitalism has taught me anything, there’s no hope for a rollback to merrier (read: less expensive) times.
But why?
Well, Netflix told TechCrunch that the latest price hike is a subtle tax for improving its service in recent times and raising the quality bar. It’s a vague explanation, one that shouldn’t have been uttered with as much confidence. But here we are, regardless.
As far as the new pricing structure goes, it goes into effect for new subscribers starting March 26, while existing customers will face the one-dollar wrath in the coming months. As a sweet gesture of thoughtful customer care, Netflix will inform users a month in advance, via email, about the rising prices.
If it comes as any consolation, Netflix is also home to a terrific slate of games. Maybe, it’s finally time to tap into some of those gems and truly milk your subscription spending? I’ll highly recommend “Red Dead Redemption,” “TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge,” “Dead Cells,” “Street Fighter IV CE,” “Oxenfree,” “WWE 2K25: Netflix Edition,” and “Into the Breach.”