Netflix raises prices on standard, ad-supported plans

Netflix raising the price of most of its US plans.

The streaming giant announced Tuesday that its standard ad-free plan will increase from $15.49 a month to $17.99. Its cheaper, ad-supported plan, which was recently introduced to attract more subscribers, will increase from $6.99 per month for $7.99.

In addition, the monthly cost of Netflix’s premium plan will increase from $22.99 to $24.99.

The company, which reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, said it will also raise prices in Canada, Portugal and Argentina.

Consumers have been faced with several price increases in recent years across major streaming services, including Netflix and its competitors, including Disney’s apps and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max. Streamers have increasingly turned to higher-priced and ad-supported plans as they seek to achieve profitability.

“When you’re going to ask for a price increase, you better make sure you have the goods and the commitment to back it up,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during Tuesday’s investor call, noting upcoming series and movies that will be released in 2025.

During Tuesday’s call, co-CEO Greg Peters said recent price increases in international markets were “steady.”

Netflix last raised the price of its standard ad-free plan in 2022, while its premium plan last saw an increase in 2023. Meanwhile, in 2023 the company discontinued its cheapest basic ad-free option. Although the plan is no longer available to new customers, Netflix did increase the costs of it later that year.

Netflix had dropped the basic ad-free tier shortly after it introduced its cheaper, ad-supported plan in November 2022 in response to slowing subscriber growth at the time. In November, Netflix said it had reached 70 million global monthly active users on its ad plans. This is the first time Netflix has changed the price of the ad-supported plan.

The company has also enforced a crackdown on password sharing in a push to get more customers to pay for its service.

As part of that change, Netflix has allowed subscribers to add “extra members” to their accounts. The streamer said Tuesday that the cost for additional members on standard ad-free plans will increase from $7.99 per month for $8.99. The additional members on ad-supported plans will not see a price change.

The crackdown appears to be paying off: Netflix reported Tuesday that it added a record 19 million paid memberships during the fourth quarter to surpass 300 million subscribers.