It's an expensive life, signing up to streaming services. You pay a chunk of cash each month, more so for every service you're signed up for, and it doesn't help that most of the best streaming services keep bumping up their prices.
Another price hike could be on the horizon for Netflix subscribers, which won't help the matter. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the world's biggest streaming service is planning to increase the price for a subscription, with the increase expected imminently after the end of the actors' strike in Hollywood (an occurrence with no set date right now).
Netflix itself hasn't commented on these rumors, but just about everyone else has. Over on X (the site formerly known as Twitter), most Netflix fans have all been saying the same thing about these rumors:
Who are we kidding expect a price hike every yearOctober 3, 2023
I mean that’s no surprise, every service will to cover the extra costs But didn’t they also just have one like 3 months ago? LolOctober 3, 2023
Didn’t they just raise the price?October 3, 2023
DIDINT THEY JUST GO UP…Also add some interesting horror movies 😮💨October 3, 2023
"Again?!" is what everyone wants to know, because recently, it feels like Netflix has been bumping up its price every time you blink! And while it's true that Netflix has been shaking up its prices recently, it's been longer than you'd think.
In the last year, Netflix has introduced its ad-enabled plan in many countries around the world, but also retired its Basic plan, meaning viewers who wanted to avoid ads are paying more. Plus, the streamer's plan to avoid password sharing means that you'll be locked to one household per account (unless you pay extra), so again subscribers have likely ended up with a bigger bill of late.
However, in the US, the Netflix price hasn't changed since January 2022, when the Basic, Standard and Premium tiers went up by $1, $1.50 and $2 respectively, to their current prices. The last price increase before that was in October 2020, and before that it was early 2019.
So, roughly speaking, Netflix increases its prices every year and a half, and in that regard, this price hike is on schedule. But there's another reason that people are criticizing constant price hikes.
That's because there are plenty of new streaming services that have launched over the last few years, so many TV and movie fans are likely paying more each month than they were in January 2022. Plus, there are price bumps to all of these rivals all the time, and so while Netflix hasn't increased its US prices in about 22 months, other streamers have.
In fact, the same day this news broke, Discovery Plus increased the cost of its ad-enabled plan, and Prime Video announced days prior that you'll soon have to pay extra for ad-free streaming. So it's valid to feel that streaming prices are constantly going up!
With all the great Netflix shows being added all the time, it'll be a tough call to delete Netflix for many fans, but luckily there are loads of great free streaming services out there to act as alternatives.
