Netflix is raising their prices again. They announced that beginning on October 18, 2023, its premium ad-free plan in the US will rise by $3 per month to $22.99. The basic plan will jump to $11.99. The ad-supported plan will remain at $6.99 monthly.
Netflix Raises Its Prices… Again
Beginning on October 18, 2023, Netflix will add $3 to the total cost of its premium ad-free plan in the United States, bringing the monthly fee to $22.99.
The company will also raise prices on its basic plan, bringing the monthly cost of $2 from $9.99 to $11.99, USA Today reported.
Netflix’s entry-level plan, which is supported by ads, will stay at $6.99 monthly.
What’s Behind the Cost increases?
Netflix isn’t raising prices because it has lost customers, as many people believe. The company saw a 9% year-over-year increase in average paid memberships. Netflix added 8.8 million subscribers in the third quarter, nearly quadruple the 2.4 million the previous year.
Overall, Netflix reported a total of 247 million paid global subscribers in the third quarter, according to CNN.
Netflix recently imposed a crackdown on password sharing to gain more paid subscribers. The result was customers canceling their memberships. However, the company said they lost fewer customers than they thought they would.
Instead, the crackdown has resulted in converting many customers who previously borrowed passwords from other subscribers into full-paying subscribers themselves, according to Netflix, which attributes this to some of its strong subscriber growth.
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A Short History of Netflix Price Increases
Here’s a look at the cost of Netflix price increases, beginning in 2007 when the company, which began as a DVD-by-mail service, first launched its on-demand streaming.
2007: To access Netflix’s streaming service, you had to purchase a DVD subscription. The way streaming worked at that time, the more you paid, the more hours you could stream. People who paid $18 per month could view 18 hours of streaming. More expensive plans received more streaming hours, and cheaper plans have less viewing time, Flixed reports.
2008: The true era of Netflix streaming begins. The unlimited streaming plan costs $9 per month, while the $5 plan could only stream two hours of content. Netflix had around 90,000 titles at the time.
2011: “Streaming only” package was $8 per month, but with many titles only available on DVD, many were forced to pay the $16 monthly for the “one DVD at a time” plan, as well as the $8 streaming plan to get all the content they wanted to see. For an additional $2 per month, users can upgrade to the “two DVDs at a time” plan.
2013: Netflix as a third subscription option, a family plan at $12 per month that allowed families to stream content on up to four different screens.
2014: Netflix rebranded its family plan to “Netflix Platinum” after adding support for 4K streams. The price increased to $10 for HD content, while SD content was $8 per month.
2015: New customers would pay $9 for SD content, while the price for existing SD customers remained at $8.
2016: $2 price hike affects “grandfathered” customers
2017: $1 price increase for standard and premium subscribers.
2019: Netflix basic increased to $8.99, standard to $12.99, and premium to $15.99.
2020: Netflix standard increased to $13.99, and premium increased to $17.99.
2022: Netflix basic increased to $9.99, standard to $15.49, and premium to $19.99. A “Basic with Ads” plan was introduced at $6.99, the least expensive plan that Netflix has ever offered.
2023: Netflix ends the $9.99 basic plan for new subscribers, but allows existing basic customers to keep their plan.
