Prepare for Another Netflix Price Increase

If you are tuning into Netflix in 2025, be prepared for another price surge affecting your beloved streaming service. The well-known platform has recently indicated that fans will now have to pay even more for their favorite films and television series due to a substantial increase in subscriptions.

Understanding the Netflix Price Hike

It’s been just over a year since Netflix last adjusted its pricing, sparking dissatisfaction among many users. This adjustment comes on the heels of Netflix’s stricter measures against password sharing, which has led some subscribers to reconsider their memberships after binge-watching eagerly anticipated series.

Netflix’s latest price increase is attributed to an impressive gain of 19 million new subscribers over the 2024 holiday season. You might assume that this growth results in higher profits; however, the revenue is being reinvested back into the platform, allowing for the addition of compelling live sports content, including events featuring Mike Tyson and Logan Paul, and notable WWE programming.

This substantial influx of subscribers, drawn both by the excitement of live events and the new season of fan-favorite Squid Game, prompts Netflix to anticipate even stronger growth through 2025. However, in order to enhance content offerings and improve HD and 4K streaming options, an increase in funds is necessary.

Netflix with Squid Game loaded. — Image source: Unsplash

Here’s a breakdown of the new subscription costs you can expect:

Standard plan with ads: now $7.99 (up from $6.99)
Standard plan without ads: now $17.99 (up from $15.49)
Premium plan: now $24.99 (up from $22.99)
Additional users for password sharing: $8.99 (new cost), while the ad-supported plan retains $6.99 per extra user.

Industry-Wide Price Hikes

While displeasure about Netflix’s price increase is understandable, it’s important to recognize that such hikes have become a widespread trend among streaming platforms. In a manner reminiscent of traditional cable services, subscription costs are increasingly shaped by agreements with various production studios and networks along with escalating production expenses.

Just recently, YouTube TV raised its monthly plans by $10, and Disney+ has also seen increases in their rates. Netflix’s adjustments align with this trend, mirroring other streaming platforms that typically raise their prices by $1 to $2 monthly for various plans.

A hand holding a dollar bill. — Image source: Unsplash

Both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are banking on subscribers opting for ad-supported tiers, which yield an alternative revenue stream. Despite Prime’s lower costs for ad-free options, the introduction of a cheaper ad-supported plan enables Netflix, Prime, and other streaming services to diversify their income while maintaining consumer access to content.

As Netflix continues to grow, the potential impact of price increases may lead some subscribers to pause their memberships, only to return when a new season, film, or sporting event is released. Unlike cable, one of the undeniable advantages of streaming is the absence of long-term contracts, giving users the flexibility to save money by pausing subscriptions during inactive periods, thus mitigating the effects of the Netflix price hike.

Image credit: Uns