It’s about to cost more to watch “Squid Game” and “Stranger Things.” Netflix is raising prices on all U.S. subscribers today. The standard plan goes up $1.50 to $15.49/month, while the 4K plan will cost another $2 - now up to $20/month. The most basic (non-HD) plan now costs $1 more. Prices are also going up for Canadian viewers.
Existing subscribers won’t take the hit right away. Netflix will roll out the price hikes gradually. Users will get an email before any billing changes. New users will get smacked with the increase right away.
New Netflix Prices
| Basic | Standard | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost* (United States Dollar) | $9.99 | $15.49 | $19.99 |
| Number of screens you can watch on at the same time | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Number of phones or tablets you can have downloads on | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Unlimited movies, TV shows and mobile games | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Watch on your laptop, TV, phone and tablet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| HD available | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Ultra HD available | ✓ |
This price hike comes as Netflix has been generating even more buzz. Recent movies like “Red Notice” and “Don't Look Up” became the streamer's most-watched titles of all time. The last three months of 2021 resulted in the biggest slate of releases in Netflix history. Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock do not come cheap.
When prices went up in late 2020, COO Greg Peters said price hikes come along because of the additional value created for members.
Peters said there is “no magic algorithm” when it comes to price hikes, but the “the core model we have…is to take the money that our members give us…and invest that as judiciously as smartly as we can…and when we deliver more value to our members, we’ll occasionally go back and ask those members to pay a little bit more to keep that virtuous cycle of investment and value creation going.”
Peters said that the company evaluates price hikes at the country-level, so just because one country saw a price hike doesn’t necessarily mean another one would. Some factors include popular titles in that country, upcoming slate, engagement and churn in those markets. But ultimately Peters said that they “want to remain an incredible value as we continue to improve the service and grow.”
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.