Netflix has just announced some price hikes to its Basic and Premium subscriber plans while keeping the prices of its ad-supported and Standard plans the same as they are now. The last monthly subscription price hike was in early 2022, so it's been a good while since Netflix increased its prices.
Netflix butchered its Basic plan earlier this year, but will now (as a grandfathered customer) cost you $12 per month -- up from $10 per month -- while the Premium subscription is now $23 per month, up from $20 per month. The ad-supported and Standard plans will remain the same, at $7 and $15.49 monthly, respectively.
Recently, the streaming giant cracked down on password-sharing, which seems to have resulted in more monthly subscriptions. Netflix has reported 247.15 million subscribers, which is a chunky 10% annual increase. Netflix also reported a paid net subscriber addition of 8.76 million for Q3 2023, the biggest increase of the year in fact.
In the countries that have the ad-supported tier, Netflix says that 30% of all new sign-ups are coming from countries where the ad-supported tier is available.
- Read more: Netflix subscribers surge by 6 million as password sharing crackdown maneuver pays off
- Read more: Share your Netflix password with a friend? You'll soon pay $3 for that
It appears Netflix is pulling in some serious money, with its financial report showing the streaming giant pulled $8.5 billion in revenue in Q3 2023 alone. It seems that the crackdown on password sharing and introducing the cheaper tiers -- including ad-supported tiers -- is working for Netflix. The numbers are glowing this quarter, and I don't see it slowing down as we head into the end of the year.
There are other streaming giants out there, but none of them are as big as Netflix -- but that doesn't mean Netflix is invulnerable either -- Apple has some fantastic content, so too do HBO Max, Disney, Hulu, and other streaming companies. Price hikes out of nowhere aren't too nice; it would've been a softer blow -- especially for Netflix Premium subscribers -- for something new.
Maybe higher-bitrate 4K video? That would've been nice.