Netflix is hiking prices – and it could be the start of a trend

Netflix library
(Image credit: Netflix)

I’m sure many of us can recall the days when getting an all inclusive Netflix subscription would only set you back £5.99 per month in the UK.

But those blessed times are behind us. As its subscribers have grown to a global audience of 700 million, so too have its prices with the standard subscription without ads costing £10.99 monthly in the UK. Things are about to get even more pricey in the US, however, as Netflix has announced a set of new price hikes.

Netflix Standard with ads has gone from $6.99 to $7.99 monthly, and without ads has gone up to $17.99 from $15.49. Perhaps the most egregious of them all is Netflix Premium which has gone from $22.99 to $24.99. Canada, Portugal and Argentina are also included in the price increase.

It said that this year the streaming service will be focusing on providing more live TV and video games, including “socially engaging” party games and mainstream established titles such as Grand Theft Auto.

So, what does that mean for the price in the UK? Netflix hasn’t released anything to suggest there will be an increase in any other countries, but their price hikes in the US could well transfer further afield.

The UK equivalent of the new US pricing tiers would be £6.49 (Standard with ads), £14.60 (without ads) and £20.28 (Premium). We’ll certainly be keeping our eyes peeled for any pricing hikes in the UK.

In the last decade there have been a whole host of streaming services created to rival Netflix, and the prices have been getting more and more competitive. Disney Plus, for example, is £4.99 for its lowest tier subscription.

MORE:

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This is our review of Netflix

Robyn Quick

Robyn Quick is a Staff Writer for What Hi Fi?. After graduating from Cardiff University with a postgraduate degree in magazine journalism, they have worked for a variety of film and culture publications. In their spare time, Robyn can be found playing board games too competitively, going on cinema trips and learning muay thai.

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  • thatguy
    Netflix is getting completely ridiculous. Their US prices are crazy for what they offer.

    If a TV series has 3 or more seasons, Netflix will often only have 2 of them. Apparently, their research shows that people will just watch the two seasons and move on to another show and then eventually come back and watch the two seasons again, so they don't need to give us the complete series. It isn't like they have the first two seasons for awhile and then have the next two. They just stop at season two.

    Their amount of foreign language content in the US has skyrocketed compared to English based shows. Don't get me wrong, some foreign movies and shows are good, but I don't need half of my content to be subtitled. I feel like my fees are subsidizing their non-US content.

    It has been a long time since the start of a new month meant all sorts of fun new things to watch on Netflix. Now, every couple months something shows up that is entertaining.

    The free streaming options like Tubi and TheRokuChannel often have more entertaining content. I wish they offered options with no commercials.
    Reply