Netflix just made it more expensive to go ad-free in US & UK

AppleInsider

Netflix has removed its Basic plan for US and UK users, and in doing so, has effectively doubled the cost of streaming the service ad-free.

Credit: David Balev/Unsplash

Going ad-free on Netflix just got a lot more expensive as the company has now removed its popular Basic plan for users in the UK and the US. The move follows the same action it had taken a month prior in Canada.

Previously, Netflix subscribers were allowed to subscribe to "Netflix Basic," a budget option that gave users the right to stream content on a single device at a time. Basic subscribers were locked to 720p but only had to pay $9.99 monthly.

But, as noted by Cordcutters Netflix had attempted to hide the plan to encourage users to sign up for the new $6.99 Basic with Ads -- now called Standard with Ads -- or one of its other premium packages. Users could still access Basic by reading the fine print on the subscription screen.

However, this option is no longer available, and users will need to subscribe to Standard with Ads for $6.99 or can go ad-free by subscribing to the "Standard" plan for $15.49 per month -- now double the cost of the ad-supported plan.

Currently, those subscribed to the Basic plan can continue to use it. Be warned -- if you switch to another tier, you won't be able to switch back.

Netflix rolled out the Standard with Ads plan in November, hoping to give users a more budget-friendly option after the company announced it would cut down on password sharing.

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jgreg728

Going to use this opportunity to once again laud the “a la carte” model the Apple TV App pushes with Apple TV Channels and wish all single-network-services like Disney+, Peacock, and Max would come onto the app as channels alongside Paramount and AMC+. One app where you get to easily subscribe and unsubscribe to what you want. Everything playing under the same player UI. High bitrate. Little to no ads (any ads being skippable). Apple TV features like Picture in Picture, seeing your Up Next list during play, SharePlay across the board, and downloading any movie or TV show episode for offline viewing. The list goes on Just wish Apple would push its channels service as hard as they do with Apple TV+. The Apple TV App would be THE best one stop shop streaming app over Netflix Hulu or Amazon. 

tmay

jgreg728 said:

Going to use this opportunity to once again laud the “a la carte” model the Apple TV App pushes with Apple TV Channels and wish all single-network-services like Disney+, Peacock, and Max would come onto the app as channels alongside Paramount and AMC+. One app where you get to easily subscribe and unsubscribe to what you want. Everything playing under the same player UI. High bitrate. Little to no ads (any ads being skippable). Apple TV features like Picture in Picture, seeing your Up Next list during play, SharePlay across the board, and downloading any movie or TV show episode for offline viewing. The list goes on Just wish Apple would push its channels service as hard as they do with Apple TV+. The Apple TV App would be THE best one stop shop streaming app over Netflix Hulu or Amazon. 

For Apple users, absolutely true, and Apple TV+ is certainly becoming a must have. 

Now imagine that Apple is competing with these services and also offering to host Apple Vision Pro content for channels. One stop content for Vision Pro. That would be a win win for Apple and the channels.

jbdragon

I would have dropped Netflix at this point.  The only reason I keep it is because my retired father lives at my house and watches a lot of Netflix.  I could go months without watching anything from them.  When it was much cheaper, it wasn't a big deal, but now the price is to high for that.  Having Ads suck.  I had the 4K Netflix, though not for long and when Netflix jacked up prices the last time I dropped the 4K option.  you know what?  I can't even tell the 4K from the 1080P I'm getting now on my 75" Samsung QLED TV.

Should go and be like Apple.  Where price and Resolution don't matter.  If you want 720P, 1080P, or 4K everything, the price is the same.

StrangeDays

jgreg728 said:

Going to use this opportunity to once again laud the “a la carte” model the Apple TV App pushes with Apple TV Channels and wish all single-network-services like Disney+, Peacock, and Max would come onto the app as channels alongside Paramount and AMC+. One app where you get to easily subscribe and unsubscribe to what you want. Everything playing under the same player UI. High bitrate. Little to no ads (any ads being skippable). Apple TV features like Picture in Picture, seeing your Up Next list during play, SharePlay across the board, and downloading any movie or TV show episode for offline viewing. The list goes on Just wish Apple would push its channels service as hard as they do with Apple TV+. The Apple TV App would be THE best one stop shop streaming app over Netflix Hulu or Amazon. 

And yet these tools continue to screw it up — HBO (Max) rolled out its own janky video player. It:

- doesn’t feed into Up Next
- doesn’t support “What did he say?” or enabling captions via voice 
- doesn’t support normal edge-click rewind/forward UI, requiring more clicks 
- has very laggy app screens which scroll poorly 

…it’s like these guys just want to make their experiences crummier and crummier. 

StrangeDays

jbdragon said:

I would have dropped Netflix at this point.  The only reason I keep it is because my retired father lives at my house and watches a lot of Netflix.  I could go months without watching anything from them.  When it was much cheaper, it wasn't a big deal, but now the price is to high for that.  Having Ads suck.  I had the 4K Netflix, though not for long and when Netflix jacked up prices the last time I dropped the 4K option.  you know what?  I can't even tell the 4K from the 1080P I'm getting now on my 75" Samsung QLED TV.

Should go and be like Apple.  Where price and Resolution don't matter.  If you want 720P, 1080P, or 4K everything, the price is the same.

Apple also doesn’t dick around on family sharing — if they’re part of your shared family, they can use the service, regardless of which dwelling they reside in. 

StrangeDays

If the big boss men (and they seem to always be men) were to take in a $100 million less in salary (while remaining insanely, fabulously highly-paid) maybe they wouldn’t need to screw over their customers and staff. Crazy, I know 

AppleZulu

Clearly Netflix is analyzing how their customers are using the service and tinkering with a limited selection of package deals to muscle them into more expensive categories. They are raising prices on a lot of customers in such a way that they can claim they haven't raised prices. 

This way, when the writers and actors contracts are resolved they can raise prices a second time in the same year while claiming it's the first price increase and blaming that on union labor.

chasm

These price increases and the falling quality of the (un)original content is going to push people off the service in the next cycle or two. There are several options in the $6-8 range per month that have stronger content offerings and don’t hold the upscaling chip of your TV for ransom.

If you haven’t already, replace NetSux with Apple TV+ or Paramount+, Britbox, Criterion (as highbrow and high-quality as it gets, and STILL cheaper than 4K NetfSux), CuriosityStream, Prime Video if you’re already on Amazon Prime is effectively FREE, and there’s also Acorn TV (a genuine bargain), Kanopy (free through your library), and more.

Apple TV and AcornTV are the best deals in streaming in terms of quality shows for a reasonable price, Disney+ is the king of content in 4K for less than Netflix’s Standard plan and better for families anyway, and Paramount+ is a treasure trove of classic shows and Trek.

We subscribe to a max of four services, pay yearly (which is like getting two months free), and rotate services. Our total bill for more great entertainment than we can watch, in 4K and ad-free, is under $400 per year. That’s what we used to be paying every three months for crappy cable and one premium service.

AppleZulu

jgreg728 said:

Going to use this opportunity to once again laud the “a la carte” model the Apple TV App pushes with Apple TV Channels and wish all single-network-services like Disney+, Peacock, and Max would come onto the app as channels alongside Paramount and AMC+. One app where you get to easily subscribe and unsubscribe to what you want. Everything playing under the same player UI. High bitrate. Little to no ads (any ads being skippable). Apple TV features like Picture in Picture, seeing your Up Next list during play, SharePlay across the board, and downloading any movie or TV show episode for offline viewing. The list goes on Just wish Apple would push its channels service as hard as they do with Apple TV+. The Apple TV App would be THE best one stop shop streaming app over Netflix Hulu or Amazon. 

This would be ideal, but the larger services won't do that. Apple makes it very easy to subscribe to a 'channel' for a month or two, then drop it. An organized viewer could simply subscribe for a month, watch the new season for whichever series interests them, then cancel and subscribe to something else for a month and do the same. You could conceivably enjoy the content of twelve 'channels' for roughly the price of one. That's great for the viewer, but would be a big cut in revenue for services that want subscribers to stay year-round. 

jgreg728 said:

Going to use this opportunity to once again laud the “a la carte” model the Apple TV App pushes with Apple TV Channels and wish all single-network-services like Disney+, Peacock, and Max would come onto the app as channels alongside Paramount and AMC+. One app where you get to easily subscribe and unsubscribe to what you want. Everything playing under the same player UI. High bitrate. Little to no ads (any ads being skippable). Apple TV features like Picture in Picture, seeing your Up Next list during play, SharePlay across the board, and downloading any movie or TV show episode for offline viewing. The list goes on Just wish Apple would push its channels service as hard as they do with Apple TV+. The Apple TV App would be THE best one stop shop streaming app over Netflix Hulu or Amazon. 

StrangeDays said:
 
And yet these tools continue to screw it up — HBO (Max) rolled out its own janky video player. It:

- doesn’t feed into Up Next
- doesn’t support “What did he say?” or enabling captions via voice 
- doesn’t support normal edge-click rewind/forward UI, requiring more clicks 
- has very laggy app screens which scroll poorly 

…it’s like these guys just want to make their experiences crummier and crummier. 

HBO (Max) still shows in 'Up Next' on my AppleTV. The rest of all that is true. Also, the app itself has weirdly over-saturated colors. The content still seems to be normal, but browsing the app is almost painful.

Appleish

If we didn't get Netflix for free from T-Mobile we wouldn't have it. Our "Max" subscription just ended and we did not renew citing their Netflix like greedy rates.

With the writers/actors strike (which we support) and these greedy tactics, it's a good time to cut back on your streaming services.

saarek

Until recently I used to join Netflix twice a year on basic, watch anything good and cancel.

Guess it’ll be just once a year now.