Netflix, the world’s biggest streamer, has begun phasing out its cheapest ad-free plan for existing subscribers, which costs $11.99/month, according to numerous posts that can be found on social media, including Reddit, where members say that they are being forced by the company to switch to another plan if they wish to continue using the service. Standard and Premium, Netflix’s existing ad-free plans, are available for $15.49 and $22.99 per month, respectively.
Netflix’s current plans include:
- Standard with ads: $6.99 / month
- Standard: $15.49 / month (extra member slots can be added for $7.99 each / month)
- Premium: $22.99 / month (extra member slots can be added for $7.99 each / month)
Members are saying:
- “It’s been saying I have until June 8 to pick a new plan, either pay substantially more for what I imagine is largely the same or pay less and have ads, and if I don’t my subscription will be cancelled.”
- “Losing my grandfathered-in $10 plan next month. Cancelled. Will come back later but there’s no incentive to stay. Will jump around different services.”
- “They’ve been trying to get me to pay like 60% more for the same basic plan I’ve had for 13 years. I’m letting them cancel on me.”
- “I thought it was funny that if they gave me an option for a cheaper plan otherwise I would still be paying more.”
- “I’ve been considering canceling Netflix for a few months now. Netflix made the decision for me with this stunt.”
Some of the notifications that members have been seeing:
Netflix advising in January that Basic plans would be going away soon:
In Q4‘23, like the quarter before, our ads membership increased by nearly 70% quarter over quarter, supported by improvements in our offering (e.g., downloads) and the phasing out of our Basic plan for new and rejoining members in our ads markets. The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there.