Netflix Begins Phasing Out Its Cheapest Ad-Free Plan for Existing Subscribers

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Image: Netflix

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.

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Zarathustra
Zarathustra

People get upset over everything.

The truth is things get more expensive over time.

Your cell, cable and/or internet subscription hasn't stayed the same price either.

Denpepe

I'm more upset over the lack of good new content atm.

Mostof the stuff I watched at the start has all been cancelled and not been replaced by much of substance, been rewatching mostly some older stuff that used to be on tv, once that runs out I might hop to HBO which is coming to my country soonish.

E
Endgame 👍 1

"Zarathustra, post: 86899, member: 203" wrote:

People get upset over everything.



The truth is things get more expensive over time.



Your cell, cable and/or internet subscription hasn't stayed the same price either.


How much did a pentium 100 cost on release day vs a 7950? How much did you pay per MHz? How much do you pay per inch for a monitor? A TV? What about cost per MB for storage?

Plenty of things get cheaper over time

MadMummy76
MadMummy76 👍 1

"Zarathustra, post: 86899, member: 203" wrote:

Your cell, cable and/or internet subscription hasn't stayed the same price either.


No, it didn't because it got cheaper :D

OK, that's only a half truth, my mobile provider decided to scrap the plan I was on entirely. Which forced me to switch to another carrier that by coincidence happened to be my internet provider and I ended up paying much less for everything due to the bundle deal they offered.

E

"MadMummy76, post: 86903, member: 1298" wrote:

No, it didn't because it got cheaper :D



OK, that's only a half truth, my mobile provider decided to scrap the plan I was on entirely. Which forced me to switch to another carrier that by coincidence happened to be my internet provider and I ended up paying much less for everything due to the bundle deal they offered.


Good point. My cost for internet service has dropped several times. I used to pay 129/month for gigabit. It dropped to 99, and now it’s 65. My mobile phone used to be 70 / line for 2GB, now it’s 35/line for 10GB.

Denpepe

"Endgame, post: 86904, member: 1041" wrote:

Good point. My cost for internet service has dropped several times. I used to pay 129/month for gigabit. It dropped to 99, and now it’s 65. My mobile phone used to be 70 / line for 2GB, now it’s 35/line for 10GB.


My internet leeps going up, not enough competition around here. Belgium is pretty expensive compared to neighbouring countries -.-

Tsing Mui
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