Netflix To Raise Price Of Subscriptions? What To Know About The New Plans

Netflix is filling its coffers a bit more with a new price hike. The standard plan and premium plan will increase by $1 and $2 a month respectively, with their cheapest plan remaining the same at $9 a month. It’s a bold move for Netflix since streaming competition has surged during the pandemic.

In total, the standard plan will be $14 a month and the premium plan will be $18 a month, the Hollywood Reporter says. The standard plan gives two simultaneous streams, while the premium allows for four and gives access to high definition content.

It’s the first price hike in over a year for Netflix. The last time prices rose was May 2019, with the combined hike from the two totaling $3 and $4 in the last two years for the standard and premium plans respectively.

Netflix promised its consumers that the money would be reinvested into its content streaming services.

"We understand people have more entertainment choices than ever and we're committed to delivering an even better experience for our members," Netflix said in a statement. "We're updating our prices so that we can continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films in addition to our great fall line up.”

The mention of expanding customer choices is a nod to the risk Netflix is taking here: they still lead the pack for the streaming market, but face competition from the likes of Disney+, Apple TV+, Peacock and HBO Max.

Netflix’s stock prices were already rising due to the heightened demand of the COVID-19 pandemic. The news of the price hike lifted them a further 5% at noon.