Netflix plans aren’t the easiest to understand, ranging from a cheaper version with ads to a fancy premium option for loyal viewers – and customers might be caught out with lots of options to choose from
If there’s anything most people don’t have much to spare of at the moment it’s money, and Netflix is asking for more of it. The streaming service recently rolled out price hikes to all subscribers, and in some cases you might be paying a fair bit more than you’d expect – with one plan now £36 more than it was last year if you add an extra member to the account.
Netflix is the most popular streamer in the world, and has more than 300million subscribers as of this year, with more than 17million of them hailing from the UK. It’s easy to see why, with beloved shows such as Black Mirror and Emily in Paris exclusive to its paying customers.
With bills going up across the board, however, many households have been keeping a tighter watch on their wallets and weighing up what they want to keep paying for. Now, it might be time to have a look at your Netflix subscription to see if you can save some money by changing your plan or finding an alternative for your evening TV and film binges.
Back in February, every Netflix plan went going up for existing customers, bringing prices in line with those who signed up as newbies at the time. Customers received an email with 30 days’ notice before being billed, but the full information might have got lost in your inbox.
The cheapest plan, standard with adverts, went up 20% from £4.99 to £5.99 per month. Standard without ads rose 18% from £10.99 to £12.99, or £24 per year. The premium plan, which has ultra-high definition viewing and allows more members and devices to be used, rose 6% from £17.99 to £18.99.
Making things more complicated, Netflix also raised the cost of adding an additional member to your standard plans and began charging an extra 25% to add an extra account user to the cheapest plan, rising from £3.99 to £4.99.
Adding someone else to a standard plan without ads went up by 20% from £4.99 to £5.99, or £12 per month. That means that if you have a standard plan with an extra member, you’re now paying £36 more than you were before the hike.
Considering the rises, it might be worth considering whether you want to stick with your current plan or switch to a cheaper one – and it’s also far cheaper to add someone as a member than to have two separate accounts, so ask your family or friends to team up.
Many other streaming sites, including Disney+, Now TV, and Amazon Prime Video might have cheaper options if you want to switch, and also usually offer free trials if you want to see what’s on offer or simply take advantage of a bit of free TV.
However, Netflix has plenty of exclusive shows to keep you hooked and is also trying new things to keep customers lured in.
The huge corporation is reportedly testing an AI-powered search tool that goes “well beyond genres or actors’ names,” meaning that hours of scrolling for something to watch could be a thing of the past.
The new feature, developed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, will allow viewers to “look for shows using far more specific terms, including the subscriber’s mood,” according to a Bloomberg report.
Currently, the tool is being tested on iOS devices for some viewers in Australia and New Zealand, with plans to expand to other countries soon.