Netflix jacks up the price of its premium plan to $23 a month

Netflix announced price hikes on two of its plans today. As the company relayed its quarterly earnings, it said it’s increasing rates for its Basic and Premium plans. The Basic plan, which Netflix killed earlier this year, moves from $10 to $12 for grandfathered customers, while Premium rises from $20 to $23.

Netflix said its ad-supported and Standard plans will remain the same at $7 and $15.49, respectively. Before Wednesday’s news, the company last raised prices in early 2022.

“While we mostly paused price increases as we rolled out paid sharing, our overall approach remains the same — a range of prices and plans to meet a wide range of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more,” Netflix wrote in its earnings report. “Our starting price is extremely competitive with other streamers and at $6.99 per month in the US, for example, it’s much less than the average price of a single movie ticket.”

The company’s move to limit password sharing appears to have paid off. Paid memberships are up to 247.15 million, a significant 10 percent annual increase. Paid net subscriber additions were 8.76 million for Q3, the biggest increase of the last year. In addition, Netflix’s advertising-supported plan seems to be off to the hot start it expected as it accounted for 30 percent of all new sign-ups in countries where it’s available.

Netflix has shifted its strategy as it adjusts from its peak-pandemic highs while facing increased competition. In addition to its price hikes, ad-supported plan and password-sharing crackdowns, the streaming service is even taking the peculiar step of moving into retail.

Netflix is hardly alone in raising prices. Disney+, Hulu and Max have all issued increases in the past 12 months. That isn’t limited to direct rivals: Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Spotify, YouTube Premium and Apple Music all jacked up their subscription costs in the last year.