Netflix is raising its prices once more.
The streaming giant is upping the cost of its standard ad-supported tier to $7.99 a month in the U.S., up from $6.99, and the cost of the premium tier is increasing by $2, to $24.99. The standard plan is increasing to $17.99 from $15.49.
The cost of adding an extra member on a plan without ads is increasing to $8.99 from $7.99.
Price changes are taking place across most plans in the U.S., Canada, Portugal and Argentina. They kick in Tuesday for new customers and start with the next billing cycle for existing customers.
This is the first price hike on the ad-supported tier. The last major U.S. price hike took place in October 2023, when Netflix raised the price of the standard plan to $11.99 from $9.99 to per month in the U.S. and brought the Premium price to $22.99 from $19.99.
Additionally, Netflix is expanding its offering of the Extra Member With Ads plan, in 10 out of the 12 countries where the streamer has an ads plan. That offering will continue to cost $6.99.
Netflix cited the platform’s increased investment in programming as the reason behind the price increase.
“As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix,” the company’s shareholder letter read.
Netflix is upping its content spend to $18 billion a year, up from $17 billion in 2024. This comes as Netflix builds up its live and original programming in each region and looks for more licensing opportunities, said Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann.
The company has been investing in more live sporting events, including the matchup between Mike Tyson and Logan Paul, the NFL Christmas Day games and WWE’s weekly show Raw.
On the earnings call, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos also pointed to the upcoming slate of content, including returning seasons of shows such as Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game, as well as new films from Guillermo del Toro, Catherine Bigelow, Noah Baumbach, the Russo brothers and a new Knives Out film. On the live events front, Netflix also has the SAG Awards next month.
“When you’re going to ask for a price increase, you better make sure you have the goods and the engagement to back it up. And I feel like what we have going into 2025,” Sarandos said.
The news comes as Netflix also announced adding a record-breaking 19 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter, to reach 302 million subscribers. Netflix reported $10.2 billion in revenue, and operating income of $2.3 billion.
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters added that the company’s pricing philosophy has not changed and that he believes the pricing for the standard with ads plans is a “highly accessible entry point.”
“We look to continually provide more value to our members, seeking to wisely invest, to increase the variety and quality of our entertainment offering. And then we listen to those members. We listen for signals like engagement, retention, acquisition, there’s more secondary signals as well, all to tell us when we’ve achieved that increase in value and when we’ve done that. Then we ask them to pay a bit more to keep that virtuous cycle going,” Peters said.
