Netflix Raises Prices. Again
Last week Netflix raised its pricing -- again -- across all subscriptions.
Written by Jackie Leavitt (Editor at Large)
Reviewed by Aleksander Hougen (Chief Editor)
Last Updated:
It’s been a big year for Netflix, with significant highs and lows. In December, Netflix seemed on the cusp of locking in a deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), and in February, the streaming giant gleefully announced that it met all its revenue objectives in 2025.
It was widely expected that the streaming giant would increase pricing after it acquired WBD — a deal that ultimately fell through in a bidding war with Paramount. Despite that, Netflix is moving ahead with the price increase.
The company told TechCrunch that the changes reflect improvements to Netflix’s “wide range of entertainment” and the quality of its service — and though there aren’t any changes to services within each pricing tier.
In other words, the reason Netflix is raising pricing is because it can, just over a year after its last price increase in January 2025.
Here’s how the 2026 pricing has changed:
| Plan | Old Price (monthly) | New Price (monthly) |
| Standard with Ads | $7.99 | $8.99 |
| Standard | $17.99 | $19.99 |
| Premium | $24.99 | $26.99 |
| Add Extra Viewers Outside Household | +$6.99 per month (with ads)+$8.99 (no ads) | +$7.99 (with ads)+$9.99 (no ads) |
There’s little streamers can do, when almost all entertainment services are increasing pricing repeatedly. Last year Disney also raised prices by similar margins; in comparison, Disney+ costs $11.99 per month with ads and $18.99 per month without ads.
Free ad-supported streaming alternatives to the big giants include Tubi and PlutoTV, but they lack the big-name original titles that pull in viewers to Netflix, like Bridgerton or Stranger Things.
One small silver lining in streaming pricing news is that Howdy, Roku’s $2.99 streaming service, is going to have its own standalone app and won’t have to run through the streaming device.
Meanwhile, Italian courts have ruled that Netflix imposed unlawful price increases to customers in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2024, since they were “imposed without providing customers with valid justifications.”
With international audiences feeling an economic pinch, we might see an increase in torrenting again, following the decline from torrenting’s peak in 2010-2013, as people seek free options for entertainment.
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