Find out how much you’ll pay, and how to save money on Netflix
Once again, Netflix has upped the cost of its three tiers by up to £24 per year. The streaming service axed its cheapest plan in April last year and has taken steps to stop password sharing, making it more expensive to stream movies and series.
Here’s how much more you’ll pay, when the prices rise and how to save money on Netflix.
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How much are Netflix prices increasing by?
The Standard Plan is rising by £2 per month, and the other two tiers are rising by £1 per month. Here are the new prices:
| Tier | Old Price | New Price | Monthly / Annual Increase | Number of streams | Picture quality |
| Standard with Adverts | £4.99 | £5.99 | £1 / £12 | 2 | HD (1080p) |
| Standard | £10.99 | £12.99 | £1 / £12 | 2 | HD (1080p) |
| Premium | £17.99 | £18.99 | £2 / £24 | 4 | 4K |
| Extra Member – Standard with Adverts | £3.99 | £4.99 | £1 | 1 | HD (1080p) |
| Extra Member – Standard | £4.99 | £5.99 | £1 | 1 | HD (1080p) |
| Extra Member – Premium | £4.99 | £5.99 | £1 | 1 | 4K |
When will the prices change?
New subscribers will already be paying the new rates. Existing customers will be charged the higher fee at their next billing date, though there should be 30 days’ notice of this, so look out for emails.
What if you pay for Netflix via Sky, Virgin, BT or TalkTalk?
Some pay-TV customers get Netflix bundled in with their other channels. It’s not clear yet if the increases will be passed on, but I’d imagine it’s likely they will.
It may save you money by signing up separately, even if you get a lower price. First, it’d mean you’re not tied into an 18-month contract, so you can ditch Netflix when you’re watching other streaming services.
Secondly, it means you can avoid what I think is too high a price for Sky TV – it’s better for most to get these same channels via NOW.
How do costs compare to other streaming services?
Netflix was already the most expensive of all the different streaming services if you’re on Standard or Premium – and unless others hike prices too (and they could) the difference is even larger.
| Streaming service | Cost | Quality | |
| NOW Entertainment | £9.99 a month | HD (720p) | |
| NOW Cinema | £9.99 a month | HD (720p) | |
| Disney+ | £4.99 to £12.99 a month | 4K | |
| Amazon Prime Video | £5.99 a month | 4K | |
| Apple TV+ | £8.99 a month | 4K |
When compared to these other costs it’s hard to justify the huge £18.99 a month for Premium. Even £12.99 for Standard feels steep when you could get a huge selection on Amazon for less than half the price.
In my opinion, the best value for money is Disney+. Even with the recent shake up on tiers, at £8.99 there’s a great selection of TV and movies, though the library is much smaller than what you’ll get with Netflix.
Though a shout out to Apple TV+ which offers a number of free trials for new and previous customers and has some great content – I’ve had it a lot but not paid for it once since it launched in 2019.
Don’t forget there’s also a massive amount of content on iPlayer and All4, which are free (as long as you are paying your TV licence).
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How to spend less on Netflix
Well, you can obviously downgrade to a lower tier if you’re not prepared to pay the increased prices. This is done in settings and will take place when you’re next charged.
Or better still, cancel and only pay from time to time, rather than treat it as an ongoing cost. This is my go-to way to save on streaming as it allows you to use multiple services and really focus your viewing. When you’re done with one, you move to the next and so on.
Andy’s top ways to pay less for Netflix
It’s harder to pay less for Netflix than other streaming services, but you can bring down your costs with these rules. Click the links to read more about each one.
- Only pay for the Netflix tier you actually need
- Add an Extra member and see if they’ll split the costs
- Cancel from time to time when you’re watching other streaming services
- Look out for rare Netflix discounts and deals
Editor’s pick: £100 savings bonus
Effective 6.45% rate for six months as a new Raisin customer
Sadly the days of easily sharing Netflix to split the cost, and therefore reducing the impact of the increase, are behind us.
Since the crackdown, the rules say you can only watch within your household. So to watch on your own devices you need to pay for your own plan or ask someone to add an Extra Member. That’s the theory at least.
It’s not possible to access someone else’s account on a smart TV, but I know some of you have still been able to log into laptops, phones and smart sticks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix works out a way to completely rule that out too sooner rather than later.
You can also log in on another device and say you’re on holiday to override it, which works for a couple of weeks and lets you use both devices during this time.
All4 doesn’t need a TV licence unless you’re watching live broadcasts.
We have Netflix Premium plus two extra members so new monthly cost will be £28/3 = £9.33p per month per family. Getting to the stage where you wonder if it’s worth it particularly as we stream Freeview channels most of the time. How many of us spend 10 minutes scrolling through pages of content on Netflix and conclude there’s nothing worth watching (that we haven’t already watched). Also noticed Netflix have recently put a lot of older content on front pages.
Open an account via VPN in Brazil or Turkey, and pay their rate…