Netflix hikes prices by up to £24 a year

Find out how much you’ll pay, and how to cut costs.

It’s been just over a year since Netflix last increased prices in the UK, but they’re up again and this time all three packages are affected, potentially adding £24 a year to your bill.

Here’s how much more you’ll pay and when.

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How much are Netflix prices increasing by?

The three Netflix tiers are going up by £1 or £2 a month. Here are the new prices:

Tier	New Price	Monthly / Annual Increase	Number of streams	Picture quality
Basic	£6.99	£1 / £12	1	SD (480p)
Standard	£10.99	£1 / £12	2	HD (1080p)
Premium	£15.99	£2 / £24	4	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. I’ve put in a request to the Sky press office and I’ll update here if/when they respond.

However, if you do get Netflix via one of these services I’d encourage you to cancel and pay direct. It gives you more control and costs the same (that is unless Sky, Virgin etc decide not to factor in the higher charge). You can read more about this in my article on the best ways to pay for Netflix.

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+	£7.99 a month	4K
Amazon Prime Video	£5.99 a month	4K
Apple TV+	£4.99 a month	4K

When compared to these other costs it’s hard to justify the huge £15.99 a month for Premium. Even £10.99 for Standard feels steep when you could get a huge selection on Amazon for almost half the price.

In my opinion, the best value for money is Disney+. At £7.99 there’s a great selection of TV and movies, though the library is much smaller than what you’ll get with Netfix.

Though a shout out to Apple TV+ which offers a three-month free trial via Curry’s and has some great content, though probably only enough to last a couple of months.

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).

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.

Sharing a Netflix account and splitting the cost is another route, though you’ll need either Standard or Premium to avoid a clash if more than one person wants to watch at the same time.

What if I share Netflix?

If you are someone who pays for a shared Netflix, it’s worth reconsidering if you want to keep doing this. If costs are split make sure they know they’ll need to pay you more. But if you shoulder the entire cost it might be time to ask them to contribute.