Reduce how much you pay for your Netflix subscription.
It’s one of, if not the, best film and TV streaming services with a great range of shows to watch. It’s also one of the cheapest – if you choose the most basic tier.
Though it’s rare to find deals to save money on your Netflix subscription, it is possible to pay less. Here are a few ways to save.
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Netflix prices
New “basic with adverts” launches
In a bid to combat the popularity of Disney+, Netflix has launched a cheaper tier which will save you £2 off the previous lowest option.
It’s called Netflix Basic with Adverts, and as the name suggests you’ll have to watch some adverts before and during your programmes. It should be about 4 minutes per hour.
You’ll only be able to watch one stream at any time (you’ll need Standard or Premium to increase this), but the picture quality is improving from SD to HD, albeit at a lower resolution of 720p. There will be a handful of programmes that won’t be available on this tier due to licencing.
Current prices
| Tier | New Price | Number of streams | Picture quality |
| Basic with Ads | £4.99 | 1 | HD (720p) |
| Basic | £6.99 | 1 | HD (720p) |
| Standard | £10.99 | 2 | HD (1080p) |
| Premium | £15.99 | 4 | 4K |
Read more about the increases to Netflix. plus my take on which is the best value for money.
Netflix deals
Free with EE
Selected EE contracts will give you Netflix Basic every month for free as part of your tariff. Of course, it might be cheaper to get a lower cost SIM with a different network and pay for Netflix separately.
Netflix, NOW TV and Freeview box for £10/m (expired)
If you have BT broadband (or sign up for it), you can add on a BT TV package that includes Netflix and NOW at a reduced price. For £10 a month for 24 months you will get:
- Netflix Basic (rrp £6.99 a month)
- NOW Entertainment (rrp £9.99 a month)
- 1TB 4K YouView recorder
A similar model box will cost you £250, so if you are looking at ditching pay TV elsewhere, this would be a cheaper way to get hold of it, with the streaming services thrown in (though you won’t keep it if you leave BT in two years time).
However if you want HD Netflix you’ll have to pay extra – and it’s not clear how much more this is. The difference in price between the two packages when paid direct is £4 a month, so expect the cost to be the same.
Similarly if you want HD and no adverts on your NOW pass that’s another £6 a month. And it’s often possible to get cheaper NOW packages direct with NOW – that might not be the case if you pay via your BT bill.
You’ll also need to factor in if you can get broadband for less elsewhere, and that you’ll be tied in for two years. Oh, and prices will go up by 3.9% in March 2023!
Offer ends 28 February 2023.
Watch Netflix for free
Sadly Netflix stopped the free trial in the UK in late 2019, though there are occasional offers.
It also briefly had a page with a limited selection of content you could watch without an account, though this comes and goes.
At launch it included:
Films
- Murder Mystery
- The Two Popes
- Birdbox
TV (1st episodes only)
- Stranger Things
- Grace & Frankie
- Our Planet
- Love is Blind
- When They See Us
- Boss Baby Back in Business
- Elite
Chromecast and Netflix bundle (expired)
For the combined price of £89.99 you’ll get the new Chromecast and six months Standard Netflix.
The Chromecast is Google’s streaming device. You plug it into your TV’s HDMI and use it to stream film & TV. This new version comes with a remote control, but you can still use your phone or computer to share screens to your TV.
This offer gives you the value of six months Standard subscription, where two people can stream at the same time and you get HD quality. The Google website lists this as the new price (£9.99 a month) providing £59.94 credit for Netflix.
Since a full-price Chromecast costs £59.99, you’re essentially paying £30 for that credit.
You can use the credit on the other tiers. So if you had the basic £5.99 option it’d last for ten months. If it’s the pricier 4K version it’d only cover just over four months of your subscription.
The offer ends 31 December 2021 and it’s open to new and existing Netflix customers.
There’s also an extra 10% off (so £80.99 in total) if you get a code via the myvouchercodes website until 26 September 2021.
50% off your first two months (expired)
This offer seems to have ended now, but it’s worth checking to see if it returns. It could be you see an offer when others don’t!
New users can save 50% when they first sign up to Netflix. After the first two months at this discounted price you’ll pay the full price for the level you’ve chosen.
It’s possible you’ll see a different offer, such as buy one month, get a second free. It works out you’ll pay the same amount overall, but do let me know what you see.
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Get a £17 Quidco bonus (new members only). More details
Netflix money saving hacks
Switch your subscription level
There are four levels of Netflix. The basic package costs £6.99, but you don’t get HD and you can only stream on one screen at a time. If you don’t mind adverts this tier is also available for £4.99 a month.
The next level is £10.99 a month and you’ll get HD and be able to watch on two devices at the same time.
The premium package is £15.99. For this you get 4K quality (if the content you want to watch is actually available with that version) and you can stream or download to four devices at the same time.
Personally I think most people will be happy with the Basic or Standard options and very few people will get the full benefit of the top tier. Switch and you could save yourself between £5 and £11 a month. The figures in this infographic are from before the mid-December 2020 price increase, but they give you a good idea.
Pay direct to Netflix
There is an option to bundle Netflix with Sky, BT TV, TalkTalk and Virgin Media. On the whole I’d avoid this. Here’s more on the best ways to pay for Netflix.
Share your subscription
Officially you can split your subscription with anyone at your address, which can really cut down the cost each month.
Technically it’s possible to do the same with others outside your household, though Netflix could decide to clamp down on this in the future.
If you do split this then make sure you’re clear with friends and family who is paying what and how they’ll pay the main account holder.
Should you share your Netflix password?
When you can and when you can’t share streaming services with other people
Pay with a cashback credit card
You can use a cashback credit card to earn money back on your subscription. We’re not talking huge amounts here, but even the 1% from American Express will add up.
Discounted Netflix gift cards
I’ve not seen one of these for a long time, but in the past I’ve been able to save 4% at CD Keys and more at the now-defunct Zeek.
A work around might be to buy a discounted gift card for a different retailer such as Amazon or Tesco. Technically it’s not always allowed, but you might be able to then use that gift card to buy a Netflix one.
If I spot any new offers I’ll share them here.
Try a different streaming service
Netflix is great, but there are other options with plenty of content – and plenty of deals. So pause your subscription for a month or two and try out free trials from the likes of Amazon Prime Video and Disney + or get dirt cheap passes for Sky channels via NOW TV. Here’s my guide to the latest offers.
Why do you not mention doing it via Turkey? I am currently paying 93.99 TL so just under £5 a month for the premium package and I’ve had it going now for many years now. I just buy 200 TL gift cards and buy 400 TL – 600 TL every 6 months or so and currently have just over 1100 TL on my account that’s got it covered until the end of February 2024.
Been trying to set it up Disney via Turkey but it’s not playing nice and ended up on your site. Was already aware of your site as I’m subscribed to your YouTube channel.
Four years ago I took out a free month offer with prime then cancelled it before the offer ended, just recently i happened to look at a bank statement and was horrified to see they were still taking payments from my card, so even though we cancelled they still took around £400 from us. I Immediately cancelled again, but this time cancelled my credit card with them, but for two further months they sent reminders that they were unable to take the rental payments. Just wondered how often they get away with this.
Im with uw for my Utilities deal, but they also have a cashback card I am just link this is it payment for Netflix so now I get 1% cashback on a 5.99 deal, I will be looking at my other payments I’ll see if I can swap them onto the UW cashback card
I find I get offered a free month every 12 months or so (since 2013) so I always wait for my free month which I find is enough time to watch the relatively few things that appeal to me.
Hi Mel, yes I used to do this and binge everything in just a month! Then do the same with Amazon, and then again with NOW TV.
I have managed since October 2016 to wangle three free Netflix trials.On each occasion this has enabled me to see with in the month all that appeals to me from their offering -in my case not an enormous amount