Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Netflix prices are about to rise for millions of subscribers

Updated Apr 8th, 2016 2:24PM EDT
Netflix Price Increase
Image: Netflix

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Those of us who subscribed to Netflix before it was cool have for the last several months have enjoyed a grandfathered subscription price of $7.99 per month. However, starting next month our prices will increase to $9.99 per month to match the price increase Netflix implemented for new subscribers starting last year. Right now, an estimated 37% of Netflix’s subscriber base — or around 17 million customers — is still on the grandfathered rate, so that means millions of people are going to be paying more for the service starting in May.

MUST WATCH: Meet the Japanese heavy metal girl group that took Colbert by storm this week

The good news here is that Netflix is giving us a lot more bang for our buck than it did two years ago. The company’s highly ambitious plan to produce tons of interesting original content has paid off big time and now most of us can’t imagine going without Orange is the New BlackJessica Jones, or Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. All of this new content costs money, which is why it’s not surprising to see Netflix increasing prices.

That said, Time points us to a survey conducted by JP Morgan showing that 80% of affected Netflix subscribers have no idea that their prices are about to increase, so it might behoove Netflix to do a better job of getting the word out so it doesn’t come as a total shock.

For what it’s worth, Netflix’s $9.99 monthly subscription fee still costs less than the commercial-free version of Hulu, although it now costs more than Amazon Prime Video, which works out to around $8.25 per month since it’s part of the Amazon Prime subscription package.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.