Netflix’s announcement that it’s raising subscription fees despite record subscription growth has angered a lot of its customer base.
The increases, which are the first since October 2023 and the first to include the ad-supported model, will go into effect during subscribers’ next billing cycle. They’re aggravating for people on a budget, but they’re fast becoming typical among streaming services as the companies move from a customer acquisition to a monetization model.
Here’s a look at how much prices have increased for several of the top streaming and online broadcasting sites since January 2020 (or, in cases where the service hadn’t yet launched, since its debut), ranked from biggest jumps to smallest.
Disney+
Disney+ made a big impression in 2019 with a rate that was half of what Netflix was charging at the time: $6.99 per month. Things have gone up substantially since then.
The ad-free version of the service (for an apples-to-apples comparison) today costs $16 per month.
Five-year percentage increase: 129%
Netflix
Netflix has made a number of changes in the past five years, eliminating its entry-level plan and adding an ad-supported option. That entry-level basic plan, in 2020, cost just $8.99 per month. Today, the lowest costing ad-free option will run you $17.99 per month—$24.99 if you want to share your password with one extra member.
Five-year percentage increase: 100%
Apple TV+
Apple’s streaming service launched in 2019 with a cost of $4.99 per month, a rate that it held steady for quite some time, eventually adjusting it to $6.99 per month, then $9.99.
Five-year percentage increase: 100%
DirecTV Stream
This streaming service has gone through many names—and prices—but in 2020 subscribers paid $50 per month for 40-plus channels. Today, they’ll pay $87 for the entry-level package with over 90 channels.
Five-year percentage increase: 74%
YouTubeTV
YouTube’s live-TV streaming service turned a lot of heads when it launched in 2017 at $35 per month, dramatically undercutting cable companies. That didn’t last. In early 2020, the price was at $50 (and went up again later that year to $65). Today, it stands at $82.99 per month.
Five-year percentage increase: 66%
Paramount+
ViacomCBS’s streaming service didn’t go live until 2021. At the time, the base tier cost $4.99 (with ads). In July, Paramount Plus increased prices to $7.99 and $12.99 (with Showtime) per month.
Five-year percentage increase: 60%
Peacock
NBCUniversal’s Peacock launched in July 2020, at a cost of $4.99 per month for its ad-supported subscription. The service has since hiked that price to $7.99 (with the ad-free subscription jumping $2 to $11.99).
Five-year percentage increase: 60%
Sling TV
Sling’s lower-tiered “Orange” plan cost $30 per month in 2020. Adding the “Blue” plan bumped the cost to $45. Today, the Blue and Orange plans run $46 per month, and adding both together brings the cost to $61 per month.
Five-year percentage increase: 53% for a single service, 36% for the bundle
Hulu with Live TV
Hulu has undergone a number of evolutions since its launch, adding a live-TV service to its offerings in 2017. It charged subscribers $64.00 per month for that full package. Today, a Hulu + Live TV bundle will cost $82.99. (The tier with no ads for video on demand will run $95.99.)
Five-year percentage increase: 30%
Amazon Prime Video
While you can get Prime Video as a standalone (at $8.99 per month), most members take advantage of it being included in their larger Prime membership. That, of course, comes with a host of other benefits, ranging from expedited shipping to free cloud storage. So while the price has increased from $119 in 2020 to $139 today, it’s not an apples to apples comparison.
Five-year percentage increase: 17%
Max
When it launched as HBO Max in May of 2020, the streaming service charged members $15 a month for ad-free viewing, which was considered high at the time. Today, an ad-free subscription runs $16.99.
Five-year percentage increase: 13%
