If you want to stream from Netflix for as little money per month as possible, then the streamer's With Ads plans will be what tempt you the most. These let you sign up to the popular streaming service for a low price... if you don't mind being interrupted by the occasional commercial.
The various ad-supported Netflix plans (which vary slightly by region) are great options for penny-pinchers who still want to keep up to date with all the new Netflix originals.
Netflix isn't the only service with such a plan, with Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Max, Hulu and some other streamers presenting the 'ads or no ads' conundrum.
Whether you're a current Netflix subscriber or are tempted to start, you may have some questions about the ads rolling out to the streaming service, so here's everything you need to know about it.
How much does Netflix Standard with ads cost?
To subscribe to Netflix Standard with ads, you'll have to pay $7.99/£5.99 per month.
That's a discount of $10/£7 each month over the standard Netflix Standard tier. It's also $2/£1 more than the now-discontinued Basic with ads.
When did ads come to Netflix?
Netflix with ads rolled out on November 3, 2022 in most countries, including the US and UK. Some countries got it later.
Where is Netflix with ads available?
Netflix Standard with ads isn't available in all countries at launch, but it is available in the US and UK.
There are 10 countries besides them: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Spain.
The tier will likely roll out to other regions when Netflix works out ads strategy there.
Will other Netflix plans be affected?
Nope!
If you're currently on Netflix Standard or Premium, your subscription won't be affected one bit by the ads — you won't start seeing any pre-roll or mid-show advertising.
How many ads will you have to watch on Netflix?
Netflix shows four or five minutes of adverts per hour, though it depends on your content and it sometimes shows less too. I've often got through whole episodes of a show with nary a single ad to watch.
When will ads play in Netflix?
Adverts won't just play at the beginning of a Netflix video, but can show up mid-way through too.
You can't skip the adverts, but Netflix does let you see when they'll appear as the video playback line at the bottom shows gaps where they appear. When you're watching ads, it'll also let you know you have left.
The ad tier also shows commercials when you pause a video on certain devices, so it's not just pre-roll ads you'll have to put up with.
What quality of video does the cheap Netflix tier support?
On Netflix's ad-enabled tier, you can stream video at 1080p resolution — that's Full HD quality, which most modern TVs support this.
That's the same resolution as Netflix Standard supports, though Premium offers 4K or Ultra HD.
What content is available on the ad-enabled Netflix tier?
Unfortunately, Netflix Basic with Ads doesn't offer the full Netflix library. Roughly 10% of the library is missing due to licensing restrictions.
What's missing varies by region, for example It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Johnny English are both missing in the UK but don't stream on US Netflix.
Almost all Netflix Originals are available but, for some reason, a few aren't.
Do adverts play on Netflix Kids profiles?
In Netflix, you can designate a profile as one for children, and then it'll only show content appropriate for them.
On these profiles, ads won't play, even if it's an ad-enabled account.
What types of adverts will play?
Netflix has given a little information on how adverts are personalized for you.
Apparently, the genre of video and any information you've provided to Netflix will be used, which likely includes your viewing history. However from personal experience, I've seen ads which are totally off-topic.
When you sign up to the ad tier, you'll have to provide your gender and date of birth, and Netflix also knows your location, so these factors will be included too.
Does Netflix Basic with ads miss any other features?
Unfortunately, if you have the Netflix ad tier, you won't be able to download videos to watch when you're offline.
Surprisingly, the cheap tier lets you play Netflix games and they don't have adverts before or during them.
