Netflix is increasing the monthly price on its standard and premium plans in the United States. Standard is going up a dollar from $13 a month to $14 a month, and the premium plan is increasing $2 a month, from $16 to $18.
Netflix's basic plan will remain at $9 a month.
The change isn't a huge surprise — the current scheme has been in place since January 2019, and Netflix just increased its prices in Canada. The United States was sure to be close behind.
The Netflix price hike also isn't surprising given that 2020's been a weird year, and what Netflix does for a living isn't cheap to produce. And it's only making more original content going forward.
From its most recent earnings call:
We’ve restarted production on some of our biggest titles including season four of Stranger Things, action film Red Notice (starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds) and The Witcher season two. Since the almost-global shutdown of production back in mid-March, we have already completed principal photography on 50+ productions and, while the course and impact of C-19 remains unpredictable, we’re optimistic we will complete shooting on over 150 other productions by year-end.
The price increase goes into effect immediately for new subscribers. Current subscribers will see the change as their billing cycle does its thing.
What's the difference between the plans on Netflix? Glad you asked.
The basic plan tops out at 480p resolution, which is not great. It's probably OK for phones, and pretty unacceptable for TVs. And forget about HDR.
The standard plan gets you up to 1080p resolution — otherwise known as "full HD," and you can download movies or shows for offline viewing on up to two devices.
The premium Netflix plan is what you'll need if you want to watch anything in 4K UHD resolution, along with HDR. If you care about video quality, this is the plan for you.
