Netflix kills its basic ad-free plan in the US and the UK

Netflix’s cheapest ad-free plan is no longer available in the United States and the United Kingdom. The basic plan was $9.99 (£6.99) per month with no ads; right now the cheapest plan is a $6.99 (£4.99) monthly plan that comes with ads, with the next tier at $15.49 (£10.99) and the most expensive at $19.99 (£15 .99) per month. Netflix has already quietly removed the $9.99 tier in Canada.

The streaming service has been revamping its pricing plans for some time now, adding the ad tier in October 2022 and introducing password sharing fees in May. Notably, the Basic plan was exempt from the ability to add password sharing – a sign that it would be phased out. According to the edgeNetflix has hidden the Basic Plan option from the sign-up page for new users.

If you’re currently subscribed to Netflix’s Basic plan, you can still keep it as long as you don’t cancel or upgrade (or downgrade) your plan. But if you sign up for Premium and realize you don’t want to pay $19.99 to see Stranger things in 4K+HDR you can’t go back to Basic. And given Netflix’s aggressive price increases, the Basic plan isn’t guaranteed to last, even for current subscribers.