What to know
- Prices for most subscription services have increased drastically in the past 12-15 months.
- Major services such as YouTube Premium, Spotify, Netflix, Paramount+, Disney+, MAX, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video all ask for more money.
- To reduce subscription bills, consider subscribing only when you need the content, get annual subscription deals, pool together for a family plan, and look out for discounts and bundled deals.
Being subscribed to your favorite services isn’t cheap. For music, a single subscription is often enough. But for movies and TV, because the content is spread across multiple services, users often have to contend with multiple subscriptions. If you’re a serial consumer, or someone who likes the convenience of having access to all there is, being subscribed has definitely become pricier over the past year and a half. In fact, it’s a trend across media formats that is very likely to continue.
Subscription fatigue is a real thing. And with add-on subscriptions in new areas like AI chatbots and cloud storage, one really has to think twice before committing. Depending on your monthly content consumption, you can switch services when you need to, or cancel them entirely. But before that, you should first check out which major streaming services are racking up your monthly bills so you can make a better decision.
To that end, we’ve highlighted all the price hikes, scraped basic plans, password crackdowns and ad insertions that major companies have engaged in in the past one year.
YouTube Premium price hiked internationally
YouTube Premium’s recent price hike is perhaps the most affecting of all streaming subscription hikes. Bundling both the YouTube and YouTube Music premium features, it has one of the biggest userbase globally. And after a price hike for the individual plan in the U.S. a few months ago, YouTube’s raising prices for both individual and family plans in several countries. Users in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia have reportedly started getting messages from YouTube that their plan will soon get more expensive.
In India, the new subscription prices already went into effect in August, with prices going up as much as 58%.
Other regions will have to contend with similar changes starting November if they want to get premium features and an ad-free YouTube experience.
This is the second time in the past one year that YouTube’s raised its prices internationally. But at least YouTube is up front about its price hikes, unlike Spotify.
Spotify’s multiple price hikes
Spotify has over the course of a few months hiked prices multiple times, imposed unwanted content, and tried out other ways to justify its price hikes.
Its ‘Premium Plan’ which was earlier priced at $9.99 increased first to $10.99 and then again to $11.99, justified by the unnecessary bundling of audiobooks to the plan. Then, a few weeks later, Spotify introduced a ‘Basic’ plan for $10.99 without the audiobooks. That’s one way to add plans and implement price changes. Kinda like going round your head to touch your nose. But it’s not just silly, it’s nefarious.
Instead of hiking the price of the main Premium plan and introducing a new, more expensive plan that bundles audiobooks as well, they automatically upgraded all Premium users to the new price and then introduced the cheaper basic plan that you had to switch to. But that’s the idea – you have to manually switch to the basic plan (that too, if it’s available to you). Those who didn’t pay attention to this may still be paying a dollar extra for their music.
If we compare Spotify with Apple Music, the latter still goes for a $9.99 and also has Lossless music, if that means anything to you.
Disney+ cracks down on password-sharing, raises price
Disney has been cracking down on password sharing the whole year. Starting in February, Disney made it harder for users to access someone else’s credentials. Although Disney didn’t reveal how it assesses compliance, those suspected will see a message asking them to get their own subscriptions.
To allow some leeway, subscribers will be able to add users that are not part of their household for a little extra. No additional details are provided but Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the rollout will start soon in a few countries.
Disney Plus is also going to jack up prices for subscriptions with and without ads by $2 per month. Hulu and ESPN+ also see a price hike.
The new prices will go into effect from October 17. So, if you don’t want to be goaded into paying more, consider cancellation before your next billing cycle.
Price hikes have already cost Disney Plus millions of subscribers in US and Canada. But it managed to eke out a net profit for its streaming business for the first time as per its 2024 Q3 reports. Disney, however, isn’t stopping there. It intends on steaming ahead with its profitability plans, and the imminent price hikes and password sharing crackdowns are just the means to that end.
Netflix killed its cheapest ad-less plan
Once upon a time, Netflix allowed you to share your account with as many people as you liked – friends, family members, lovers, strangers. In those good ol’ days of yore, it even tweeted “Love is sharing a password”. But it was also the first to crack down on password sharing when growth rates declined.
Love is sharing a password.
— Netflix (@netflix) March 10, 2017
Last year in October, the company raised the prices of its basic and most expensive Premium plans by $2 and $3 respectively. Netflix then axed its cheapest ad-free plan ($11.99.month) for new subscribers in 2023. The plan was phased out completely in July.
There’s now only a Standard plan with ads ($6.99/month), a Standard plan without ads ($15.49/month) and a Premium plan without ads ($22.99/month).
Netflix has had ad-supported tiers since 2022 that show up before or during TV shows and movies. But Netflix is looking to further integrate ads within the content (at ‘natural’ plot breaks). There’s also no ceiling to the price hikes, according to co-CEO Greg Peters, and there could be further price hikes to subscription plans around the corner.
Paramount Plus prices hiked for monthly subscribers
Paramount Plus, which bundles, among other services, CBS, Showtime, and Comedy Central has also bought into the trend of multiple price hikes within the span of a year to drive up profits. In July last year, its Essential tier went up by a dollar to $5.99 per month, and the Showtime ad-free free plan by two to $11.99.
Now, the company has bumped up prices yet again. Paramount Essential plan (for new subscribers) is priced at $7.99, and the Showtime ad-free plan at $12.99. Essentially, monthly subscriptions for Paramount Plus are almost twice the price they were last year.
Fortunately, the change affects only monthly subscribers. Annual membership prices remain the same. Here’s a look at what prices have looked like across tiers in the past 15 months.
| Plans/Price | June 2023 | July 2023 | August 2024 | Overall Change (%) |
| Paramount+ Essentials (monthly) | $4.99 | $5.99 | $7.99 | 60% |
| Paramount+ ad-free, with Showtime (monthly) | $9.99 | $11.99 | $12.99 | 30% |
The mountain of entertainment has definitely become a little less alluring.
Max ad-free plan prices hiked
HBO Max, now simply Max, raised prices for the first time last year in February. Going with the standard $1 raise, its ad-free standard plan went up from $14.99 to $15.99 monthly. This year, the dollar raise came in July, and affected the standard ad-free plan (now at $16.99/month) as well as the Ultimate ad-free plan (from $19.99 to $20.99) that also has the 4K option. It’s one of the more expensive services out there (along with AI chatbots), although their annual plans do offer two-months’ worth of savings.
Apple TV+ price has doubled since launch
Apple’s streaming service has twice seen price hikes in the past two years. Launched at the peak of the streaming wars in 2019, Apple TV+ was priced at a modest $4.99 per month. Since then, its prices first rose to $6.99 in October 2022 and then again to $9.99 in October 2023. Last year’s three-dollar increase was also reflected in the price of the Apple One bundle (which includes Apple TV+) and now goes for $19.95.
For now, there are no rumors about a price hike this year. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if there’s one round the corner. Given the state of the streaming services, one can almost expect it to happen sooner or later. So prepare accordingly.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon has tried a few different ways to raise revenues generated by Prime Video. To get users to cough up more money, it first introduced advertisements on its streaming service this January. A few day later, it removed Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound. Users who now want an ad-free, immersive experience will have to shell out an extra $2.99. This is on top of the $8.99 for standalone Prime Video, and the $14.99 for Prime subscription that you’re already paying to access the content, bringing the grand total to $11.98 and $17.98 respectively.
It’s really quite a dirty trick that makes us not want to stay subscribed to Prime Video. In fact, it’s best to reconsider all your subscriptions and manage them based on what you need and when you need it. The subscribe-and-forget method is just not viable anymore.
But what if you don’t want to pay more?
If you’re serious about cutting down on your subscription bills, you need a plan of action. Consider if you’re willing to give up being subscribed to services indefinitely. Sure, there was a time when you could do that (2019 was it!). But not anymore. Rethink what you need, where you can get discounts, and pool together for family packs. Also consider whether you’re fine with modded versions of apps wherever possible.
Here are a few things you can do to bring down your rising subscription costs.
Subscribe only for a month, or annually for savings
If you’re subscribed to a plan whose prices are about to go up, you may want to cancel your plan beforehand. Instead of letting the subscriptions to siphon off money from your account, it’s better to subscribe only for the month when you actually want to watch something.
On the other hand, if you like the platform and cannot bear to not be subscribed, consider getting an annual plan. Most services have a plan that lets you save a good chunk of money. Of course, you’ll be billed annually, instead of monthly. But if you don’t see yourself unsubscribing, at least you can get some savings done.
Get YouTube and YouTube Music ReVanced
Getting past YouTube Premium’s price hikes for good is quite easy. Both YouTube and YouTube Music have a ReVanced mod that lets you stream videos, listen to music, allow background playback, and jump past ads (even in-video promotions) – all without a single penny.
We’ve done a complete guide on how to get YouTube Revanced and YouTube ReVanced. You can also check out the same on the ReVanced website as well as their subreddit.
However, note that ReVanced is only available for Android devices. So no Premium features while streaming on PC, iOS, or TV. But if you want to save some money, and get free YouTube (and YT Music) on your Android device at least, it’s a pretty good alternative.
Get xManager app and Spicetify for Spotify
If you’re a Spotify fan frustrated with its unending price hikes, you can get away with not being subscribed at all. Android users can get the xManager app while PC users can get Spicetify – both modded versions of Spotify. Except downloading songs, you get just about every premium feature. In fact, Spicetify adds tons of other features and themes that premium members can only dream about. Spicetify users would agree.
Pool together for family plans
Thank goodness for family plans! For they allow greater savings than the usual individual plans. Most family plans let you group together five to six family members (or whoever you choose to add to the plan).
Although the prices hikes have affected family plans as well, they are still way cheaper than regular plans. Do note that not all services have family plans. But even those without it allow multiple profiles and simultaneous streams. Here’s a breakdown of which services offer family plans:
- YouTube Premium: Yes, with up to 6 members.
- Spotify: Yes, with up to 6 members.
- Disney+: No family plan, but allows 7 profiles on one account, with up to 4 simultaneous stream.
- NETFLIX: No family plan, but allows 5 profiles per account, with up to 2 simultaneous stream (standard plan) and 4 simultaneous stream (premium).
- Paramount+: No family plan, but allows 6 profiles on one account, with up to 3 simultaneous stream.
- MAX: No family plan, but allows 5 profiles per account, with up to 3 simultaneous stream.
- Apple TV+: Yes, with up to 6 family members.
- Amazon Prime Video: No family plan. But Amazon Household allows sharing Prime benefits with 1 other user in the same household.
Depending on your streaming service of choice, and how many people there are in the family plan, you can easily offset the price hikes and pay substantially less for your subscription. It’s better to pick family plan than individual plans any day.
Look for discounts and bundles
Rising subscription prices may be chaotic for your monthly finances. But you don’t have to swallow the bitter pill. It’s best to look for subscriptions to your favorite services at discounted prices before committing. Or try out a bundle – like the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle – that lets you save overall. That is, if you want all three.
Other services like Paramount Plus are also regularly available at discounted prices, so you may want to check those out as well.
There are only a few ways that streaming services grow and make money. Primarily, these are – new members, advertisements, and price hikes. Rising operation costs is another factor. But with time, streaming services have to crack down on password sharing, get revenue from ads, and hike prices.
For the average user, these can be problematic, to say the least. But the right strategy, a thorough evaluation of what you actually need, and taking the steps to keep subscriptions under control go a long way to driving your monthly/annual costs down instead of up. So go ahead and hit that ‘Cancel subscription’ button. No FOMO!
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