Netflix raised subscription prices across all plans on Thursday, according to multiple reports. 99, with other plans also seeing hikes. The price hike has sparked outrage among Netflix customers, with many expressing frustration on social media and in customer feedback.
This marks Netflix's second price increase in less than a year, following a previous hike in January 2025. The company's subscriber base surpassed 325 million worldwide at the end of 2025, according to major media reports, indicating strong growth despite previous price adjustments. Last month, Netflix backed out of a proposed takeover of Warner Bros.
The greed with these corporations goes unmatched.
Discovery, a move that analysts suggest may have influenced its current pricing strategy. YouTube Premium followed with its own price increase announcement on Friday, multiple reports indicate. 99, with similar adjustments for family and student plans.
YouTube had more than 125 million paid subscribers worldwide as of March 2025, according to major media reports, positioning it as a key competitor in the streaming market. The moves by Netflix and YouTube Premium are part of a broader trend in the streaming industry, where companies are adjusting prices to balance content investments and profitability. Spotify increased its Premium pricing in January 2025, according to multiple reports, highlighting a pattern of rising costs across digital entertainment platforms.
This change allows us to maintain the features our members value most: ad-free viewing, background play, and a massive library of 300M+ tracks on YouTube Music. We continue to offer several plans, ensuring subscribers can choose the option that works best for them.
Netflix plans to spend $20 billion on content in 2026, up from $18 billion in 2025, major media reports indicate, as the company aims to bolster its library with original shows and movies. Netflix also stopped working on Sony's PlayStation 3 console from today, according to major media reports, a technical shift that may affect some legacy users. Netflix executives have justified the higher subscription costs as necessary to fund content spending and expand into new areas, such as gaming and live events.
How many Netflix subscribers have canceled or plan to cancel due to the price hike, and the financial impact of the increases on Netflix's and YouTube's revenue and subscriber growth, remain unknown.