Netflix now sells three plans in the United States: Standard with ads at $8.99, Standard at $19.99 and Premium at $26.99 a month. That ladder is simple. The costs around it are not: an $11 jump for removing ads, a $7 jump for 4K, extra-member fees that make sharing cost almost as much as a second account, live events that carry commercials on every plan, and carrier bundles that can undercut Netflix’s own price. This guide breaks down what each plan really costs over a year, what the March increase did to your bill, how sharing and travel rules work, and the situations where a different setup saves real money.
Key Answers Before You Subscribe
Standard with ads $8.99, Standard $19.99, Premium $26.99 a month, before tax. That is $107.88, $239.88 and $323.88 a year. Netflix sells no annual plan in the U.S.
March 26 for new members, then over the following weeks for existing ones, with email notice about a month ahead. The ad plan rose $1 and each ad-free plan $2.
No, the video quality is the same 1080p on two screens. You get a few short ads per hour, cannot skip them, and a small number of titles are locked for licensing reasons.
Premium. It is the only plan with 4K and HDR, four simultaneous screens and up to two extra-member slots. Standard and Standard with ads top out at 1080p.
$7.99 a month if they watch with ads, $9.99 without, per Netflix’s help center. Standard allows one, Premium two, and the ad plan allows none. Extra members get one profile and one active device.
Yes, live events are included with any plan. But commercial breaks can run in live events on every plan, including ad-free ones, and you cannot skip them.
Often. T-Mobile includes Netflix Standard with ads on qualifying plans, Verizon sells Netflix plus HBO Max with ads as a perk, and Xfinity bundles it with Peacock and Apple TV. Terms vary.
No partial-month refund. You keep access until the end of your billing period. If Apple, Google or a provider bills you, you must cancel there, not on Netflix’s site.
We found none for direct U.S. subscribers. Discounts come through carrier or internet-provider perks, not from Netflix itself.
Treat it with suspicion. We found documents on unrelated websites showing phone numbers presented as Netflix cancellation lines. Use Netflix’s own help center instead.
The Three Plans, Priced the Way You Will Actually Pay
Netflix’s page lists three plans, but the real choice is two questions. Do you want ads? Do you need 4K or more than two screens? Everything else, including the library and the games, is the same on all of them.
- 1080p Full HD picture
- 2 supported devices at once
- Downloads on 2 devices
- Live events included
- A few short ads per hour
- No extra-member option
- No ads in shows and movies
- 1080p Full HD picture
- 2 supported devices at once
- Downloads on 2 devices
- 1 extra member allowed
- Ads still appear in live events
- No ads in shows and movies
- 4K and HDR on capable devices
- 4 devices at once, spatial audio
- Up to 2 extra members
- 4K depends on title, device and connection
- Ads still appear in live events
Monthly price and yearly cost of each plan
Prices are from Netflix’s U.S. help center and exclude taxes. The yearly figures are twelve times the monthly price, since Netflix bills monthly and offers no annual plan.
| Plan | Monthly | Per year | Picture | Screens | Ads in shows | Extra members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard with ads | $8.99 | $107.88 | 1080p | 2 | Yes, a few per hour | None |
| Standard | $19.99 | $239.88 | 1080p | 2 | No | 1 |
| Premium | $26.99 | $323.88 | 4K + HDR | 4 | No | Up to 2 |
It helps to stop thinking in months. Removing ads costs $11 a month, which is $132 a year. Adding 4K, two more screens and a second extra-member slot costs another $7 a month, or $84 a year. Premium is $18 a month more than the ad plan, which is $216 a year. If ads cost you nothing but a few seconds of impatience, $132 is a lot to pay to avoid them. If your television is 4K and you watch in a darkened room, $84 for a visibly better picture is easier to defend.
The same logic works backwards. If you have a 1080p television and two people at home, nothing about Premium helps you, and the ad-free step is the only upgrade worth weighing.
While comparing sources we found plenty of pages still listing $7.99, $17.99 and $24.99, the prices before March 26. We also found at least one outlet that misstated the old Premium price as $22.99, which was the price before the January 2025 increase. Netflix’s own U.S. help center page shows $8.99, $19.99 and $26.99, and it adds a line worth noticing: plan prices and extra-member eligibility may vary if you have Netflix through a package or add-on.
That last sentence matters for anyone who gets Netflix through a carrier, a cable company or an app store. Your price is whatever that provider charges, and your plan options may differ from the three on Netflix’s page.
What the March increase added to a year of Netflix
Netflix announced the new prices on March 26 for new members and rolled them out to existing members over the following weeks, according to trade reporting. Extra-member fees also rose by $1.
Netflix said the new prices took effect immediately for new customers and would reach existing members over the coming weeks, depending on their billing cycles, with an email about a month before the change. If you never noticed the increase, look at your billing history for the first charge at the higher amount, and compare it with your plan. If you are billed through Apple, Google, Amazon or a provider, the change may have reached you on a different schedule, so check that provider’s statement.
It is also worth knowing how rarely prices stay put. The ad plan launched at $6.99 in 2022, rose to $7.99 in January 2025 and to $8.99 in March, a total of $2 in under four years, while Standard went from $15.49 to $19.99 over a similar stretch.
The Ad Plan, Looked at Without the Marketing
Most of the debate about Standard with ads comes down to a single trade: $11 a month against some interruptions. Netflix’s own help page tells you exactly what the interruptions are.
On Netflix’s help page, the company says you can expect a few short ads per hour on an ad-supported plan, placed during natural plot breaks. You see ads before and during select shows and movies, and some newly released movies show ads only before they begin. You cannot skip or fast-forward them, though you can pause playback during one. A small number of titles are not available on the ad plan because of licensing restrictions, and they appear with a lock icon. Ads are not shown on Kids profiles or on games, and a few older devices cannot run the ad plan because their app cannot be updated.
One more detail matters for privacy. Netflix says ads may be selected based on what you watch, your general location and information you provide, and unless you opt out, on activity across unaffiliated apps and websites. If you opt out of behavioral ads, you still see ads, just not ones selected that way.
What each extra dollar over the ad plan buys
Monthly prices before tax. Block heights are illustrative of the three tiers, not to scale.
| Question | Standard with ads | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ads in shows and movies | A few short ones per hour | None | None |
| Ads in live events | Yes | Can appear | Can appear |
| Every title available | A few locked by licensing | Yes | Yes |
| Top video quality | 1080p | 1080p | 4K + HDR |
| Simultaneous screens | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Games | Included, no ads | Included | Included |
Netflix says the vast majority of titles are available with ads, and a small number are not, marked with a lock. For a casual viewer that is invisible. For someone who wants one specific series or film that is locked, it is a deal-breaker, and the only fix is moving to Standard or Premium. Before you subscribe on the ad plan for a particular show, search for it and look for the lock.
One practical habit: if a title you want is locked, you can still change plans the same day, since Netflix lets you switch at any time. Plan changes typically take effect from your next billing date, so a month of ad-free Standard for one binge can be cheaper than keeping Standard all year.
Live Events: Included on Every Plan, With Commercials You Cannot Skip
Netflix has spent two years turning into a live broadcaster, with football, wrestling, boxing and baseball. The pricing rule is refreshingly simple, and the commercial rule is less so.
Netflix’s help page says live events are included with any plan. It also says live events, special events and other new features may contain commercial breaks across all plans, that you cannot fast-forward or skip while an ad is playing during a live event, and that at the end of a live event the commercial breaks are removed for ad-free plans. So an ad-free subscriber still sees commercials during a live game.
The lineup keeps expanding. Netflix carries WWE Raw live on Mondays, and reports list its NFL games this season as including a game in Melbourne, a Thanksgiving-week game and a Christmas Day doubleheader. Counts differ by source: some say four games, others five, so check Netflix’s live schedule for your date. The company also holds a three-year package of baseball events that began this year, including the Home Run Derby and a Field of Dreams game, and trade listings also show boxing cards this year.
First, confirm the event is airing in the United States, since a few shows are limited to certain regions. Second, check your device: live streaming is demanding, and older televisions or a weak connection are where problems appear. Third, check blackout rules, because the NFL applies local-market rules to nationally streamed games, according to coverage of the Netflix schedule.
If you only want one event, the cheapest approach is Standard with ads, which includes live events at $8.99, followed by cancelling the same day the event ends. A month for a single game costs less than most single-game purchases elsewhere, and the rest of the month’s library comes free.
Ways to Pay Less Than Netflix’s Own Price
Netflix is one of the few subscriptions where the cheapest route is often not buying from Netflix. Carriers and internet providers bundle it, and a short rotation can cut a year’s cost by two-thirds.
| Route | What you get | Reported cost | Who qualifies | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct, ad plan | Standard with ads | $8.99/mo | Anyone | Ads, locked titles |
| T-Mobile “Netflix on Us” | Standard with ads | Included | Qualifying T-Mobile plans | Tied to the line; check linking |
| Verizon perk | Netflix + HBO Max, both with ads | $13/mo per Verizon’s FAQ | Eligible Verizon mobile or home internet | Ends if the service ends; price has changed |
| Xfinity StreamSaver | Netflix with ads, Peacock, Apple TV | About $15–$19/mo | Xfinity customers | Price varies by date and plan |
| Rotate 4 months a year | Standard with ads, 4 months | $35.96/yr | Anyone | No access in off months |
T-Mobile’s terms are from its Netflix on Us page. Verizon’s figure is from its own FAQ for the perk; other reports have quoted $10, so confirm the current price. Xfinity’s price is approximate and has been reported at different amounts.
Netflix with ads: direct against two bundle routes
The separate-purchase figure adds Netflix’s $8.99 ad plan to HBO Max Basic with ads at $10.99 as reported in recent roundups. The Verizon price is $13 per its FAQ; T-Mobile’s plan price still applies.
Netflix bills monthly and lets you cancel and return, which makes the cheapest strategy a seasonal one. Four months of Standard with ads at $8.99 costs $35.96, against $107.88 for a full year, a saving of $71.92. The skill is choosing which months. Watch for the shows you actually plan to see, subscribe the month they arrive, binge them, cancel before the next billing date, and come back when the next one lands.
It works best for people who watch in bursts. It works badly for households that treat Netflix as background television, since the off months feel like a loss. Because there are no long-term contracts, the only real cost of rotating is a few minutes of signing up again.
A year of rotating: four paid months instead of twelve
Calculated at the $8.99 ad plan price, before tax. Rotating works because Netflix has no long-term contract.
T-Mobile’s own terms for Netflix on Us spell out a trap that applies to carrier bundles generally. If you link an existing Netflix account to the offer and then end the qualifying line, the line’s end does not automatically cancel your Netflix membership, and Netflix resumes charging the payment method it has on file. The same terms say the offer is one per account, may take one to two bill cycles to take effect for existing Netflix members, during which you continue to be charged separately, and can change.
The practical advice is to watch your card for a double charge during the first two cycles, and, if you leave the carrier, check your Netflix account page immediately to see who is billing you.
Cancelling, Refunds, Billing Through Other Companies and Scams
Subscriptions rarely cost the most when you buy them. They cost the most when you try to leave. Netflix’s process is straightforward, and the traps are around it.
On the Netflix website, open your account page, find Membership and Billing, and choose Cancel Membership. You keep access until the end of your current billing period, and Netflix does not refund partial months, according to guides that describe its process. A banner on your account page shows the exact end date and a Restart Membership link if you change your mind. Uninstalling the app does not cancel anything.
If someone else bills you, Netflix’s site will not show a cancel button. Apple, Google, Amazon, Roku or a provider must cancel it, under their own refund rules. Your account page shows who is billing you, so look there first if the button is missing.
While researching how to cancel, we found a lesson we would rather pass on than repeat. Several search results were PDF documents hosted on unrelated websites, including a nonprofit’s file library and a foreign regulator’s site, each presented as an official guide to cancelling Netflix and each repeating a toll-free number next to nearly every instruction. Those are not Netflix’s pages. A number embedded that way is a classic way to route people to scammers who ask for card details or remote access.
We are not repeating those numbers. Use the Contact Us page inside Netflix’s own help center, sign in at netflix.com, or manage billing through the provider that actually charges you. If you already called one, watch your card statements, change your Netflix password, and report it.
The Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required an easy cancellation path for subscriptions, was vacated by the Eighth Circuit on July 8, 2025, on procedural grounds. In March 2026 the agency opened a new rulemaking by issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. Meanwhile, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act still requires clear disclosure of automatic-renewal terms, consent and a simple means of cancellation for online subscriptions, and the FTC says deceptive subscription practices remain an enforcement priority. Many states also have their own auto-renewal laws.
For you, that means a legal backstop exists, but it is not a substitute for checking your own billing. If a cancellation seems impossible, document it with screenshots and consider a complaint to the FTC or your state attorney general.
Find Your Situation: What to Do and What to Watch For
A price table cannot tell you which plan fits your life. These are the situations that come up most, each with the move that tends to work and the trap that tends to catch people.
Do the math in yearly terms. On Standard, the change added $24 a year. On Premium it added $24. On the ad plan it added $12. Then ask whether the plan you hold is still right for you. If you moved to Standard years ago mainly to avoid ads, and you now watch less, the $132 a year gap to the ad plan is the real decision, not the $2 rise.
You have three clean options. Stay. Downgrade to Standard with ads. Or cancel and rotate. Remember that downgrading takes effect from your next billing date, and you can reverse it later without penalty.
A student at school is a classic gray area. If the student is temporarily away and returns home, travel verification is the intended tool. If the student has an established separate residence, the cleaner options are an extra member on Standard or Premium or their own account. The extra member gets their own login, one profile and one active device. If they want to watch alongside a roommate, or on two screens, a separate account is the better fit.
Do the math before choosing. On Standard, one ad-free extra member adds $9.99 and one with-ads member $7.99. A separate ad plan is $8.99 and gives them full independence. For a student on a budget, the ad plan is the sensible default, and a family that wants ad-free for them can pay for a separate Standard instead.
Netflix’s rule is one household per account. After a real move, update the household from the new home. If you spend time in a second home, Netflix’s temporary-verification flow covers trips, but a second residence used regularly is the territory where an extra member or a separate account is supposed to apply. Do not move the household while you are only visiting a temporary location, because it can disrupt the people at the original home.
For a person who splits time evenly, the cheapest compliant arrangement is often a second ad-supported account at $8.99 for the second home, rather than a Standard plan with an extra member at $29.98 or more.
Only Premium offers 4K and HDR, and even then it depends on the title, your device and your connection. Check three things before you pay the extra $7 over Standard: that your television or streaming device supports 4K and HDR, that the shows you watch are produced in 4K, and that your internet connection is steady enough. If any of the three fails, you are paying for something you will not see.
Premium also lifts the screen limit to four and allows two extra members, which matters for large households even without a 4K set. If you only want the extra screens, compare the cost of a second account against the $7 monthly upgrade.
We found no Netflix discount for seniors or students on direct U.S. subscriptions. Whatever savings exist come through a provider. If you have a T-Mobile plan that includes Netflix, check whether you are already entitled to it before paying Netflix. If you use Verizon or Xfinity, look for their bundle perks. If neither applies, the ad plan at $8.99, or a four-month rotation at $35.96 a year, is the budget route.
Be wary of anyone offering “discounted” Netflix through a stranger, a reseller or a message that arrives out of the blue. Legitimate savings come from Netflix itself or from a provider you already pay.
Check your Account page to see who bills you. If it is a third party, you cancel and change plans there, and the plans and prices on offer may differ from Netflix’s. A common surprise is paying the same plan at a higher price because the provider adds a margin, or discovering that an ad plan is not offered through that billing route. Netflix says that if you change your payment method, you can choose an ad-supported plan after it is charged and the new billing period starts.
If you want the ad plan and your billing is through a partner that does not offer it, switching to direct billing is the route to the lowest price.
Netflix carries a few NFL games a season, so you cannot replace a full football service with it. If your team plays on Netflix, the ad plan at $8.99 is enough, because live events are included with any plan. If you want every game, Netflix is a supplement to another service, not a substitute. For a household that also uses a live TV streamer, treat Netflix as the occasional-games add-on, subscribe for the month of the game, and cancel after.
Kids profiles do not show ads, even on the ad plan, according to Netflix’s help page, and games on the service do not carry ads either. That removes one of the strongest arguments for paying extra to avoid ads. If the television is mostly for children’s programming, the ad plan can be the better value, though adult profiles on the same account will still see ads, and live events carry commercials on every plan.
If a title shows a lock on the ad plan, the options are a one-month move to Standard or Premium, or waiting. Switching for a month costs the difference, which is $11, to watch one show without ads. Combine that with cancelling right after and you pay far less than keeping the higher plan for the year.
Netflix has discontinued its Basic plan, so the ad plan at $8.99 is now the cheapest option for any screen. Downloads on the ad plan are available on two supported devices, which helps on flights and commutes. If you travel often, test downloads before you leave and remember that some titles may not be downloadable, depending on licensing.
Offers for lifetime or deeply discounted Netflix accounts from resellers, social media posts or marketplaces are a common path to stolen payment details, shared accounts that vanish and locked profiles. Netflix’s real discounts are the ones in this guide: the ad plan, a carrier or provider bundle, or a rotation. Anything else carries risk that is larger than the savings.
Eight Mistakes That Make Netflix Cost More Than It Should
Most overspending on Netflix comes from a short list of habits. Each has a simple fix.
It costs $132 a year more than the ad plan. Fix: ask whether ads actually bother you before renewing.
The extra $7 does nothing for a 1080p set. Fix: confirm your device supports 4K and HDR first.
An ad-free extra member costs $9.99, more than a separate ad plan at $8.99. Fix: compare both before adding anyone.
T-Mobile, Verizon and Xfinity customers may be paying for something included. Fix: check your carrier account before subscribing.
Netflix may keep billing you for a cycle or two. Fix: watch statements and check who bills you.
Uninstalling the app does nothing, and third-party billing must be cancelled at the third party. Fix: confirm the banner with your end date.
Fake support numbers circulate in search results. Fix: use the help center only.
A year of the ad plan is $107.88, a four-month rotation $35.96. Fix: subscribe in bursts.
A Shopping Plan That Gets You the Right Plan at the Lowest Price
Because the best price depends on who you are and what you already pay for, a short sequence of checks beats guessing.
- Step 1Check what you already have. Log into your carrier and internet provider accounts and look for Netflix perks. T-Mobile, Verizon and Xfinity customers often qualify for something.
- Step 2Decide about ads. Try the ad plan for a month. If the ads bother you, move to Standard. If you own a 4K television and watch carefully, consider Premium.
- Step 3Decide about sharing. Count who lives in your household. For anyone who does not, compare an extra member at $7.99 or $9.99 with a separate ad account at $8.99.
- Step 4Check who will bill you. Subscribing directly through Netflix gives the widest plan choice, while app-store or provider billing may limit it and changes where you cancel.
- Step 5Set a calendar reminder for your cancel date if you plan to rotate, and screenshot the confirmation banner when you cancel.
- Step 6Review once a year. Prices have risen twice in under two years. If a plan no longer matches how you watch, change it. You can switch at any time.
Plan prices, extra-member fees, ad-experience details, live-event rules and the household guidance come from Netflix’s U.S. help center pages and recent trade reporting as checked on October 15. The March increase timing and prior prices come from trade reporting. Carrier and provider bundle terms come from their own pages and recent roundups and change often. Reports differ on the number of NFL games, temporary-access durations and several bundle prices, and the widget says so where they do. Prices exclude taxes, which may apply depending on where you live. Calculations such as yearly costs and rotation savings are ours. This page is independent and is not affiliated with Netflix, T-Mobile, Verizon or Xfinity. Confirm every figure on your own account page before you change plans.
Key sources: Netflix Help Center (Plans and Pricing, Ads on Netflix) · Deadline and other trade reporting on the March price increase · T-Mobile Netflix on Us terms · FTC and law-firm summaries of the vacated click-to-cancel rule