Netflix's latest UK price rise, in brief
Netflix has raised the price of its UK membership plans once again, with new prices taking effect for new sign-ups from Thursday, 3 September 2026. Existing subscribers are being given a month's notice of the change by email before the higher rates appear on their bills, so if you have not yet seen the new price on your statement, it is coming over the next few weeks.
It is the second time Netflix has increased UK prices in less than two years. The company last raised its prices in February 2025, and that increase itself followed the controversial decision in July 2024 to scrap the cheapest ad-free Basic plan entirely — a move that forced long-standing subscribers onto pricier tiers and cost some of them an extra £36 a year to watch without adverts.
The new round of increases is on a similar scale to the last. Here is how every plan changes:
- Standard with adverts: £5.99 a month to £7.99 a month — up £2, a 33% rise, or £24 more a year.
- Standard (no adverts): £12.99 a month to £13.99 a month — up £1, roughly 8%, or £12 more a year.
- Premium: £18.99 a month to £20.99 a month — up £2, roughly 11%, or £24 more a year.
- Extra member with adverts: £4.99 a month to £5.99 a month — up £1, or £12 more a year.
- Extra member without adverts: £5.99 a month to £6.99 a month — up £1, or £12 more a year.
The steepest percentage rise lands on the cheapest tier. Standard with adverts jumps by a third, which matters because the ad-supported tier has been Netflix's main growth engine in recent years — it is the plan most often recommended to price-sensitive households, and it is the plan that advertisers care about most.
Why Netflix says it is raising prices
Netflix's explanation has been consistent across its recent increases. The company told Deadline that its approach remains the same as it delivers more value to members and reinvests in its programming:
"Our approach remains the same: we continue offering a range of prices and plans to meet a variety of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members, we reinvest in quality entertainment and improve their experience by updating our prices."
The company added that it knows members have never had more choices in entertainment, and that it remains committed to delivering an experience that meets and exceeds expectations. In its email to customers, Netflix also pointed to the scale of its output, telling subscribers to expect "more than 84 new releases" in the coming month alone.
That framing — pay more because there is more to watch — is the same logic the whole streaming industry has adopted. Netflix's co-CEOs, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, have repeatedly tied pricing to the company's long-running pitch to shareholders and members alike:
"We will continue to do what we've done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business and drive long-term shareholder value."
The business logic is not hard to see. With more than 325 million subscribers globally, Netflix is the one streaming service most households treat as non-negotiable. Industry analysts have noted that this market leadership gives it unusual pricing power: engagement is high, churn is among the lowest in the industry, and each increase has historically been absorbed with relatively little subscriber loss. A £2 rise on the ad tier and £1 on the standard tier may irritate, but the company is betting most people will grumble and pay.
It is not just the UK — price rises are going global
The UK increase is part of a rolling wave of Netflix price adjustments around the world. In the United States, Netflix raised prices across all tiers on 26 March 2026, with the ad-supported plan moving from $7.99 to $8.99 a month, Standard from $17.99 to $19.99, and Premium from $24.99 to $26.99. Extra-member fees also rose by $1, to $6.99 a month with adverts and $9.99 without. That followed an increase in January 2025 — meaning American subscribers, like British ones, have been hit twice in less than two years.
Malaysia followed in September 2026, with Netflix quietly rolling out increases across all four of its local plans. The Premium plan there rose to RM69.90 a month, up RM7 from the previous rate, less than two years after the last round of hikes in November 2024. The pattern is unmistakable: Netflix is systematically repricing its service market by market, and the new rates tend to arrive within months of one another.
And Netflix is far from alone. 2026 has been the year the whole industry moved prices upward. Disney+ and Hulu raised prices in late September 2026, pushing their ad-free plans past $21 a month. Paramount+ increased prices in January 2026 — its second rise in roughly seven months. Peacock raised prices in August 2026, its fourth increase in four years. Prime Video raised the cost of its ad-free add-on tier, and YouTube Premium moved prices up as well. The streaming market that promised to be cheaper than cable is increasingly starting to resemble it.
Why the ad-supported tier keeps taking the biggest hits
There is an irony in the fact that the cheapest plans keep absorbing the largest percentage increases. The ad-supported tier exists partly to keep the headline price low and to grow the audience that advertisers pay to reach. Keeping that tier cheap serves Netflix's ad business, which analysts expect to roughly double in 2026.
But it also means the ad tier is the natural place to raise prices first: a £2 rise on a £5.99 plan feels less dramatic in absolute terms than a £2 rise on a £18.99 plan, even though the percentage is far higher. Industry watchers at Ampere Analysis, via reporting by Deadline, have flagged that ad-free tiers continue to absorb the largest dollar increases while ad-supported plans stay comparatively cheap — a deliberate design to keep the ad audience growing. If you are on Standard with adverts in the UK, you have now seen that tier go from a budget option to a plan that costs £96 a year.
What UK subscribers can actually do about it
A price rise is not a contract you are locked into — streaming subscriptions can be cancelled or changed at any time, and that flexibility is the one real advantage viewers have left. If the new prices change the value equation for you, there are a few practical responses worth considering:
- Drop a tier. Premium's main draws are 4K HDR and four simultaneous streams. If your household watches on one or two screens and does not own a 4K television, Standard offers the same library for £7 less a month than Premium under the new pricing.
- Try the ad-supported plan. At £7.99, Standard with adverts is now £6 a month cheaper than ad-free Standard. The adverts typically amount to a few minutes per hour of viewing. If you can tolerate them, the saving is £72 a year.
- Rotate your subscriptions. There is no rule that says every service must be active every month. Many households now subscribe to one or two services at a time, watch what they want, then pause and switch. Netflix lets you cancel and rejoin without losing your profile.
- Check the extra-member maths. If you share your account with someone outside your household, the extra-member fee has also risen. It is worth checking whether each extra member is still cheaper than a separate subscription.
- Watch for your notice email. Netflix has said existing subscribers will receive a month's notice before the increase takes effect. That email is your window to change plans before the higher rate hits.
None of this will change the direction of travel. With streaming profits now the industry's priority and every major platform raising prices in the same calendar year, the era of cheap, endlessly growing streaming libraries is firmly over. The question for subscribers is no longer whether prices will rise — it is how many services the household budget can still justify. Netflix, as ever, is betting the answer is at least one, and that it is theirs.
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