Netflix Scraps Cheapest Ad-Free Plan — Here's How That Affects Current Basic Subscribers

Netflix is eliminating its cheapest no-ads plan in both the U.S. and the UK, forcing new subscribers to either pony up another $5.50 month for ad-free streaming or, more ideally, go with the ad-supported $6.99/month option.

The Basic ad-free plan, which fetched $9.99/month Stateside (and was previously dropped in Canada), is no longer bering offered to prospective subscribers, while existing Basic subs will be allowed to remain on that plan until they change plans or cancel their Netflix account.

Netflix has been keen on boosting sign-ups for its ad-supported plan after its stock rose more than 9% in May in the wake of reports that nearly 5 million customers — and more than 25% of new subs — had chosen an ad-supported plan in the first six months of availability.

That leaves three available Netflix subscription plans:

➤ Standard With Ads, which runs $6.99/month, offers Full HD and supports two devices;

➤ Standard, which is ad-free and runs $15.49 month, offers Full HD, supports two devices, allows downloads and has the option to add one member living at a different address (+$7.99/month);

➤ Premium, which is ad-free and runs $19.99 month, offers Ultra HD and spatial audio, supports four devices, allows downloads (on up to six supported devices), and has the option to add two members living at different addresses (+$7.99/month each).

"Our starting prices of $6.99 in the US and £4.99 in the U.K. [for Standard With Ads] are lower than the competition," a Netflix rep told our sister site Variety, "and provide great value to consumers given the breadth and quality of our catalog."