Netflix Is Raising Subscription Prices In Largest Price Hike Ever

Netflix is raising its prices — again. But while the last Netflix price hike at the end of 2017 raised its subscription plan prices by a small percentage, Netflix is immediately implementing its biggest price hike in company history.

Subscribers can expect their subscription rates to increase by anywhere from 13 to 18 percent, according to TV Line. Netflix announced a January price hike effective immediately, which will see the Basic plan cost rise from $8 to $9 while the streaming service's most popular option, HD standard, will now run you $13 a month, up from the previous $11 a month. The most expensive plan, 4K Premium, will increase from $14 to $16.

This will be the company's first price increase since late 2017, the aftermath of which saw a significant drop in new subscribers. But in a statement accompanying the latest price hike, Netflix explained:

"We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience."

Hopefully "improving the overall Netflix experience" amounts to more than running crisis control in the wake of race-targeted thumbnails. But this price increase seems more likely in response to NBCUniversal announcing that it is entering the streaming wars, while Disney, Apple, and WarnerMedia all prepare to launch their own digital streaming platforms in 2019. Disney+ in particular poses the biggest threat, with the House of Mouse preparing to pull its Marvel and Star Wars titles from Netflix in addition to planning its own original titles featuring its superhero characters — endangering the streaming giant's own Marvel series like Jessica Jones and The Punisher, which continue to drop like flies.

However if you look at this price hike in comparison to Netflix's biggest rivals, Hulu and Amazon charge $12 and $13 a month, respectively, which makes Netflix's new prices on par with them. And with Netflix coming off the heels of its phenomenal success with Bird Box and our continued addiction to tidying up, the streaming giant probably knows we won't cut the cord anytime soon.