Netflix Increases Prices Again As Subscriber Numbers Surge

Netflix is once again raising subscription prices. The company confirmed this as part of its latest earnings briefing where it also divulged that subscriber numbers are surging.

Effective immediately, the price for the basic plan is going up from $10/month to $12/month. The basic plan is Netflix's cheapest option without ads, and it's also no longer available to new subscribers. Anyone already on the plan will have to pay the higher rate going forward.

The premium plan, meanwhile, is increasing in price from $20/month to $23/month. This plan includes the highest possible resolution for streaming and simultaneous streaming on up to six devices at the same time.

The existing ad-based plan ($7) and the standard plan ($15.50)--which is the most popular plan overall--are staying the same monthly price.

"While we mostly paused price increases as we rolled out paid sharing, our overall approach remains the same--a range of prices and plans to meet a wide range of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more," Netflix said. "Our starting price is extremely competitive with other streamers and at $6.99 per month in the US, for example, it's much less than the average price of a single movie ticket."

Netflix also confirmed that it added 8.8 million paid subscribers during the past three months, which was the biggest quarterly gain in new subscribers in three years, according to reporter Lucas Shaw. The uptick in sign-ups was no doubt attributable in part to Netflix's password-sharing crackdown that prompted users to create new paid accounts of their own.

Netflix management, including co-CEO Ted Sarandos, are in the midst of working together with Hollywood studios to come to an agreement to end the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, there continues to be no end in sight for the strike.

Netflix made a profit of $1.68 billion in the past three months.