April 25, 2024, 2:07 pm | Read time: 6 minutes
Netflix is raising its subscription prices in Germany once again. Customers will now have to pay up to 20 euros per month. Given this development, it’s not surprising that many are considering canceling, says TECHBOOK editor-in-chief Rita Deutschbein.
Not a year goes by without Netflix tweaking its subscription structure–often to the detriment of customers. At least that’s how it seems to me when I look back. In 2021, there was a comprehensive price increase, during which the standard subscription rose from 11.99 to 12.99 euros and the premium subscription from 15.99 to 17.99 euros. In 2022, the ad-supported subscription was introduced, and in 2023, account sharing was banned, followed shortly by the elimination of the basic subscription for new customers. This last step left me somewhat speechless. Netflix doesn’t want you to share your subscription with others, yet it removes the option that is perfect for individual use–incomprehensible to me!
Since this restructuring, new subscribers have only three options: watch ads and save money, or choose the standard or premium subscription. Both allow more than one simultaneous stream (2 or 4) and are therefore less suited for individual use and more for intensive family use, where streaming occurs on two TVs simultaneously. Those who don’t need this have had to pay significantly more since 2023 due to the elimination of the basic subscription. The latest price increase in Germany only adds to this burden.
Netflix Subscription Costs After the 2024 Price Increase
On the Netflix help page, the new subscription costs have been listed since mid-April. Notably, the increase is substantial in some cases. The price for the ad-supported subscription remains unchanged at 4.99 euros per month. The standard subscription increases by one euro to 13.99 euros per month, and customers will now have to pay 19.99 euros per month for the premium subscription–two euros more than before. Even the price for the basic subscription, which new customers can no longer book, has increased. Existing customers will now pay 9.99 euros instead of 7.99 euros per month.
Update from April 25: New Prices Also Apply to Existing Customers
The price increase at Netflix is not really surprising, as it was already implemented in the U.S. and France beforehand. Initially, it applied only to new subscriptions, but it is now clear: existing customers will also have to pay more. Netflix is currently informing them via email about the price increase and simultaneously asking for their consent. However, customers should not refuse, as Netflix otherwise has the right to cancel the subscription.
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Netflix and Its Ad-Supported Subscription
But is everything really getting worse at Netflix? For a fair assessment, I would like to point out the improvements the provider has introduced in recent months. They concern the ad-supported subscription. At the end of 2023, Netflix introduced the previously missing download function. Additionally, the streaming quality was upgraded from 720p to 1080p, thus Full HD. More than ever, the ad-supported subscription positions itself as an alternative to the standard subscription without ads.
Those who are new to Netflix or want to switch to another subscription will likely calculate more carefully than before. The price difference between the Netflix standard subscription with and without ads is now 9 euros per month after the current price increase. That’s a hefty 108 euros more per year for ad-free streaming. It is clear that Netflix is focusing its marketing on its ad-supported subscription. However, a significant drawback remains: some content from the Netflix catalog is missing here due to licensing reasons and cannot be viewed with the ad-supported subscription. The list of available and unavailable titles in the standard subscription with ads changes regularly.
According to the provider, around 40 percent of all customers who have access to the ad-supported subscription in their market have chosen it. Financially, it is worthwhile for the provider, as the ads bring in additional revenue for Netflix.
Is Netflix Still Worth It?
The ad-supported subscription has improved, and the price difference to the regular options is significantly larger. That’s a fact. But are the ad-free offers still worth it? That’s the question I’m currently asking myself. I have subscribed to Netflix’s premium plan and pay 17.99 euros per month. That’s a lot of money, but I want to watch content in 4K, so this is my only option. Now that Netflix is implementing its price increase for existing customers and the price rises to 20 euros per month, I’m honestly not sure if I’m willing to pay that.
With the price increase, Netflix is offsetting rising costs. Licenses, personnel, energy–all have become more expensive in recent months. Providers pass these costs on to customers. And they feel it from all sides–everything seems to be getting more expensive, and the income they have can hardly keep up. As a result, many are looking more closely at whether certain expenses are still worthwhile, especially for “luxury” access like streaming.
How often and intensively do I really use Netflix, I ask myself. The range of series and movies is large, maybe even too large. I now miss the real highlights on Netflix that stand out from the uniformity. The streaming market is fragmented, and many interesting content for me has disappeared from Netflix in recent years and moved to other providers like Disney+. I therefore need additional subscriptions, which also want to be paid for–and like Netflix, they are also regularly becoming more expensive.
Netflix invests heavily in original productions, but only occasionally does one really stand out from the crowd. It feels like the quality of content has declined. Fans of highlights like “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game” are still waiting for new seasons. The boom around the release of new, current content has been over for some time–even though Netflix would like to build on the success of the series with the reality game show for the latter.
Many series are now not continued after the first season, or the storyline eventually drifts into boredom. The latter is shown by the changed concept of “Black Mirror,” where it apparently was only about producing episodes that, due to the lack of tech dystopia, could not match the success of the first episodes. Is this complaining at a high level? Maybe. But like many others, I have been conditioned by streaming providers. I no longer watch linear TV, and I find ads annoying. So I rely entirely on the offerings of Netflix, Disney+, Wow, and others. But those who subscribe to more than one or two providers must now more than ever consider whether they can or want to afford it in the future.