Netflix is officially phasing out its most affordable ad-free plan

Earlier this year, Netflix announced to investors that it would phase out its most affordable ad-free subscription. According to users on Reddit, that change is now going into effect and people who are subscribed to the $11.99 per month ad-free tier are being cut off.

First spotted by The Verge, these Reddit users report they are receiving notifications saying, “Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching.” The majority of people who say they’ve received this notification are in the UK and Canada, which lines up with Netflix’s previously announced timeline. The company said it would begin the changes in those two countries before expanding them elsewhere.

If you’re currently subscribed to Netflix’s basic plan for $11.99 per month, you have a few options. You can pay more to retain the ad-free experience, or you can downgrade to the ad-supported tier and save some money every month:

• Ads – $6.99 / £4.99 / 5.99€
• Standard ad-free (HD) – $15.49 / £10.99 / 13.49€
• Premium ad-free (4K) – $22.99 / £17.99 / 19.99€

The move was announced in January, so it doesn’t come as a surprise – it just took Netflix six months to actually make the change. Still, a nearly $4 per month for customers looking to retain the ad-free experience is not insignificant.

In January, Netflix said that the ad-supported plan “now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets.”

In Q4‘23, like the quarter before, our ads membership increased by nearly 70% quarter over quarter, supported by improvements in our offering (e.g., downloads) and the phasing out of our Basic plan for new and rejoining members in our ads markets. The ads plan now accounts for 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in our ads markets and we’re looking to retire our Basic plan in some of our ads countries, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 and taking it from there.

Are you currently subscribed to Netflix? If so, which plan do you have? Let us know in the comments.