Many people have supplemented or even replaced their traditional cable TV subscriptions with streaming services. While some were introduced with basic-level subscriptions that came with relatively reasonable monthly price tags, gradual price hikes and the introduction of premium, ad-free tiers have driven up those costs over time. The team at FinanceBuzz analyzed the monthly prices for both standard and premium streaming subscriptions over the nearly 20 years since streaming services first launched.
Of the current major streaming platforms, Hulu was the first to launch way back in 2007. The service was free for the first few years, making money by showing ads during the shows and movies that were available to watch. By 2010, however, Hulu started charging a subscription fee, and every platform launched since that time has made users pay from the start.
Subscription fees aren’t the only thing streaming customers have had to get used to, as price changes (mostly increases) on those fees have also been common in the streaming era. In fact, Amazon Prime Video is the only service that hasn’t changed its pricing in some way, staying at a consistent $8.99 price point since becoming available as a standalone service in 2016.
Netflix has increased its monthly subscription costs more often and to a greater degree than any other streaming service. Since 2011, Netflix has increased prices seven times, which has ultimately resulted in a 94% increase in the cost for a standard monthly subscription ($8 in 2011 to $15.49 in 2024).
That $15.49 monthly subscription cost is the second-highest of any platform, behind the $16.99 price for Max (formerly HBO Max). Four streaming services are tied with the lowest cost, as a standard subscription for Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and Disney+ all cost just $7.99 per month.
Two streaming services have actually decreased prices since launching. Paramount+ prices dropped from $5.99 to $4.99 between 2020 and 2021 before returning to the $5.99 price point in 2023. Hulu has actually dropped the price for its standard subscription multiple times, from $9.99 to $7.99 between 2010 and 2011, dropping it a further $2 to $5.99 in 2016, and going from $7.99 to $5.99 in 2019 following a 2017 price increase.
Premium tiers are a more recent addition to the world of streaming services. These subscription levels cost more money every month but offer users extra benefits, such as commercial-free viewing, higher video quality, access to exclusive content, and more.
Unlike with standard subscriptions, prices for these premium plans have only gone up, none more so than at Netflix. When it first launched in 2013, Netflix Premium had a $12 monthly price tag. It now costs $22.99 per month, a 92% increase in 11 years.
That is also the most expensive premium plan of any platform, $2 more expensive than the current cost for Max’s Ultimate Ad-Free tier. The newest premium subscription is also the most affordable, as Amazon Prime Video introduced commercials to its platform and an ad-free tier earlier in 2024. Using Prime without commercials costs $11.98 as a standalone service, a penny per month cheaper than Peacock’s Premium Plus service.
Of the eight major streaming services, seven offer a premium subscription level. The lone holdout is Apple TV+, which offers only a single standard-level subscription available to customers for $9.99 per month.
As streaming services continue to evolve, so too do their pricing models, with most platforms opting for incremental increases to support the growing demand for exclusive content, ad-free experiences, and improved video quality. Whether these changes are sustainable or will drive further innovations in subscription models remains to be seen. However, one thing is clear: for consumers, keeping up with their favorite streaming platforms increasingly means budgeting for the steady climb in costs.
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