Netflix Starts Booting Subscribers Off Cheapest Basic Ads-Free Plan

Netflix is discontinuing its cheapest ad-free subscription tier, starting with the UK and Canada, with plans to expand to more countries. Users are being prompted to switch to the Standard plan with ads at a lower price or opt for the more expensive Standard or Premium 4K plans. In the UK, the Basic plan at £7.99 per month is being replaced by a £4.99 Standard plan with ads or a £10.99 ad-free Standard plan. Canadian subscribers face a more significant price increase from $9.99 for the Basic plan to $16.49 for the Standard plan, with an option to save $4 by choosing the Standard plan with ads at $5.99. The Basic plan, priced at $11.99 in the US, has not been available to new subscribers since last year. Netflix aims to retire the Basic plan in countries where the ads plan is introduced, starting with Canada and the UK. The company reported 40 million global monthly active users for its ad-supported streaming tier.