Netflix plans, prices and terms

The order is simple: lowest price and you don’t mind ads → Standard with ads; no ads or you want to add someone → Standard; 4K, four screens or two people outside your home → Premium.

The score is calculated from the criteria you see below: each criterion shows its weight, what exactly we found and where. Where we have the provider’s page, there’s a link with a check date; where the number comes from our catalog, we say so. “Not checked” means we don’t have the data and the criterion isn’t counted. “Provider doesn’t say” means we went through the provider’s pages but the information isn’t there; that criterion isn’t counted either. If you disagree with the weights — in the methodology you’ll see all the parts and can weigh them your own way. We don’t put app store ratings into structured data: they were collected on other websites, so they stay as visible text.

Scores for individual plans: Standard 4,0 · Premium 4,2 · Standard with ads 4,0

Netflix has 4.7 out of 5 stars from 7.4 million ratings on the US App Store. We also read the 50 most recent US reviews — 12 of them gave one or two stars. Recent reviews skew toward people with a problem, so read them as a list of what can go wrong, not as a verdict.

Check that your iPhone or iPad can run the current app version before you subscribe.

I read recent US App Store reviews of Netflix. The app holds 4.7 out of 5 from more than 7.4 million ratings. The written reviews are harsher than the rating and keep coming back to a few things.

My advice: if you’re on the fence about ads, start with Standard with ads for a month — switching plans later is easy. And when you cancel, keep the confirmation email.

Ratings change constantly and often drop after price increases or removed features. We show the value from the check date together with the number of reviews, because 4.8 from two hundred and 4.5 from two million ratings aren’t the same thing.

Separate page: how to cancel this subscription →

• The cheapest plan is Basic.

  Not anymore. The Help Center says the Basic plan has been discontinued; the entry plan in the US is Standard with ads.

• A more expensive plan has more movies and shows.

  The catalog is the same on the ad-free plans. What differs is picture quality, number of screens, downloads and extra members; on the ad-supported plan a small number of titles are locked for licensing reasons.

• An extra member is just another profile.

  No. An extra member has their own account and password, and the account owner pays for the slot — it’s a paid add-on, not a free profile.

• You can pay for Netflix a year in advance.

  Not directly with Netflix: according to the Help Center there are no annual or multi-month plans, and you’re charged every month. If you want to prepay, gift cards are an option.

• The ad-supported plan is lower quality.

  Not in picture: Standard with ads streams in 1080p on two screens, like Standard. The differences are ads, a monthly download limit and no extra members.

• Deleting the app ends the subscription.

  No. According to Netflix, neither signing out nor deleting the app cancels the account.

• If there’s no price on the page, the service isn’t available in the US.

  Not necessarily. More often it means the provider doesn’t publish a fixed price or shows it only at checkout. Availability and a published price are two different things.

• An annual plan always works out cheaper.

  Cheaper than the monthly plan only if you use the whole period. You pay for the whole year up front, and when you cancel you usually don’t get the unused part back — so it’s a saving for people who already know they’ll stay all year.

• Deleting the app cancels the subscription.

  No. Deleting the app doesn’t stop the payments — only canceling in the account where you bought the subscription does. The app disappears, the bill stays.

• Every plan looks the same in every country.

  No. The list of plans, the features in the same plan and the available languages can differ. That’s why we don’t carry data from another country over to the US page.

• The price on the pricing page is exactly what you’ll be charged.

  Not always. US providers list prices before sales tax, and whether tax is added at checkout — and how much — depends on your state. On one VPN order page we saw a 6.25% sales tax added on top of the listed monthly price.

This list isn’t an accusation against the platform — these are common simplifications. If you find something on our page that doesn’t match the official source, write to us: we’ll fix it and cite the source.

• Lowest price

  Standard with ads keeps 1080p and two screens at a lower price.

  Compromise: Commercial breaks, 15 downloads a month and no extra members.

• 4K and home theater

  Premium gives 4K Ultra HD, HDR and spatial audio.

  Compromise: Only on that plan — both Standard plans top out at 1080p.

• Sharing

  An extra member is the way Netflix offers: their own account and password.

  Compromise: For a fee, and not on the ad-supported plan.

• Offline

  Up to 100 active downloads per device on ad-free plans, on six devices with Premium.

  Compromise: Not every title can be downloaded, and downloads expire.

Netflix in the US is three plans with essentially the same catalog. Standard with ads is the cheapest way in, Standard removes ads and allows one extra member, and Premium adds 4K with HDR, four screens and two extra members. Keep in mind: there’s no annual plan.

Hulu comes bundled with Disney+ and has annual billing on its plan with ads, HBO Max offers yearly billing on every plan, and Netflix has extra members outside the household and the same catalog on every ad-free plan.

This page is a comparison, and for every claim we say where it comes from.

If anything on this page has gone out of date, write to us — we’ll fix it and note the date.