40 Million People Subscribe to Netflix's Ad-Supported Tier

Netflix's ad-supported streaming tier has 40 million global monthly active users, up 35 million from a year ago, Netflix said today at its Upfront advertising presentation. Netflix has 270 million total subscribers worldwide, so the majority of its users are still on the ad-free tiers.

Netflix Smaller 4
Netflix resisted implementing an ad-supported tier for many years, but confirmed in 2022 that it had plans to implement a cheaper option in order to boost revenue. The Standard with ads plan launched in late 2022, and it has grown more popular as Netflix has increased the pricing of its ad-free tiers.

In the United States, the Standard with ads plan is priced at $6.99 per month for HD streaming on up to two devices at one time, with all but a "few movies and TV shows available." The basic ad-free plan is $15.49 per month, while the premium plan is $22.99 per month. Netflix's ad-supported plan does not include the option to download content for offline viewing, nor does it support spatial audio.

According to Netflix, more than 40 percent of all signups in the countries where the ad-supported plan is available are for the ads plan. More than 70 percent of Netflix's ad-supported members watch Netflix content for more than 10 hours per month, and Netflix says subscribers are twice as likely to respond to an ad compared to subscribers of other streaming services.

Since Netflix launched its ad-supported tier, it has partnered with Microsoft for ads, but in 2025, it will launch an in-house ad platform.

In addition to boosting revenue through a cheaper ad-supported option, Netflix has also cracked down on password sharing. After putting an end to multi-household account use, Netflix saw strong subscriber growth and an increase in revenue.

Tag: Netflix

Popular Stories

WWDC25 Live Coverage Feature 1

WWDC 2025 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, and More

Monday June 9, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors is on hand for the event and we'll be sharing details and our thoughts throughout the day. We're expecting to see a number of software-related announcements led by a design revamp across Apple's platforms that will also see the numbering of all of...
General Apps Messages Redux

iOS 26: New Messages and Phone App Features Leaked Ahead of WWDC

Friday June 6, 2025 7:27 am PDT by
Apple is planning to announce several new features for the Messages and Phone apps on iOS 26, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a lengthy report outlining his WWDC 2025 expectations today, Gurman said that the two main changes in the Messages app will be the ability to create polls, as well as the option to set a background image within a conversation. 9to5Mac was first to report...
liquid glass

Apple Announces All-New 'Liquid Glass' Software Redesign Across iOS 26 and More

Monday June 9, 2025 10:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a complete redesign of all of its major software platforms called "Liquid Glass." Announced simultaneously for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and CarPlay, Liquid Glass forms a new universal design language for the first time. At its WWDC 2025 keynote address, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi said "Apple Silicon has become dramatically more powerful...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 9 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iPadOS 26 Apple Newsroom

Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

Monday June 9, 2025 11:22 am PDT by
Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below. iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more. iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:iPad Pro (M4) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) iPad Air (M2 and later) iPad Air (3rd generation and...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Says These 13 Vehicle Brands Will Soon Offer iPhone Car Keys

Monday June 9, 2025 2:38 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote today, Apple said that 13...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 17 New Features

Friday June 6, 2025 6:17 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including worse battery life, only a single ...

Top Rated Comments

frownface Avatar
14 months ago
This is classic en-shittification.

Ramp up standard tier pricing to breaking point & then introduce an ad supported tier at the old standard tier pricing points to move price sensitive customers and begin luring in advertising revenue.

They'll keep the ad tier at the low price for some years until a significant portion of subscribers move over and reach a critical mass for most/all advertisers to sign on and locked in.

Once that happens they'll start ramping up the pricing for the ad supported plans. You'll see a $15 ad supported plan within 5 years. I'm sure of it.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaximus Avatar
14 months ago
I’d rather not watch tv than pay to watch tv with ads.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Simgar988 Avatar
14 months ago

Having read the release, this was just an call to gain more advertisers. There was absolutely no mention of how many of this ad supported tier subscribers were once full paying subscribers.

How many full paying subscribers has Netflix lost?
They lost me 2 years ago. I had been a member since the dvd days.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bLackjackj Avatar
14 months ago
Having read the release, this was just a call to gain more advertisers. There was absolutely no mention of how many of these ad supported tier subscribers were once full paying subscribers.

How many full paying subscribers has Netflix lost?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HiVolt Avatar
14 months ago
It's all gonna revert to full ads in a few years on these streaming services, there will be no option.

all this wonderful pay low fee for all this content and no annoying ads was a nice dream for a bit. but those shareholders gotta eat.

so it'll will all revert to being like cable.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
14 months ago
I get free Netflix from Tmobile, rarely use it these days.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)