Yes, Netflix just got even more expensive

Netflix’s latest price hikes in the US are starting to come into effect.

Subscribers may have recently been contacted by the company alerting them that the price of their plan will change starting with their next billing cycle. I was recently sent such an email letting me know that my monthly bill would go up starting March 30th, 2022 — but some Netflix users may have already seen their bill increases hit.

Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka told The Verge that the price increases are rolling out to existing subscribers “over weeks,” adding that some subscribers may have already been notified and seen the changes applied.

Netflix first alerted subscribers to its coming price increases in late January. The service’s basic plan now costs $9.99 per month (up from $8.99), its standard tier costs $15.49 per month (up from $13.99), and its 4K tier costs $19.99 per month (up from $17.99). That means Netflix is now charging up to nearly $20 every month for access to its service — a pretty significant milestone for the streamer.

Netflix has long said that it will continue gradually increasing its price relative to the value it provides. That means churning out more TV shows and movies — and now video games — and dumping truckloads of money on bringing that content to life. Short of adding an ad-tier, which Netflix hasn’t indicated it’s planning to do any time soon, Netflix has got to find money for that content from somewhere. Intermittent price increases and its as-of-yet experimental password crackdown are two ways of going about it.

In its initial announcement, Netflix said subscribers will be notified by email 30 days before their price changes arrive. And sure, it’s just another buck or two a month, depending on which plan you’re subscribed to. But taken together with all the other stuff we pay to subscribe to — which may be getting their own price hikes — it all starts to add up! Let’s hope those newly announced Netflix mobile games live up to the hype.