Netflix with advertisements: Value, launch date, content material, and extra

Whereas it as soon as scoffed at the opportunity of providing an ad-supported tier, Netflix has since embraced the thought, with hundreds of thousands of customers snapping up its “Normal with Adverts” plan, garnering loads of curiosity from Madison Avenue alongside the way in which. 

Since its arrival greater than two years in the past, Netflix has added a wide range of options to its ad-supported tier to set it aside from the streaming crowd–and for now, its value stays a fraction of Netflix’s priciest 4K streaming plan. 

So, how a lot does Netflix with advertisements value, what’s included, and is something unnoticed? Right here’s what it is advisable to know.

How a lot does Netflix with advertisements value?

Netflix Normal with Adverts prices $7.99 a month, which displays a buck-a-month value hike that Netflix imposed again in January 2025.

For some context, ad-supported Hulu prices $9.99/month, as does Disney+ Fundamental, whereas Paramount+ Important and Peacock Premium (which, confusingly, is ad-supported) each value $7.99 a month.

Lastly, Max Fundamental with Adverts goes for $9.99 a month.

Because it stands, Netflix’s most cost-effective obtainable ad-free tier (following the demise of Netflix’s Fundamental plan) is the Normal plan, which at the moment prices $17.99 a month.

What number of streams do you get with the Netflix Normal with Adverts plan?

At launch, Netflix’s ad-supported plan (which was initially referred to as “Fundamental with Adverts”) solely supplied a single stream.

However final 12 months, Netflix upped the variety of concurrent streams obtainable on the Normal with Adverts plan to 2.

Does Netflix with advertisements provide 4K HDR video decision?

No, however the video high quality of Netflix Normal with Adverts has improved for the reason that tier was first launched.

Whereas ad-supported Netflix as soon as supplied solely 720p video high quality, it has since been boosted to 1080p, similar as Netflix’s ad-free Normal plan.

At present, solely Netflix’s priciest plan–Premium ($24.99 a month)–gives 4K HDR streaming, with 4 concurrent streams per family.

Identical as Netflix, most different streamers reserve their 4K HDR streams for his or her ad-free subscribers, though that’s not a common coverage; Paramount+, for one, does enable ad-supported subscribers to stream in 4K.

Does ad-supported Netflix provide downloads for offline viewing?

The most effective perks supplied by the large streamers is the flexibility to obtain movies for offline viewing, excellent for binge-watching your favourite sequence throughout a protracted flight or if you don’t need to bust via your ISP’s (or provider’s) knowledge cap.

Till lately, Netflix didn’t enable its with-ads subscribers to obtain movies for offline viewing, a restriction shared by the opposite massive streamers.

However in November 2023, Netflix reversed course, turning into the primary massive streaming service to allow offline downloads for subscribers to its ad-supported tier.

There’s a month-to-month restrict to downloads for Normal with Adverts subscribers, nonetheless: 15 downloads per gadget, resetting on the primary of the month.

What number of business breaks does Netflix with advertisements have?

Netflix Normal with Adverts subscribers should sit via 4- to five minutes of commercials per hour, with the advertisements operating originally and through movies (ideally throughout “pure plot breaks”). Every advert can be both 15 or 30 seconds.

That 4- to 5-minute-per-hour determine is just about in keeping with Netflix’s opponents. For instance, the “with advertisements” model of Max averages about 4 minutes an hour, whereas Peacock tops out at about 5 minutes per hour.

You’re going to get some ad-free episodes as a bonus for binge-watching, nonetheless. Netflix beforehand introduced a brand new “binge” advert unit that enables advertisers to sponsor an ad-free episode for viewers who simply binge-watched a couple of episodes in a row. In fact, you’ll want to observe a 30- to 60-second “cinematic” advert from the sponsor earlier than you get to observe your ad-free episode.

Is Netflix with advertisements obtainable on all streaming units?

Most units that work with ad-free Netflix also needs to help Netflix Normal with Adverts, though a “small proportion” of streaming gamers and TVs gained’t work as a result of its Netflix software program can’t be up to date anymore.

And whereas the ad-supported Netflix plan wasn’t initially supported on Apple TV streaming units, it’s now (on Apple TV HD units and later) following an replace of the Netflix tvOS app in March 2023.

Netflix with advertisements can be obtainable on most different streaming platforms, together with Amazon’s Hearth TV, Android and iOS units, most good TVs, Mac and Home windows computer systems, and Google TV gamers.

Does Netflix with advertisements provide the identical content material as ad-free Netflix?

Virtually, however not fairly every little thing. Whereas the “overwhelming majority” of TV exhibits and flicks on Netflix can be found for “with advertisements” viewers, a “small quantity” are lacking due to “licensing points,” Netflix says.

Should you do run throughout a video that’s unavailable on the Netflix Normal with Adverts plan, you’ll see a padlock on the title, or a “Change plan to observe” banner instead of the usual “Play” button.

Why did Netflix launch an ad-supported plan?

Netflix misplaced subscribers in the course of the first and second quarters of 2022, ending a decade of development and sending Netflix’s inventory value right into a tailspin. And whereas Netflix is ubiquitous in North America, it’s having bother gaining traction in the remainder of the world, the place it’s dealing with powerful competitors from cheaper streaming companies.

In the meantime, Netflix’s quickly rising opponents, together with Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu, have rolled their very own cheaper ad-supported plans, all of which undercut Netflix’s most cost-effective ad-free plans.

So whereas it wasn’t all that way back that Netflix executives scoffed on the thought of cheaper ad-supported plans, the corporate abruptly modified course when it grew to become clear that its as soon as seemingly unstoppable development had stalled.

In Might 2024, Netflix reported that its Normal with Adverts tier had roughly 40 million world lively month-to-month customers, up from simply 5 million customers in Might 2023. (Netflix has since ceased tallying its month-to-month person base for the general public.)