Netflix Hikes Price $1 Per Month, Still A Laughably Great Deal

This morning Netflix confirmed that it will be raising its rates for monthly streaming subscribers to $8.99 per month, which is a $1 increase over the current price. However, current customers can keep the old rate in place for two years if they don’t change their plan.

Netflix said it was upping rates “in order to continue adding more movies and TV shows” and extended the two-year grace period to current Netflix users as a thank you. According to multiple reports, the $1 increase is in effect in Canada and the UK, too.

Netflix

Surely some users will be upset by the rate hike, but they shouldn’t; it’s still an incredible deal, and--seriously folks--it’s a dollar per month. That’s $12 more per year, for unlimited on demand movies and TV streaming. If you watch one extra movie per month, that’ll cover the cost (compared to renting them from Redbox).

Remember when a movie meant $4 and a trip to Blockbuster? And there was no such thing as binge-watching a whole series unless you actually bought a box set of DVDs or (or ancient times) VHS tapes? And if you wanted to watch any good shows beyond what the three big networks and PBS offered you had to pay out the nose for cable? And the only great original programming was on HBO and Showtime and cost an arm and a leg on top of the basic cable/satellite package?

Netflix changed all those things for us, and the company is going to give us content in 4K starting this summer, too. Let’s just pay the extra dollar (starting two years from now for most of us) and wish Netflix well, yeah?