Streaming price hikes shrink as ad-supported tiers gain importance

Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon reduced the size of their subscription price increases over the past three years, with average increases falling from 24% of the previous subscription price in 2023-24 to 14% in 2025-26, Ampere Analysis reported.

In dollar terms, the average increase across the three streaming companies declined from $1.67 to $1.54 over the same period. The findings were based on Ampere’s “Pricing and Bundling” dataset, which examined direct-to-consumer pricing from August 2023 through July 2026.

Across the full three-year period, individual price increases averaged $1.60, or 17% of the previous subscription price.

Ampere said the trend could indicate that streaming services were moving closer to the limits of what consumers were willing to pay as markets became more mature and competitive.

Ad-free tiers recorded larger price increases, averaging $1.62 over the three years compared with $1.21 for ad-supported tiers. The average price difference between ad-free and ad-supported plans across the three companies increased from $4.53 in the August 2023-July 2024 period to $5.35 in August 2025-July 2026.

In the U.S., the difference between Netflix’s Standard with Ads and Standard tiers for new subscribers grew from $8.50 in August 2023 to $11 in July 2026.

Price increases varied by service over the three-year period. Netflix increases averaged $1.73, or 16%; Disney+ averaged $1.53, or 17%; and Amazon averaged $1.47, or 30%.

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Disney+ showed the largest change in the size of its increases, falling from an average $1.86, or 31%, in 2023-24 to $1.45, or 13%, in 2025-26. Amazon made the fewest price increases during the period, which Ampere attributed in part to the broader role of the Prime subscription in Amazon’s retail business.

Western Europe had the largest average increases over the three years at $1.86, or 16%, followed by North America at $1.70, or 15%, and Central and Eastern Europe at $1.68, or 18%.

“The decline in price increases comes as streamers diversify how they monetise their audiences. Advertising is an increasingly important revenue stream, reducing reliance on subscription pricing alone, while password-sharing crackdowns allow streamers to generate more value from existing audiences through extra member slots. As streaming businesses mature, revenue growth is becoming less reliant on price increases, while intense competition is also making streamers increasingly mindful of how they are positioned against rivals,” Jaanika Juntson, senior research manager at Ampere Analysis, said.