Netflix has had a Basic plan for a long time in most markets. It offered people a way to access all of its content, without ads, for a relatively low price, but with some restrictions. Now it appears that Basic plan is no longer available in at least one of the streaming service"s countries.
BlogTO (via TechCrunch) first reported that Netflix in Canada is no longer offering the Basic plan to new customers. Netflix Canadian subscribers with that plan, which costs $9.99 CAD per month, can remain on that tier with all of its features, but if they decide to ditch Netflix and then sign up again, or if they switch plans, the Basic plan will be unavailable for them.
In November 2022, Netflix began rolling out its Basic with Ads plan, which offered nearly all of the streaming service"s content, but with video ads before, during, and after movies and TV shows. It costs $5.99 CAD per month in Canada and $7.99 a month in the US.
Previously, that plan only allowed for one concurrent stream per account and up to 720p video resolution, However, in April 2023, Netflix improved the Basic with Ads plan features. It bumped up the resolution to 1080p and allowed two concurrent streams a month.
That may be part of the reason why Netflix may be phasing out its Basic plan without ads, as the current Basic with ads plan has nearly all the same features but costs less. So far, Netflix has not said when or if the US and other markets could get rid of the Basic plan.
Netflix recently launched its account sharing fee in the US, at $7.99 a month per user, in an effort to increase its revenues. It also recently revealed that its old-school DVD and Blu-ray mail renting plans will shut down on September 29.