- South Africans are going to be paying more for a Netflix although existing subscribers will get to pay the old price for a bit longer.
- Mobile, Standard and Premium packages are becoming more expensive while Basic remains priced at R99 per month.
- Netflix hasn’t given any indication of why these prices are increasing, nor made any mention of the increases at all.
Did you know Netflix is increasing its prices locally? That’s the word on the street and according to some pieces of Netflix’s website, but as a long-time subscriber, the platform has yet to inform me of this forthcoming increase.
Thanks to MyBroadband (which has seen emails about the increases), Netflix is increasing the monthly subscription fee for its Mobile, Standard and Premium plans in South Africa. The Basic plan will remain priced at R99.
The price hikes are set to come into effect on 7th June and as such, those who are billed before that date are likely to enjoy one more month of the cheaper – although still pricey – subscription fee. Netflix has updated some of the prices on its website. The image below reflects the forthcoming increases.
The increases are as follows:
- Mobile – Was R49, Now R59;
- Standard – Was R159, Now R179;
- Premium, Was R199, Now R229.
You may have spotted that the Premium plan in the image above is still priced at R199, reflecting the fact that existing subscribers billed before 7th June will still pay the same price they have since 2021. You can see the amended prices at the bottom of this support page. If you join up for Netflix today, you will be paying these increased prices.
While increased prices aren’t great, this is the first price increase for South Africans since 2021. At the time, Netflix increased prices for Standard and Premium leaving Mobile and Basic alone. This time only the Basic package has escaped the clutches of an increase.
Back in 2021, Netflix argued that price increases were necessary to give subscribers more options and to continue providing value. This time around, there has been no mention of the increases let alone a reason or justification.
We have contacted the local representative for Netflix on why these price increases are happening and we will update you when we receive a response.
While the price increases may be justified by Netflix, it’s unlikely to win it any fans. Last year research firm Antenna revealed that serial churners – folks who cancel their subscriptions shortly after taking one up – increased from 3 percent of subscribers in 2019 to 38 percent of subscribers in 2024. This as folks flit from one service to the next rather than subscribing to multiple platforms at the same time.
With these price increases and Netflix’s poor habits of cancelling content, before it has a chance to gain any traction, we suspect more locals will join the ranks of serial churners.
