Netflix Basic with Ads plan is now better than its Basic (without ads) plan

When Netflix launched its Basic with Ads plan in November 2022 in some regions, its first ad-supported plan, it was not clear how popular it would become.

Existing Netflix customers and new customers could subscribe to the plan for $6.99 per month. It is Netflix's cheapest plan, but it comes at the cost of having to watch advertisement several times a day while streaming Netflix content.

The plan is cheaper than adding a new user to an existing Netflix account, at least in some regions of the world.

Netflix revealed in March 2023 that the plan had crossed the 1 million user mark in the United States.

Netflix had its earnings call for the first quarter of 2023 today. The company added 1.75 million subscribers in the quarter, and has a total of 232.5 million paying subscribers now.

What stuck out is that Netflix's Basic with Ads plan is doing better than the cheapest ad-free plan. Basic with ads is available for $6.99 in the United States. The first plan without ads is Netflix's Basic plan, which is available for $9.99. The plan after that, Standard, is available for $15.49 per month.

In other words, advertisement is earning Netflix more than $3 per customer per month, but less than $9 per customer and month.

Netflix revealed plans to improve the Basic with Ads plan. The company will improve the maximum video quality of the plan to 1080p, from 720p, and increase the number if simultaneous streams from one to two.

Simultaneous streams allow customers to watch Netflix on multiple devices in the same household at the same time. Basic with Ads was limited to one stream previously, which meant that other household members could not watch Netflix if a stream was already running.

It is interesting to note that the changes make the company's Basic with Ads plan superior to the ad-free Basic plan, unless Netflix plans to increase the limits of that plan as well.

Right now, Basic with Ads is getting an additional slot for streaming content, opposed to Basic's one stream at a time, and Full HD support, opposed to Basic's HD support. The changes move Basic with ads closer to Netflix's Standard plan, which supports Full HD streams and 2 consecutive streams at a time.

Basic with Ads content is limited when compared to the ad-free plans that Netflix is offering. Some TV shows and movies are not available for customers subscribed to the plan

Netflix's plans and pricing page has not been updated yet to reflect the announced changes.

Netflix's password sharing crackdown plans have been postponed to later this year. The company did reveal that it is pleased with the results of the trial in four countries.

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