Almost 5 Million People Are Using Netflix's New Plan With Ads

Netflix said Wednesday at its 2023 Upfront presentation that almost 5 million people are using the service's ad-supported tier, called Standard with ads (formerly it was Basic with ads). Netflix also said the number of people who've signed up for the ad-tier plan has more than doubled since the start of 2023. 

"More than a quarter of our signups now choose the ads plan in countries where it's available," Greg Peters, Netflix's co-CEO, said in a news release. "Engagement on our ads plan is similar to our comparable non-ads plans."

Netflix launched the ad-supported tier in November 2022. It costs less than similar plans from other streaming services, like Disney Plus and HBO Max (soon to be called just Max). These other ad-supported tiers cost $10 a month while Netflix's costs $7 a month.

Netflix said Wednesday that its ad-supported plan has almost 5 million global monthly active users, which is a different measure than subscribers, since multiple people in a household can use one Netflix account. 

CNET's Kourtnee Jackson found that some movies and TV shows were missing on Netflix's ad-supported tier but that ads didn't play on everything. The ads that did play varied in length, so you might encounter a 30-second ad break one time and a 75-second ad break another. Netflix last month also introduced upgrades to its ad-supported plan, including 1080p video quality (an increase from 720p) and the ability to stream on two devices simultaneously.

Here's a look at all of Netflix's current subscription offerings in the US.

For more, here's what to know about Netflix's ad-supported plan and why Netflix is still the best streaming service.

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