Subscriptions
How to switch to a cheaper Netflix plan (and stop paying for streaming you don't watch)
Netflix raised its US prices in March 2026; Premium is now $26.99 a month, three times the ad-supported plan. Most of the difference buys 4K and two extra screens that many households never use. Here is how to pick the right plan, change it, and keep streaming costs down for good.
The short version
- US plans: $9, $20 and $27 a month; Canada: $8, $19 and $24.12
- Dropping from Premium to Standard with ads saves $216 a year in the US. From Standard, $132.
- Change the plan at Account, Membership, Change plan. It takes two minutes and applies next billing date.
- Rotate services instead of stacking them: one at a time, cancelled when the show ends.
What each plan gives you
| Plan | US price | Canada price | Screens | Quality | Extra members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard with ads | $9/mo | $8/mo | 2 | 1080p | No |
| Standard | $20/mo | $19/mo | 2 | 1080p | 1 |
| Premium | $27/mo | $24/mo | 4 | 4K and HDR, spatial audio | 2 |
Netflix Help Center for the US; Canadian prices from published plan comparisons, unchanged in the past year.12 Extra members cost $8 a month with ads or $10 without in the US.
The honest question is what you watch on. The ad-supported plan and Standard both stream in 1080p on two screens at once. Premium's 4K only shows on a 4K television with a fast connection, and the four screens matter only if four people in one home watch at the same time. If your Netflix mostly plays on a laptop, a phone, or one TV, Premium is paying for capacity you do not use.
How to downgrade
- Sign in at netflix.com on a browser (the mobile apps send you to the website for this).
- Open Account, then Membership, then Change plan.
- Choose the plan and confirm. The change takes effect on your next billing date, and you keep the current plan until then.1
If Netflix is billed through Apple, Google Play, or a TV, phone or internet provider, the Account page will send you to that provider; change the plan there. Profiles, watch history and your list stay the same on every plan.
The extra-member rules
Netflix accounts cover one household, meaning the devices connected to the internet at the main residence.1 Someone who lives elsewhere needs their own account or an extra-member slot, which costs $8 a month with ads or $10 without on the paying account, and is not available on the ad-supported plan. For a parent or partner living apart, an extra-member slot on your account is cheaper than a second Standard plan, and the ad-supported plan on their own account ($9) is cheaper still.
Rotate, don't stack
The habit that saves more than any single plan change: keep one streaming service at a time. Watch what you came for, cancel, and sign up for the next one. Netflix has no annual contract and no cancellation fee; your account keeps your profiles and history for ten months after you cancel, so coming back is a password, not a setup.1 Two services rotated instead of four stacked turns a $60-a-month streaming budget into $30 with nothing missed.
- Set the cancellation on the day you subscribe, in the calendar, with the show's name.
- Use the ad-supported tier of each service while you rotate; ads are a small price for a month.
- Before paying for a film or series, check Libby, Hoopla or Kanopy: many libraries stream films free with a card.
How to cancel
Account, then Cancel membership, then confirm. You can keep watching until the end of the billing period. There is no retention offer to click through, and no fee.1 If you cannot find the cancel button, you are billed through a third party; cancel there.
Streaming is usually the easiest line to fix on a statement. The statement reader lists every recurring charge, including the two you forgot, and our guide on where the average household's money goes shows how subscriptions compare with the rest of a budget.
Sources
This guide is general information, not financial, tax, or investment advice. Rules and limits change; check the sources for the current figures before acting.
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