If you're looking for an affordable, ad-free Netflix tier, your options are dwindling in Canada.
Netflix has quietly stopped offering its CA$9.99 basic tier to new subscribers in Canada. The company tells The Canadian Press it has phased out the basic tier, which was previously the cheapest Netflix plan for those who wanted to avoid ads.
Now users in the country can only choose from the ad-supported plan at CA$5.99 per month or the costlier standard and premium tiers at CA$16.49 and CA$20.99, respectively, according to a support document.
The company wouldn’t say if the change is part of a test or permanent. “To clarify, existing members on Basic are unaffected by this change. Basic is not available to new and rejoining members in Canada," Netflix tells PCMag. So if you're on the Basic plan now and change to a different tier, you can't go back to Basic.
That said, The Canadian Press reports Netflix plans on removing the basic tier for existing subscribers “in the near future.”
Netflix is likely making the change because it can earn more revenue from its ad-supported plan over the basic tier, thanks to the added commercials. In an April earnings report, the company noted it's generating a higher "Average Revenue per Membership" in the US through the ad-based tier than via the company’s standard plan, which costs $15.49 a month.
Nevertheless, the change is sparking fears Netflix could kill off the basic tier in other markets, including the US. At the same time, the company is already irritating numerous consumers by cracking down on account sharing, which will supposedly begin this week for US subscribers based on the company’s previous timeline.
The ad-supported plan does offer some benefits over the basic tier. For example, the ad-based plan let's you stream concurrently on two devices at 1080p, while the basic tier only supports streaming on one device at 720p quality. However, the ad-supported tier lacks the ability to download videos for offline viewing.