(Photo by Thomas Fuller/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Effective today, Amazon is raising the price of its ad-free streaming service and stripping 4K support from those with an ad-supported Prime Video plan.
As the company first outlined last month, banishing ads from Prime Video will cost $4.99 per month in the US on top of the annual or monthly cost of Prime, up from $2.99 per month. The ad-free tier has also been rebranded as Prime Video Ultra.
Amazon tips "enhanced features" for Ultra subscribers, but what caught our eye was that the Ultra subscription includes "exclusive access to 4K/UHD streaming." That’s concerning, since ad-supported Prime Video currently supports up to 4K (Ultra HD) on TVs. However, an image in Amazon’s announcement shows 4K/UHD missing as a feature for the base subscription, which is bundled as a "free" perk with an Amazon Prime subscription.
(Credit: Amazon)The image suggests that ad-supported Prime Video will only offer HD 1080p streaming, albeit at High Dynamic Range (HDR) when applicable.
In its announcement, Amazon wrote, “Delivering ad-free streaming with premium features requires significant investment, and this structure aligns with other major streaming services while ensuring customers have the flexibility to choose how they want to watch. Prime members will continue to enjoy the core Prime Video benefit, including HD/HDR and now Dolby Vision, at no additional cost with their Prime membership.”
Still, the loss of 4K support will no doubt annoy streamers. It comes after Amazon surprised Prime subscribers in January 2024 by inserting ads into Prime Video and announcing that it would cost $2.99 per month to remove them. That ad load has since increased.
However, removing 4K support does, in fact, align with other streaming services. HBO Max and Netflix have paywalled higher-quality video behind their more expensive "Premium" plans.
In the meantime, Amazon stresses that it is not raising the cost of a Prime membership, which is $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
To boost the appeal of Prime Video Ultra, the company says the plan will support up to five concurrent streams, an increase from three. Ad-supported Prime Video users will be able to stream concurrently from up to four devices, a bump from three as well.
The announcement adds: “Customers who have an annual Prime membership plan can also opt to switch to the Prime Video Ultra annual plan at $45.99, a 23% discount from the monthly rate.”