Every service that launched an ad-supported tier now charges more to avoid ads than it did when the tier appeared. On the two we have matched records for, the monthly gap between the ad-free and ad-supported plan has widened in both cases — most sharply at Disney+, where it went from $3 to $8 a month.
| service | ad tier launched | gap today | gap at launch | change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | 2022-11 | $11 | $8.50 | +29% |
| Disney+ | 2022-12 | $8 | $3 | +167% |
Netflix, measured from 2022-11 when its ad tier launched: the ad-free plan went $15.49 → $19.99 (+29%), the ad-supported plan $6.99 → $8.99 (+29%).
Disney+, measured from 2022-12 when its ad tier launched: the ad-free plan went $10.99 → $17.99 (+64%), the ad-supported plan $7.99 → $9.99 (+25%).
It would be neater to say ad-free tiers are being raised faster to push people toward advertising. On this evidence that is only partly true: the percentage rise was not always steeper on the ad-free plan. What did happen in every case is that the cash gap widened — the amount you hand over to not see adverts is larger now than when the choice was first offered.
Netflix · Disney+ · Spotify · YouTube Premium
Is it cheaper to watch with ads?
Yes, and increasingly so — not because the ad tier got cheaper, but because the ad-free price rose while the gap between them widened. At Netflix the gap is now $11 a month; At Disney+ the gap is now $8 a month.
Are ad-free streaming tiers rising faster than ad-supported ones?
Not universally, and it is worth being precise. Netflix: ad-free +29% against ad-supported +29% over the same window; Disney+: ad-free +64% against ad-supported +25% over the same window. The absolute gap widened in both cases; the percentage rates did not always differ.
How much does it cost to avoid ads?
Netflix: $11 a month; Disney+: $8 a month — the difference between the ad-supported and ad-free tiers as published today.
Written by Rashid N. Rashid N is the editor of HonestlyRanked. He reviews every figure this site publishes against its source before it goes out, and has never accepted a free account, a review unit, or payment for placement. Rashid N is a pen name; see our methodology page. Every figure here is pulled directly from our tracking database at page-build time and re-checked daily — see methodology. We measure published pricing only; we do not test provider performance, support or uptime. Corrections: tell us.