Is Netflix’s cheaper ad plan worth it? We break it all down

While it once scoffed at the possibility of offering an ad-supported tier, Netflix has since embraced the idea, with millions of users snapping up its “Standard with Ads” plan, garnering plenty of interest from Madison Avenue along the way. 

Since its arrival nearly three years ago, Netflix has added a variety of features to its ad-supported tier to set it apart from the streaming crowd—and for now, its price remains a fraction of Netflix’s priciest 4K streaming plan. 

So, how much does Netflix with ads cost, what’s included, and is anything left out? Here’s what you need to know.

How much does Netflix with ads cost?

Netflix Standard with Ads costs $7.99 a month, which reflects a buck-a-month price hike that Netflix imposed back in January 2025.

For some context, Paramount+ Essential is also $7.99 a month, while Peacock Premium—which, confusingly, is ad-supported—costs $10.99 a month.

Meanwhile, HBO Max Basic with Ads goes for $10.99 a month (the same as Peacock Premium) after a recent price increase.

Finally, the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu tiers cost $11.99 a month each following (yet another) recent price hike (they’re considerably cheaper if you bundle them together),

So for now, Netflix is tied with Paramount+ for the cheapest ad-supported plan among the biggest streaming services.

(There’s also Peacock’s new Select tier, another ad-supported plan that goes for $7.99 a month, but it offers only a “selection” of Peacock’s original content.)

How many streams do you get with the Netflix Standard with Ads plan?

At launch, Netflix’s ad-supported plan (which was initially called “Basic with Ads”) only offered a single stream.

But in 2023, Netflix upped the number of concurrent streams available on the Standard with Ads plan to two.

Does Netflix with ads offer 4K HDR video resolution?

No, but the video quality of Netflix Standard with Ads has improved since the tier was first launched.

While ad-supported Netflix once offered only 720p video quality, it has since been boosted to 1080p, same as Netflix’s ad-free Standard plan.

Currently, only Netflix’s priciest plan–Premium ($24.99 a month)–offers 4K HDR streaming, with four concurrent streams per household.

Netflix, and most other streamers, reserve their 4K HDR streams for ad-free subscribers, although that’s not a universal policy; Paramount+, for one, does allow ad-supported subscribers to stream in 4K.

Does ad-supported Netflix offer downloads for offline viewing?

One of the best perks offered by the big streamers is the ability to download videos for offline viewing, perfect for binge-watching your favorite series during a long flight or when you don’t want to bust through your ISP’s (or carrier’s) data cap.

Until recently, Netflix didn’t allow its with-ads subscribers to download videos for offline viewing, a restriction shared by the other big streamers.

But in November 2023, Netflix reversed course, becoming the first big streaming service to enable offline downloads for subscribers to its ad-supported tier.

There is a monthly limit to downloads for Standard with Ads subscribers, however: 15 downloads per device, resetting on the first of each month.

How many commercial breaks does Netflix with ads have?

Netflix Standard with Ads subscribers will have to sit through 4- to 5 minutes of commercials per hour, with the ads running at the beginning and during videos (ideally during “natural plot breaks”). Each ad will be either 15 or 30 seconds.

That 4- to 5-minute-per-hour figure is pretty much in line with Netflix’s competitors. For example, the “with ads” version of Max averages about four minutes an hour, while Peacock tops out at about five minutes per hour.

Is Netflix with ads available on all streaming devices?

Most devices that work with ad-free Netflix should also support Netflix Standard with Ads, although a “small percentage” of streaming players and TVs won’t work because the device’s Netflix software can no longer be updated.

And while the ad-supported Netflix plan wasn’t initially supported on Apple TV streaming devices, it is now (on Apple TV HD devices and later) following an update of the Netflix tvOS app in March 2023.

Netflix with ads is also available on most other streaming platforms, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Android and iOS devices, most smart TVs, Mac and Windows computers, and Google TV players.

Does Netflix with ads offer the same content as ad-free Netflix?

You’ll find almost, but not quite everything. While the “vast majority” of TV shows and movies on Netflix are available for “with ads” viewers, a “small number” are missing because of “licensing issues,” Netflix says.

If you do run across a video that’s unavailable on the Netflix Standard with Ads plan, you’ll see a padlock on the title or a “Change plan to watch” banner in place of the standard “Play” button.

Why did Netflix launch an ad-supported plan?

Netflix lost subscribers during the first and second quarters of 2022, ending a decade of growth and sending Netflix’s stock price into a tailspin. And while Netflix is ubiquitous in North America, it’s having trouble gaining traction in the rest of the world, where it’s facing tough competition from cheaper streaming services.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s rapidly growing competitors, including HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu, rolled out their own cheaper ad-supported plans, all of which undercut Netflix’s least expensive ad-free plans.

So while it wasn’t all that long ago that Netflix executives scoffed at the idea of cheaper ad-supported plans, the company abruptly changed course when it became clear that its once seemingly unstoppable growth had stalled.

In May 2024, Netflix reported that its Standard with Ads tier had roughly 40 million global active monthly users, up from just 5 million users in May 2023. (Netflix has since ceased tallying its monthly user base for the public.)

Updated in October 2025 with the latest pricing details and other recent streaming developments.