Netflix’s price hike amid record profits has fans furious—these free alternatives are going viral
Streaming content is about to get a lot more expensive with news of Netflix increasing their subscription prices again in 2025. And with the rising cost of, well, everything these days, film and tv fans are pissed.
“Netflix is gonna hit $30 soon,” posted @55mmbae on X. “I fear the platform is not worth it fr.” The post, from Jan. 22., 2025 has 60.1K views, 696 likes and 263 reshares.
"I don’t think it’s worth the price due to the fact other streaming services with better options are cheaper," @55mmbae tells the Daily Dot. The user was already turned off by Netflix and prefers what competing streaming services like Apple TV have to offer instead.
Why is Netflix raising prices again?
According to CNN, the Netflix price increase was announced “in a letter to investors” and will see their “standard monthly membership without advertisements increase from $15.49 to $17.99, while a standard account with ads will rise one dollar to $7.99.”
The last time Netflix ruffled feathers for subscribers was 2024, when it started phasing out its Basic ad-free subscription. Users were not happy that they were paying a premium for a service that would now charge even more if they wanted to be fully ad-free.
The investor's letter noted that many of this year's changes were due to competitors like Disney, Max, and Peacock raising their own subscription prices.
How are people reacting to Netflix raising its prices?
Some business analysts noted the extreme profits reaped as a result of the new change and how they compared to other culturally significant events, like tax cuts from President Donald Trump's first term.
Robert Reich, a Berkeley professor and former Secretary of Labor, posted about the correlations to his 1.4M followers on X:
"5 years of Netflix US profit: $15.1B. 5 years of Netflix exec pay: $652M. 5 years of taxes paid by Netflix: $236M. In the five years after Trump's tax cuts, Netflix paid top execs 3x what it paid in federal income tax. Yesterday, Netflix announced it was raising prices again."
According to Reuters, Netflix's "revenue rose 16% over the same time a year ago, to $10.2 billion," and "annual operating income exceeded $10 billion for the first time in the company's history."
Other accounts took the chance to poke fun at the streaming company while also highlighting their own economic worth. A post from @DrinkAriZona, the X account for Arizona iced tea, went viral on Jan. 22., 2025 with 18.4M views, 640K likes, and 6.6K comments.
"AriZona Iced Tea is still 99 cents," the soft drink company posted on X, in a reshare of a post from @DiscussingFilm.
Author Tara Dublin replied, "Can you start a streaming service immediately?" to which Arizona responded, "Yeah I’m streaming some AriZona into my mouth rn."
Something about reactions to corporations raising prices while reaping in record profits
What are some free alternatives to Netflix?
Is there anywhere one can turn to be entertained in their own home and not break the bank? Luckily a few thrift-savvy netizens are providing cost-effective alternatives to the streaming mogul service, and the great news is that some of them are completely free.
A media company called Kanopy posted shortly after the news was announced, with an elevator pitch for those looking for streaming alternatives.
“We know a way to mitigate the increase in cost,” the company’s X post began, further advertising “access to a catalog of over 30,000 films, TV series, and documentaries without ads or subscriptions. through participating libraries and universities.” The post has over 520.7K views, 4.1K likes and 1.1K reshares.
Their website showcases Oscar-winning hits like Moonlight and Lady Bird and content focuses mainly on films, with a large selection of kid-friendly entertainment also.
Many supported the idea of watching content with help from the local library, many of which offer access to films and tv along with free books.
“i do think that if more people knew they could get a netflix for free except the stuff on it is actually good and there are no ads and you just need a library card they'd be happier,” wrote X user @cerealburrito above the Kanopy repost.
The post resonated across the X platform, with 305.7K views, 12K likes, 2.2k reshares and 470 comments.
X user @therealwilsn also came to the rescue with a screenshot from the Notes app that included over 15 resources for free or low-cost streaming content.
“WHY WORRY ABOUT PAYING FOR NETFLIX WHEN YOU CAN WATCH THEM FREE,” they explained, in an X post with over 38.2M views, 541K likes, 51K reshares and 612K saves.
AI business builder @TrungTPhan subtly/not so subtly suggested his followers on X go for pirating services in lieu of Netflix, with a screenshot of several mainstream media services whose logos have been manipulated with the word “torrent.”
Some X users were quick to point out that advertising pirate websites might not be the best alternative given _________________________
“Netflix executives trying to figure out what piracy sites to target and seeing a full list going viral on Twitter,” wrote X user @eternalcumslime, with a Spider-Verse meme.
The Daily Dot has reached out to X users @55mmbae and @therealwilsn via X direct message and Kanopy via email for comment.
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