How much are TV streaming services costing you?

Households in the UK have seen some of the steepest increases in streaming subscription fees in the last few years.

According to Ampere Analysis, the average monthly subscription fee has gone up by £1.36 across Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ in western Europe.

That compares with £1.24 in the US.

Why this matters

An increase of the odd pound or two here and there might not seem much.

But if your package goes up by £2 a month, that’s an extra £24 across the year.

And if you’re subscribed to all three services, then you could be paying more than £70 or £80 extra a year, depending on what packages you choose.

What are we paying for streaming services?

All of the main streaming services have increased their prices in the last few years.

Netflix

In February 2025, Netflix increased the cost of a standard subscription with ads from £4.99 a month to £5.99 a month.

A standard ad-free plan costs £12.99 a month - up from £10.99 – and a premium plan costs £18.99 a month - up from £17.99.

Disney+

Disney+ has also increased its prices, with the latest rise pushing the cost of its standard with ads plan from £4.99 to £5.99 a month.

The standard plan increased from £8.99 to £9.99 a month, while the premium plan saw the biggest increase, rising from £12.99 to £14.99 a month.

Amazon Prime Video

In February 2024, Prime Video became ad-supported by default, with customers having to pay an extra £2.99 a month for ad-free viewing.

An Amazon Prime membership, which includes Prime Video alongside benefits such as free delivery, Prime Music and Prime Reading, costs £8.99 a month or £95 a year. 

For customers who choose to remove adverts, the total cost is £11.98 a month when paying monthly.

That works out at £143.76 a year when paying monthly, or £130.88 a year when paying annually for Prime (£95 plus the £35.88 yearly ad-free upgrade).

How you can keep costs down

If you’re paying more than you can afford for streaming services, or simply want to reduce your outgoings, there are steps you can take.

Review or cancel services you don’t use

Nearly one in five (17%) people have never reviewed or cancelled a subscription, according to a TSB study.

That’s despite many people also saying they’re concerned about their wider financial situation, with almost a quarter describing their finances as “uncomfortable”.

So it’s important to look at your subscriptions every few months and cancel any services that you’re not using.

Rotate services throughout the year

You don’t need to be paying for everything all the time. 

After all, how much time do you really have to watch all the new shows and old favourites on each platform?

So just pay for one at a time so you have the chance to really enjoy what’s on offer.

Go for the cheapest packages

You might not find it ideal having ads in the middle of a show, but they’re only brief – sometimes just 20 or 30 seconds.

So it’s a small sacrifice to pay for the sake of an extra £20-odd quid in your pocket.

Compare annual vs monthly prices

Work out whether it’s better value to pay for an annual subscription for your favourite platform, rather than a monthly fee.

Review your household budget

If you want to prioritise your spending, so you can keep up with essential costs and stop wasting money on services you don’t use, try our budget planner.

Also, read our guide on how to create a budget to help you get started on working out where savings can be made.