Recently it has come to my attention that streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney plus, and more have raised their prices and taken down a lot of their content.

For starters, Netflix has raised its monthly fee (with ads) from $6.99 a month to $7.99 a month. A premium plan has risen from $22.99 to $24.99. All those price changes occurred in January of 2025. Netflix also added a new “no password sharing” rule where only those using the same internet connection can use the same account. Even charging an extra fee for any sort of outside sharing.

I asked the opinion of Sophomore Trinity Boyer about this new rule. She said, “The no sharing password is extremely irritating because I used to be on a family plan but every time, I tried to use Netflix on my TV, it would have to go through a long process of verification and codes I would have to put in. It was just very drastic. So, I started paying for my own.” I asked her if the money she pays is worth it. She said, “Unfortunately, the $16 I pay is very much worth it. The only bad thing is they remove shows and movies so often and don’t replace it with anything as good.”

I then talked to a parent of a West High student, Kirstin Coates who said her family uses Netflix, Disney +, and Amazon Prime Video. Coates says her family uses it everyday and they do not use regular cable. I asked her if the money she pays is worth the services she receives. She said, “Netflix keep raising rates and is becoming less and less worth my money. However, Hulu and Disney + are a bundle and used often, so definitely worth it. And Amazon is good it has more options.”

Then I talked to Alicia Freitas who is also a mother to a student here. She says she pays for and uses Netflix daily. I asked her where her frustration tends to be with the prices and she said, “It really frustrates me when Netflix will raise prices but does not entertain fully. When they take off shows so quickly or when they don’t have a full show on Netflix, that’s extremely irritating.”

Streaming services have become stricter with their rules and become less entertaining.