After the recent price hikes of Netflix and Disney+, people have once again started complaining about subscription services, questioning how what used to be a much more affordable way to enjoy our favorite content has now turned into an endless cycle of expenses.
To understand the current situation, I have created different plans, from the most basic and economical to the most premium, to try to figure out how much we are actually paying when subscribing monthly to the main services and streaming platforms. It is evident that it has completely gotten out of hand.
The process involves selecting four user profiles to see how much monthly payment is based on different guidelines. By looking at streaming services for movies and series, video games, music, apps, and storage, this is the total sum of what each plan offers.
Premium Plan
Here is the breakdown of the most expensive options for each type of service available. Not all of them are included, only the sum of those that seem to offer more, better, and more expensive solutions for the previously mentioned options. The total here goes up to €139.53 per month.
- Web Tools: Adobe Creative Cloud — €67.57/month (€36.29/month for the first year)
Includes access to all Adobe apps (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, etc.) with 100 GB of cloud storage.
- Video Streaming: Netflix Premium — €19.99/month
Allows viewing content in 4K UHD and on 4 devices simultaneously.
- Music Streaming: Tidal HiFi Plus — €19.99/month
Offers the best available audio quality (HiFi quality, Dolby Atmos, and MQA).
- Game Streaming: Nvidia GeForce Now Ultimate — €21.99/month
Allows playing video games in the cloud with 4K graphics and RTX technology enabled.
- Cloud Storage: Google One (2 TB) — €9.99/month
Cloud storage for photos, videos, and files with a capacity of 2 TB.
- Total Premium Plan: €139.53/month
Economic Plan
In this case, we look at the cheapest options. Those capable of offering various video streaming, music, and gaming services through the cheapest plans currently available in the Spanish market. In this case, we stay at €21.97 per month.
- Video Streaming: Amazon Prime Video — €4.99/month
Included with Amazon Prime, access to exclusive series and movies.
- Music Streaming: Amazon Music Unlimited — €10.99/month
Access to over 90 million ad-free songs in HD quality.
- Game Streaming: EA Play — €5.99/month
Access to a library of Electronic Arts (EA) games on console and PC, with new titles available after a few months.
- Total Economic Plan: €21.97/month
Popular Plan
With the popular plan, we have selected the most used platforms in Spain for the different categories. Those that, using FOMO, have managed to increase their user base to become the most relevant in each category. The total amounts to €45.96 per month.
- Video Streaming: Netflix Standard — €13.99/month
HD viewing for up to 2 simultaneous devices.
- Music Streaming: Spotify Premium — €10.99/month
Ad-free music and the ability to download songs for offline listening.
- Game Streaming: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — €17.99/month
Access to over 100 games for console, PC, and cloud, including EA Play.
- Cloud Storage: Google One (200 GB) — €2.99/month
Cloud storage for photos, videos, and files with a capacity of 200 GB.
- Total Popular Plan: €45.96/month
Plan with the Main Platforms
The issue with the previous plan is that it excludes the option to subscribe to multiple platforms from different categories, which is likely the most common scenario for the average user today, who uses, for example, several video platforms on a monthly basis. The total comes to €91.92 per month.
- Music: Spotify Premium — €10.99/month
Ad-free music and the ability to listen offline.
Netflix Standard — €13.99/month (HD, 2 simultaneous devices)
HBO Max — €9.99/month (exclusive HBO content, ad-free)
Disney+ — €13.99/month (Disney, Marvel, Star Wars content, and more)
Amazon Prime Video — €4.99/month (included in Amazon Prime, access to exclusive movies and series).
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — €17.99/month (games for console, PC, and cloud)
PlayStation Plus Premium — €16.99/month (PS4 and PS5 games, online multiplayer).
- Cloud Storage: Google One (200 GB) — €2.99/month
- Total Complete Plan: €91.92/month
The Trojan Horse of Monthly Subscriptions
Although it was a strategy that many of us took for granted when the subscription trend began to rise, it is still intriguing that companies have managed to pull the wool over our eyes. It all comes down to an economic trick called penetration pricing.
The concept, as seen with the beginnings of Netflix or the offers of Game Pass at 1 euro, involves offering a product at a significantly attractive price to quickly attract a large customer base. Once the user has become accustomed to the service, or even considers it indispensable, prices begin to rise.
As many have experienced first-hand, the idea works like a charm, and the record profits of Netflix despite practices like eliminating shared accounts and raising prices are the best example of it. These subscriptions have been made to appear indispensable, but the problem arises when all platforms use the same strategy.
The reluctance to cancel the monthly subscription, or even the obstacles when trying to do so – a much more common issue in the United States than in the European Union, where regulations against such services prevent us from struggling to unsubscribe – has turned the world of subscriptions into a vicious circle against which, sooner or later, the user will say enough.
Image | Mollie Sivaram
In 3DJuegos | After the controversy over the subscription price hikes, Twitch’s CEO comes out to explain. It is the second price increase in just a few months
In 3DJuegos | The price of PS5 Pro sets a bad precedent that could affect our perception of the price of PlayStation 6
