Streaming Price Hikes Pile Up: Seven Services Raised Rates in Early 2026

Published 2026-04-12 · TrimWell Media News

Streaming subscribers absorbed a wave of price increases in the first four months of 2026. According to LiveNOW from FOX, Paramount+ raised both its ad-supported and ad-free tiers by $1/month in January, Spotify added another dollar to Premium in February, and Sling TV raised prices by up to $4/month on several packages.

Separate reporting from Kansas City Today detailed additional March and April moves: Amazon introduced a new $4.99/month "Ultra" tier for Prime Video 4K content, Crunchyroll raised plans by $2-3/month, and YouTube Premium increased by $2/month.

Netflix also raised prices across its tiers during the quarter — its second increase in roughly a year, according to a running tracker maintained by Yahoo Entertainment, which counted six total streaming price hikes across 2025 for comparison.

For a household already paying the average $69/month across 4.5 streaming platforms, even a handful of $1-2 increases compounds meaningfully without any change in what's actually being watched.

See how your own streaming lineup compares to national averages with the free TrimWell Score tool.

Sources: LiveNOW from FOX, Kansas City Today, Yahoo Entertainment.