Being able to watch TV shows without commercial breaks used to be a major selling point of video streaming services. But nowadays, that luxury usually comes at a premium, and it seems to get more expensive every year.
Amazon announced today that prices for its ad-free tier of Prime Video will increase starting April 10. The plan, which is being rebranded as Prime Video Ultra, will also come with what Amazon calls enhanced features meant to soften the blow of the new cost.
Prime Video Ultra will cost $4.99 per month, up from the previous $2.99. Prime Video is the streaming service included with Amazon’s Prime membership, which costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year. Users on the annual plan can also get Ultra for $45.99 per year. Amazon also offers a Prime Video standalone subscription for $8.99 per month.
In addition to removing ads, people who opt for Ultra will get 100 video downloads for offline viewing, up from the previous 50, and the ability to have five concurrent streams going, up from three. Ultra subscribers will also have exclusive access to Dolby Atmos and UHD/4K streaming.
Those sticking with the traditional plan will also get new benefits soon, including 50 downloads per month, up from 25, and four concurrent streams, up from three per month.
“Delivering ad-free streaming with premium features requires significant investment, and this structure aligns with other major streaming services while ensuring customers have the flexibility to choose how they want to watch,” Amazon said in a press release.
Prime Video is known for original series like The Boys, Fallout, and Invincible. A live-action adaptation of the video game franchise God of War is coming to the streamer next year.
The company first introduced ads to Prime Video in 2024, making it one of the last major streaming services to roll out advertising. The industry has increasingly embraced ads as a revenue source that can grow with viewership rather than relying solely on adding new subscribers. As a result, going ad-free now comes at an extra cost, while more budget-friendly plans are subsidized by advertisers.
Prime Video also joins other streamers in raising prices this year, something that seems to happen across the industry every year or so.
Paramount Plus, the streaming service owned by Paramount Global, raised the price on both its ad-supported and ad-free plans in January. The ad-supported tier increased by $1 to $8.99 per month, while the ad-free plan rose to $13.99. Paramount Global is currently pursuing a merger with Warner Bros. Discovery and could potentially combine its streaming service with HBO Max.
Disney Plus increased the price of its plans in October, raising its base plan to $11.99 and its ad-free tier to $18.99. Peacock, Netflix, and Apple TV+ also raised prices earlier in 2025.
Read the full article here
