🍿More money, more problems: The year 2025 is seeing streaming services push up their subscription prices as consumers navigate a tight spot. While prices rack up, cancellation processes are getting more complicated. Content removal, subscription tiers with ads, password-sharing crackdowns, and cancellation issues are making the increases difficult to justify — and are pushing consumers to piracy.

A wave of subscription hikes. Apple TV+’s subscription price increase is under thespotlight, going up by USD 3 a month from USD 9.99 to USD 12.99, with annual pricing remaining the same. Peacock is also raising subscription prices from USD 13.99 to USD 16.99 just for its ad-supported tier, making it the most expensive out of all major streaming platforms.

Introducing new features and services, Spotify is also set on increasing its subscription prices in certain markets after years of staying consistent, going up by EUR 1 in almost every region but North America, according to CNBC. Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+ have also raised prices over the past year. Lower tiers in most streaming platforms come with ads, while AppleTV+ remains the only one to provide all ad-free tiers.

Do new features justify price hikes? After lagging behind streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ in content volume, Apple TV+ is following a “less is more” approach with high-production viral shows like Severance and Ted Lasso, yet it is reportedly losing up to USD 1 bn a year on them. Already a powerhouse music streaming platform, Spotify is anticipated to allow users to make and customize transitions between tracks, and just announced the launch of a new messaging feature.

To make matters worse, streaming services are making it harder to cancel subscriptions. At the end of the day, the bottom line is all that matters. Because streaming services have been known to purposefully design complicated procedures to keep users in unwanted subscriptions, the US Federal Trade Commission proposed a ‘click to cancel’ rule in favor of consumer protection.

However, a federal appeals court recently struck down the rule, denying users a simple mechanism to cancel subscription and suspend charges. The rule would have also ended automatic subscription renewals. Amazon subscriptions are notoriously the hardest to cancel, requiring users to go through a four-page, 15-option cancellation process. Disney+ isn’t far behind, with its cancellation option hidden behind pages of fineprint.

In a sea of overpriced services, piracy is back in view. With the fantasy of streaming having fallen short, going back to the old ways of pirating sounds like a much easier option for many consumers. According to a report (pdf) by anti-piracy company Muso, piracy websites have accumulated some 216 bn visits in 2024. Online users now often encourage pirating, rejecting the profit-driven streaming services of today.

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