Netflix has more than 250 million monthly active users on its ad-supported tier. The figure, which was revealed during the company’s Upfront presentation, marks a huge spike for this subscription option. In 2024 the plan with ads had 70 million users and in 2025 it reached 94 million.
Starting next year, Netflix will also launch the ad-supported plan in 15 more countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand.
The Basic with Ads tier of access started rolling out in 2022. It appears to be an increasingly popular option as Netflix, like most streaming services, has continued to get ever-more expensive. The company just upped all monthly subscription costs by a dollar earlier this year.
And of course, because this is 2026, the Upfront included plenty of talk about AI. Netflix started using the tech in its ads last year, and one of the new potential applications the company is testing will serve “personalized ad loads and frequency caps that dynamically adjust the ads our members see, based on their viewing behaviors.” Netflix is currently facing a lawsuit from Texas on claims that it illegally sells user data to ad tech companies, although the streaming service said the suit was “based on inaccurate and distorted information.”
