Amazon is increasing the price of its ad-free video streaming of, along with rebranding it as Prime Video Ultra.
The move comes a little more than two years after the tech giant began a major push into video advertising, placing ads on all Prime Video content. Unlike rivals giving subscribers a choice of ad-free plans or cheaper tiers with ads, Amazon defaulted to ads for all subscribers to Prime, allowing an opt-out for an extra premium. Initially set at $2.99 a month, that charge will now be $4.99. The new rate takes effect on April 10.
A regular Prime subscription is remaining at $14.99 a month, or $139 a year.
Comparisons between Prime Video and other streamers are inexact because the benefits of a Prime membership include free shipping on e-commerce orders, Whole Foods discounts and other perks.
“Delivering ad-free streaming with premium features requires significant investment,” the company wrote in a blog post, “and this structure aligns with other major streaming services while ensuring customers have the flexibility to choose how they want to watch.”
The download capacity is increasing for both the basic Prime subscription as well as Prime Video Ultra. The former will now allow 50 downloads for offline viewing, with the latter moving up to 100. Both were previously at 25 downloads.
Regular Prime subscriptions allow for four concurrent streams, while Ultra allows as many as five. Each was previously at three concurrent streams.
Amazon’s Prime program is one of the most successful customer loyalty programs in history. In 2021, the company said it had passed 200 million subscribers. The price increased $20 to $139 a year in 2022.
