⏱️ Lectura: 9 min
The same basket of nine streaming subscriptions (Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, YouTube Premium, and Spotify) went from costing $95.91 to $154.41 a month between March 2021 and September 2026: a 61% jump documented service by service, not an estimate.
📑 En este artículo
- TL;DR
- Introduction: why measuring streaming prices matters
- What happened: how streaming prices rose
- Context and history: five and a half years of increases
- Technical details and methodology: how the increase is calculated
- How to test it: build your own subscription tracker
- Impact and analysis: what it means for Latin America
- What’s next
- Frequently Asked Questions
- References
For someone paying for those nine subscriptions without changing plans, the difference comes to $702 more per year. Nobody canceled or downgraded to reach that number: it’s the same service, the same plan, compared at two points in time. The figure matters especially in Latin America, where the dollar-denominated increase compounds with local currency devaluation, and to any developer who bills or gets paid in digital services.
TL;DR
- The same basket of 9 subscriptions went from $95.91/month in March 2021 to $154.41/month today: +61%.
- That’s equivalent to $702 more per year paying for exactly the same services and, in most cases, the same plan.
- Apple TV+ rose the most: from $4.99 to $14.99 a month, +200%.
- Disney+ Premium (ad-free) rose from $7.99 to $18.99, +138%; Peacock Premium Plus rose +100%.
- The smallest increase was HBO Max Standard, from $14.99 to $18.49, +23%.
- YouTube TV and Prime Video are left out of this basket because they’re a live TV bundle and an add-on, not comparable on-demand subscriptions.
- On an annual basis: $1,150.92 in March 2021 versus $1,852.92 today, for the same nine subscriptions.
Introduction: why measuring streaming prices matters
Streaming prices climbed steadily for five and a half years, but almost nobody measures them as a single basket. Each individual increase (a dollar here, two there) gets forgotten fast. Added up, they change the monthly budget of any household paying in dollars or in a currency pegged to the dollar.
The analysis published by HonestlyRanked solves that problem by fixing a common date (March 2021, the first month all nine services existed) and comparing the same standard plan against the current price, with every price change cited to its source. That methodology is what makes the figure verifiable instead of anecdotal.
What happened: how streaming prices rose
The table below shows the price of each service’s flagship plan in March 2021 against the current price, in US dollars:
| Service | Plan | March 2021 Price | Current Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Standard | $13.99 | $19.99 | +43% |
| Disney+ | Premium (ad-free) | $7.99 | $18.99 | +138% |
| Hulu | No Ads | $11.99 | $18.99 | +58% |
| HBO Max | Standard (ad-free) | $14.99 | $18.49 | +23% |
| Apple TV+ | single plan | $4.99 | $14.99 | +200% |
| Paramount+ | Premium | $9.99 | $13.99 | +40% |
| Peacock | Premium Plus (ad-free) | $9.99 | $19.99 | +100% |
| YouTube Premium | Individual | $11.99 | $15.99 | +33% |
| Spotify | Premium Individual | $9.99 | $12.99 | +30% |
| Combined (9 services) | $95.91/month | $154.41/month | +61% |
The calculation flow is simple, but it deserves to be shown explicitly, since it’s the part almost nobody checks before citing the 61%.
flowchart TD
A["9 subscriptions: Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Peacock, YouTube Premium, Spotify"] --> B["March 2021 monthly total: $95.91"]
A --> C["Current monthly total: $154.41"]
B --> D["Percentage difference: +61%"]
C --> D
D --> E["Annual difference: $702"]📌 Note: YouTube TV (a live TV bundle) and Prime Video (an add-on within a broader membership) are left out of this basket because they aren’t comparable to a standalone on-demand subscription. Both are still tracked separately in the original record.
Context and history: five and a half years of increases
The comparison doesn’t use each service’s launch price because each one launched in a different year: adding up launch prices would mix dates that don’t describe any real basket anyone could have actually bought. That’s why the starting point is March 2021, the first month all nine services existed simultaneously.
From there, every service raised its flagship plan at least once, some more than once in the same year. Apple TV+ tripled its price (+200%), the biggest jump in the basket. Disney+ Premium (ad-free) rose 138% when it introduced the ad-free plan as a separate premium option. At the other end, HBO Max Standard rose just 23% over the same period, the most moderate increase in the group.
The record doesn’t speculate about why streaming prices rise. It only documents when and by how much, with the source for each change cited. What the timeline does show is that increases stopped being an exceptional event: several services raised prices more than once in the same calendar year, something that was rare in 2021.
Technical details and methodology: how the increase is calculated
The combined basket’s 61% isn’t a simple average of the nine individual percentages: it’s the sum of current prices divided by the sum of 2021 prices, minus one. Averaging the individual percentages would give a different number (and one less representative of actual spending) because it doesn’t weight by each service’s base price.
For individual services, it’s also useful to calculate the compound annual growth rate (CAGR), which shows the year-over-year pace of the increase instead of the total accumulated jump:
precio_2021 = 13.99 # Netflix Standard, March 2021
precio_2026 = 19.99 # Netflix Standard, September 2026
anios = 5.5
aumento_pct = (precio_2026 / precio_2021 - 1) * 100
cagr = ((precio_2026 / precio_2021) ** (1 / anios) - 1) * 100
print(f"Total increase: {aumento_pct:.1f}%")
print(f"Compound annual growth rate (CAGR): {cagr:.1f}%")Using Netflix Standard’s prices, this script prints a total increase close to 43% and a CAGR of about 6.7% a year: the actual pace at which the price rose if it had been spread evenly across each year, useful for comparing against your country’s inflation instead of just looking at the cumulative jump.
How to test it: build your own subscription tracker
Instead of relying on someone else’s number, it helps to have your own script that adds up your actual subscriptions and converts them to your local currency. This is useful for developers who want to automate their budget or simply audit what they’re really paying:
// subscription-tracker.js
import fetch from "node-fetch";
const suscripciones = [
{ nombre: "Netflix Standard", precio2021: 13.99, precioActual: 19.99 },
{ nombre: "Disney+ Premium", precio2021: 7.99, precioActual: 18.99 },
{ nombre: "Hulu No Ads", precio2021: 11.99, precioActual: 18.99 },
{ nombre: "HBO Max Standard", precio2021: 14.99, precioActual: 18.49 },
{ nombre: "Apple TV+", precio2021: 4.99, precioActual: 14.99 },
{ nombre: "Paramount+ Premium", precio2021: 9.99, precioActual: 13.99 },
{ nombre: "Peacock Premium Plus", precio2021: 9.99, precioActual: 19.99 },
{ nombre: "YouTube Premium", precio2021: 11.99, precioActual: 15.99 },
{ nombre: "Spotify Premium", precio2021: 9.99, precioActual: 12.99 },
];
async function calcularReporte(monedaDestino = "MXN") {
const resp = await fetch(`https://api.exchangerate.host/latest?base=USD&symbols=${monedaDestino}`);
const { rates } = await resp.json();
const tasa = rates[monedaDestino];
let total2021 = 0;
let totalActual = 0;
for (const s of suscripciones) {
total2021 += s.precio2021;
totalActual += s.precioActual;
}
const aumentoPct = ((totalActual / total2021 - 1) * 100).toFixed(1);
console.log(`2021 Total: $${total2021.toFixed(2)} USD | Current Total: $${totalActual.toFixed(2)} USD`);
console.log(`Increase: ${aumentoPct}% | In ${monedaDestino}: ${(totalActual * tasa).toFixed(2)} vs ${(total2021 * tasa).toFixed(2)}`);
}
calcularReporte("MXN");The installation command is identical on Windows (PowerShell), macOS, and Linux (bash), since npm resolves dependencies the same way on all three systems:
npm install node-fetch
node subscription-tracker.jsTo confirm the script works, check that the Increase: line shows a value close to 61%, the same percentage documented in this article’s table. If your own subscription list differs, the percentage will change based on which services you use and when you signed up for them.
💡 Tip: If you want to automate the check, add the script to a monthly cron job that emails you when the combined total changes from the previous month.
Impact and analysis: what it means for Latin America
In countries with their own currency, the 61% increase in dollars isn’t the final number users actually pay. If the service is billed in local currency at an exchange rate that also devalues against the dollar over the same period, the combined effect (the dollar increase plus local devaluation) can far exceed the 61% measured in the original source.
That combination isn’t quantified in the original study, which measures prices published in US dollars, not the currency effect by country. That’s why the script in the previous section separates the two variables: it first calculates the actual dollar increase (61%, the verified figure), then applies the current exchange rate to convert it to your currency, instead of mixing both effects into a single made-up number.
📖 Summary on Telegram: View summary
Try it yourself: run npm install node-fetch and then node subscription-tracker.js with your own subscriptions to see the real increase you’re paying today in your currency.
What’s next
HonestlyRanked’s record is updated daily and every figure is checked against its source before publishing, according to its own methodology. That means today’s 61% could change tomorrow if any of the nine services announces a new increase, something that has already happened more than once per service during the measured period.
What the record doesn’t do is speculate about the reason behind the increases. It documents that they became regular rather than exceptional, and that several services raised prices more than once in the same year, but leaves the interpretation of why up to the reader.
Frequently Asked Questions
What services are included in the $154.41-a-month basket?
Netflix Standard, Disney+ Premium (ad-free), Hulu No Ads, HBO Max Standard (ad-free), Apple TV+, Paramount+ Premium, Peacock Premium Plus (ad-free), YouTube Premium Individual, and Spotify Premium Individual, all at their reference tier in the United States.
Why aren’t Prime Video or YouTube TV included?
YouTube TV is a live TV bundle and Prime Video is a benefit included in a broader membership (Amazon Prime). Neither is comparable to a standalone on-demand subscription, although both are still tracked separately.
Which service raised its price the most?
Apple TV+, which went from $4.99 to $14.99 a month, a 200% increase between March 2021 and today.
How was the 61% increase calculated?
By adding up the price of the nine services in March 2021 ($95.91) and the current price ($154.41), then calculating the percentage difference between the two sums, not by averaging the nine individual percentages separately.
Can I replicate this calculation with my own subscriptions?
Yes, the Node.js script in this article does exactly that: it adds up your prices, calculates the percentage increase, and converts it to your local currency using a public exchange rate API.
Why do streaming prices keep rising?
The original record doesn’t speculate about the reason. What the dated data does show is that increases became regular instead of exceptional, and that several services raised prices more than once in the same year.
References
- HonestlyRanked, Streaming price increases: a dated, cited record of every price change by service, the primary source for this article.
- Wikipedia, Subscription video on demand: general background on the subscription streaming business model.
- exchangerate.host: the free public exchange rate API used in this article’s example script.
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Imagen destacada: Foto de James Yarema en Unsplash
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