Here’s How I Save Money on My Netflix Account

Are you a loyal or new Netflix subscriber who wants to try cutting down on your monthly subscription (and related) costs as much as you can? When you subscribe to many streaming platforms, reducing costs where you can will help you save a lot of money in the long run.

As someone who regularly uses more than five streaming services for different purposes, I’ve tried a few tricks to reduce my monthly spending. These cost-cutting methods for Netflix have helped me save up to $100 per year. Here’s all you need to know.

Trying Out Different Tiers

Netflix offers different tiers with varying subscription fees and features. Choosing the best tier for you can, in the long run, be an investment in your streaming journey. However, if you’re just dipping your toes in Netflix, are unsure about committing to a long-term subscription run, or want to save costs where you can, trying out the different tiers available is a good option.

When I first subscribed to Netflix, I was using the standard plan, which gave me access to unlimited, ad-free streaming, which cost me CA $18.99/month ($17.99/month for US). Since then, I’ve tried the other two tiers, including the standard plan with ads, which cost me only CA $7.99/month ($7.99/month for US). I even tried the Premium plan, adding two extra members who don’t live with me at CA $7.99 each ($8.99/month for US), bringing the total plan for three of us to CA $39.97 ($42.97/month for US), and my share to CA$13.32 ($14.32/month for US), which was still a few dollars lesser than what I was paying on my own using the standard plan.

Even with the standard plan, you can add another person who doesn’t live with you for an additional fee: after adding one person, our combined plan came up to CA$26.98 ($26.98/month for US), with my share being CA$13.49/month ($13.49/month for US).

While I’ve settled back with the standard plan for long-term use, switching things up to explore different tiers allowed me to save money during months when I wanted to cut back on expenses (with the ad-supported plan), as well as pay a little less for better features and sharing my account with other people who don’t live with me with the standard and premier plans. I’ve shared my Netflix with friends without even upgrading my plan using Netflix’s features, which can help your entire friend group save money.

Here’s what each Netflix tier offers.

Pausing My Subscription

I’ve had several months of downtime with Netflix, when I go through a dry spell of not streaming anything for weeks at a time. When I know that I’m either going to be too busy to watch Netflix or my watch list has stagnated temporarily, I’ve tried a few things to reduce costs, including pausing my subscription.

You can pause your Netflix subscription for a total of three months, as long as you use a credit or debit card as your primary method of payment and have not used up your three-month quota previously.

When going on long vacations or doing a digital detox, I even resort to cancelling my Netflix subscription altogether for a few months. None of my watch history or list gets deleted since I don’t delete my account, so I always get back to streaming as I usually do once I get time to indulge in streaming. If you’re cancelling or pausing your subscription, make sure to do so before you get charged for the next month so you’re saving costs.

Taking a break from my subscription has helped me save hundreds of dollars during dry months when I would’ve never utilized the most out of my Netflix subscription. Pausing and cancelling your Netflix subscription is an easy process that you can do from your account settings.

Setting Up a Monthly Reminder

Another trick that has helped me manage my Netflix costs by tracking which months I actually need my subscription is keeping monthly reminders to alert me about my upcoming payment. Since setting up an auto-pay mechanism is the easiest way to make your monthly payments to Netflix, you might forget to pause or cancel your subscription in case you want to take a break from Netflix during dry months.

This can extend to any service or platform you have set up auto-payment for, including streaming services like Spotify and Amazon Prime. I usually set up a reminder at the end of every month using the Reminders app on my iPhone, but you can even resort to using dedicated budget apps that will give you monthly reminders about upcoming payments. I like to use apps such as Rocket Money, which not only remind me about my subscriptions but also help me calculate and keep track of my subscription-related costs every month.

Sharing a Subscription Within My Household

Once I hopped onto the standard Netflix plan with no ads, I did one more thing to save on my subscription: I started sharing my Netflix account within my household. Since Netflix is designed to be shared within one household, this can significantly reduce your individual contribution to the monthly fee. Currently, I am splitting my subscription with one other family member, helping me save approximately CA $100 annually on my Netflix subscription, which I can then allocate to another streaming service like YouTube Premium.

Like I’ve mentioned, sharing your account with someone who does not live with you can still bring your costs down as long as you’re clear about what streaming features you’re looking for. You can always add a member or remove them if your plan allows it, and create separate Netflix profiles to keep your recommendations and watch lists separate. For long-distance friends or relatives, you can share costs by streaming Netflix shows and movies on external platforms like Discord.

The more you share your Netflix subscription within your household, of course, the more you can split costs and bring down your share of the subscription fee.

Introductory Third-Party Offers

One thing that Netflix does not offer its users is a free trial option that most other subscription services (especially movie streaming) provide, nor does it provide any introductory offers, such as discounted pricing for your first few months as a new user. However, you can always keep an eye out for introductory offers on Netflix through third-party deals.

For example, T-mobile offers deals on Netflix’s standard, ad-supported plan for no additional cost if you’re a user of certain plans (such as GO5G or Magenta plans with two or more lines, as well as any Experience More, Experience Beyond, Go5G Next, Go5G Plus or Magenta MAX plan, including Military, 55, and First Responder plans).

Comcast users can also try out the Xfinity StreamSaver streaming bundle, which, at $15/month, offers Netflix standard (with ads), Peacock, and Apple TV+, helping you save around $100 a year by using a bundled plan.

Being Mindful of my Data Usage

While it is not a direct way to save money, reducing your data usage on streaming can help cut small costs, especially if you’re on a tight data plan every month. Streaming on your mobile or tablet outside, say, can eat up a lot of your data. To battle this, make sure you either download shows or movies from your watch list through Wi-Fi before stepping out.

When I travel to places where there is a bad network connection, I always make sure to download on my supported device (remember, your plan dictates how many devices are supported for streaming and download). You can also try a lower video quality, which impacts your data used per hour.

On your Netflix mobile app, you can check this by going to My Netflix > Menu > App Settings > Video Playback > Cellular Data Usage.

On the web app, go to your Account page > Profiles > your profile > Playback Settings > select a data usage setting > Save.

Switching Up Subscriptions for Alternative Months

Although Netflix does not offer an introductory free trial, other streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime, usually offer from anywhere between 7 days to 1 month of free streaming, after which you can choose to proceed with a subscription commitment. When I’ve run out of things to watch on Netflix and am either pausing or cancelling my subscription for a few months, I try to discover other streaming platforms, sometimes at no cost, using free trials and introductory offers.

When I purchased my new Mac, for instance, I cancelled my Netflix for three months so that I could take advantage of my 3-month free trial of Apple TV+. This also helped me catch up with Apple Original shows that I would’ve never discovered otherwise. I also tried out Amazon Prime for free using an introductory offer with my bank, which helped me stream content and get faster Amazon deliveries for a year at no cost. Keep an eye out for offers on other subscription plans as well, so you can cut back on Netflix whenever you need to switch things up.

While sharing your Netflix subscription costs with others (in your household and otherwise) is the most efficient method to save money every month, you can always be cognizant of related costs, such as data usage and keep an eye out for deals and bundles offered by your mobile provider or bank. If you’re indecisive or want to make sure your monthly Netflix payment is fully utilized, trying a pause or short-term cancellation can be the best way forward.