As of November 1, a new subscription plan has hit Netflix Canada, which makes it just a little bit cheaper.
Netflix Canada’s Basic With Ads, which just launched, charges much less than its usual plans, but also features ads alongside the shows and movies.
So, now that we have this new option for viewing on Netflix, I gave it a test to find out how it works, how distracting the ads are and whether it’s really worth the lower price.
After setting up a new account and going for the cheaper-than-usual Basic With Ads option, I decided to give it a whirl by watching the first and second episodes of Ozark — a show many people have recommended to me in the past.
What are the different Netflix plans?
With the rollout of this new plan, there are now four to choose from.
After the Basic with Ads package, the cheapest option gets you HD content and the ability to watch on just one device.
The standard plan offers full HD programming on two devices.
While the most expensive plan offered by Netflix in Canada, the Premium plan, offers Ultra HD content, the ability to watch on four devices and more.
How much is Netflix Basic With Ads in Canada?
You can get access to Netflix’s new plan for just $5.99 a month, which makes it easily the cheapest of the streaming service’s plans.
If you switch from a different plan right now, you’ll have to wait until your next monthly bill cycle to get access to it.
How much is Netflix without ads in Canada?
The most expensive is the Premium plan, which runs $20.99 a month.
After that comes Standard, which costs $16.49 a month.
In third place is the former cheapest plan, Basic, which will run you $9.99 a month.
What is Netflix Basic With Ads like?
Upon starting up the show, I was greeted with an advertisement centred around travel which was about 30 seconds in length.
That’s on top of another 15-second ad for Tiffany & Co. I saw when I clicked on a different show to watch, before changing my mind and settling on Ozark.
But they are the only advertisements I saw throughout nearly two hours of content. That’s not bad at all!
I’m not entirely sure why I saw so few ads, as Netflix says viewers should expect an average of four to five minutes of ads per hour of content, so I was very surprised when I only saw, basically, two commercials in total.
I was even worried I had made a mistake and double-checked I was on the correct plan, but nope, I was!
I would almost speculate that maybe, because the new plan is new, they aren’t overloading it with ads right off the bat to draw people in.
However, this is only a guess and I can’t really say for sure!
What’s included in the Netflix Basic With Ads package?
Along with the commercial breaks, you also get a lower-quality stream of 720p, which I didn’t notice too much, likely because I was streaming from my laptop.
Basic with Ads also doesn’t offer the ability to download and view some content offline, but Netflix has said it’s looking into making that work in the future.
So, ultimately the Basic With Ads plan doesn’t seem like the worst course of action for anyone wanting to save a few bucks, especially if you don’t care about super-high definition streaming quality or doing a lot of offline viewing.
How do you change your Netflix plan?
Changing your plan is super easy.
All you need to do is go to your Netflix profile and click “Account.”
Once you’re in your account settings, you can scroll down to “Plan Details” to adjust which plan you’re on.
But, as I said, if you switch plans, it will only come into effect after your current monthly bill cycle.
I would be remiss not to mention that there are other totally free streaming services that have ads in Canada.
One such example would be Tubi, which has no monthly subscription costs and has about three to four ad breaks for a 90-minute movie.
So, if you’re looking for free streaming content and not specifically Netflix content, I’d recommend Tubi over Netflix Basic With Ads any day of the week.
Another option is Pluto TV, a free streaming option, that is set to launch in Canada on December 1.
But, if you’re a fan of Stranger Things, Dahmer or other Netflix Originals, this honestly might be a good option to save a few bucks a month.
And, let’s face it, in this economy, this is definitely a cool option to have.
Source: Narcity