Netflix customers cancelling over price changes could turn to free rival with 20,000 TV shows and movies

Netflix customers threatening to cancel their subscriptions might have somewhere else to go after a free platform with over 20,000 shows and movies arrived in the UK.

One of the reasons for this latest furore is the end of its 'Basic' plan, which for £6.99 a month lets you watch Netflix without adverts.

Later on this month that's coming to an end, with subscribers being presented a choice between paying £2 less to have adverts interrupt their viewing or up their monthly subscription by £4 to the 'Standard' package and continuing to watch ad-free.

It's left a whole bunch of people deciding they'd rather not be streaming adverts or paying more than they are now for Netflix, and declaring that they're done with this.

Obviously with eyeballs glued to the screen there's going to need to be something else on it to replace Netflix's offerings.

All this content, but what do you want to watch? (Getty Stock Image)

That's where another streaming platform comes in, as Fox subsidiary Tubi has come to the UK and the gimmick behind that one is that it's free to watch.

The platform has around 20,000 movies and TV shows, some of them good, and the kicker is that you don't have to pay any money to watch.

For the low, low prize of precisely zilch you can pick through the platform's library of content and since you're not paying it might just be a nice thing to flick through every now and again.

With content spread out across so many platforms now it can be hard to track down your favourite movies or shows, and it can be particularly annoying if you're in the mood for something specific but it's not on a platform you pay for.

At least with Tubi that element of annoyance is filtered out.

What's another streaming platform? (Getty Stock Image)

However, while Netflix subscribers might often and loudly proclaim their intention to cancel their package in response to changes and price increases, it seems as though it's had little impact on the platform's growth in subscribers.

Time after time Netflix announces a new change and people declare it to be the final straw, but those episodes of The Office won't watch themselves and in the end they likely stick with their package.

With the exception of the early part of 2022, Netflix has seen a near constant increase in the number of subscribers.

In the final quarter of 2023 there were about 260 million subscribed accounts, and by the end of the first quarter of 2024 that amount had risen by over nine million.

Figures also indicate that around one-third of new subscribers go onto the platform's cheapest plan, which is the tier that includes adverts.