With 8.33 million international users and over 1,500 original movies and shows, Netflix has become a worldwide phenomenon. Evidently, Netflix has succeeded in bringing together both local and international subscribers through streaming services, but the key word is “has” as the corporation’s recent decisions call into question if it’s still worth the subscription.

Despite there being three streaming plans, the most popular is definitely the standard, which allows for 2 simultaneous streamers marking at $10.99 per month. However, since 2018, the standard streaming plan, as well as the two others, have progressively increased, slowly going up to $12.99 and now $13.99 per month. 

The second most popular plan, known as Premium, is also upping its price, where the four streamers will be paying a whopping $17.99 monthly, which used to be just $13.99 in 2018.

You’d think that this influx in prices would mean a correlating increase in quality movie and tv show options, which is unfortunately only half true. Since 2018, there has been a considerable improvement in movies and shows, but they haven’t necessarily been for the better, especially over this past year. 

On January 1st 2020, Netflix took off the huge franchise Friends, despite it arguably being one of the most popular shows on the platform. Since then, Netflix has continued to remove beloved shows and movies, including Parks and Recreation, Pride and Prejudice, The Office, Twilight and Gossip Girl.

Netflix has also been notorious for completely cancelling some of their own original serieses including I am not Okay with This and The Society. Both The Society and I am Not Okay With This received immense positive feedback, and subscribers waited several months for the announcement of a second season only for Netflix to declare them unrenewed.

Anne With an E, another incredibly popular franchise-rightfully-so-was, again, abruptly cancelled at season 3. To make up for the series’ lost time, the last episode of season three was notably very rushed, where major events that had taken three seasons to develop, simply resolved in under ten minutes.

In an attempt to redeem themselves on behalf of these cancellations, Netflix is renewing and adding other movies and shows, all of which simply do not compare to the quality of the ones which were dropped. 

The Kissing Booth, for example, was renewed for a second and third movie with only a 6/10 rating on IMDb while comedy drama series Everything Sucks was un-renewed for a second season with a 7.5/10 IMDb rating. 

Essentially, Netflix is cancelling good movies and shows only to promote substandard content, all at a higher price.

Instead of paying for the abundance of quality shows and movies Netflix once promised, you’re now spending up to $17.99 per month for just a few of the good stragglers. The amount of money being wasted is nonetheless apparent, yet, there are still other options.

Disney Plus is a great alternative to Netflix, allowing the streaming of classics including the entire Star Wars franchise. It’s about ⅓ the price of Netflix Premium, weighing in at a $6.99 monthly fee. 

As a subscriber to both Netflix and Disney Plus, I can easily say, that as of late, Disney Plus has been the favorable option, which is convenient considering the small price tag. Unlike Netflix, I have yet to recall a favorite show or movie being taken off mid stream.

Considering the many years I’ve been subscribed to Netflix, it’s truly a shame with how they’ve handled their platform over the past few years. It seems that they are taking advantage of our loyalty and money, which is nonetheless disheartening. 

Despite the obvious disappointment, to completely disregard the corruption of Netflix would just be cheating yourself, so until we see some positive change, it’s better not to support a platform that doesn’t support you.