If you were hoping to keep your Prime Video experience ad-free on the cheap, here’s some not-so-great news: Amazon is bumping up the price of its ad-free plan, and it kicks in next month.
Starting April 10th, the ad-free tier — now rebranded as Prime Video Ultra — will cost $4.99 per month, up from $2.99. That’s a $2 jump, which is a 67% increase if you want to get technical about it.
In return, Amazon is sweetening the deal with a handful of upgrades. Ultra subscribers will get exclusive access to 4K/UHD streaming (a big one — the ad-supported tier won’t get it anymore), support for up to five simultaneous streams instead of three, up to 100 downloads (previously just 25), and Dolby Atmos audio support. So yes, you’re paying more, but you’re getting more too.
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Here’s a bit of context worth knowing: this all started back in early 2024, when Amazon quietly moved all Prime Video users — yes, even those paying for a full Prime subscription — onto an ad-supported experience. If you wanted to ditch the ads, you had to pay $2.99/month extra on top of your existing Prime membership. Now, two years later, that add-on is getting pricier and repackaged under the “Ultra” branding.
Amazon justifies the hike by saying that delivering premium, ad-free content “requires significant investment,” and that its new pricing structure “aligns with other major streaming services.” Honestly, that’s not wrong — streaming prices have been climbing across the board. HBO Max, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and even Crunchyroll have all raised their prices in the past year alone.
The timing of this change is also pretty deliberate. Prime Video has a couple of big releases coming up — live-action adaptations of Tomb Raider and God of War — that are expected to pull in a serious audience, following the massive success of Fallout last year. Raising prices right before a content surge is a classic streaming playbook move.
If you’re fine with ads, nothing changes for you — HD, HDR, Dolby Vision, and live sports streams stay available on the standard Prime-included plan. But if watching Tomb Raider in crisp 4K without a commercial interruption sounds like your thing, you’ll need to factor in that extra $2 a month starting next April.
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