Streaming prices in Australia 2026: every price rise (and how to fight back)

If it feels like your streaming bill goes up every few months, it's not your imagination. In the last 15 months alone, Netflix has raised Australian prices twice, Kayo jumped $5.99, Stan quietly buried its Basic plan behind an ad tier, Apple TV+ went up 23%, and ex-Optus Sport subscribers saw their football bill triple overnight.

Meanwhile every service has discovered the same trick: introduce a cheap ad-supported tier, move the goalposts on everything else, and market "plans from $9.99" while the plan you actually have costs more every year.

Here's the full picture as of October 2026 — every current price, what's changed, and what actually works when you fight back.

What streaming costs right now (October 2026)

Sign up for the big four (Netflix, Stan, Binge, Disney+) at their entry ad-free tiers and you're at $74.97 a month — around $900 a year — before sport, before Prime, before anyone adds Apple TV+ for Severance. The "cut the cord and save" era is officially over; the average household now runs 4-5 subscriptions and many pay more than the Foxtel bill they once fled.

What actually went up (and when)

Netflix — twice in 15 months. The second hike pushed Premium to $28.99 (up $3, roughly 20% in 15 months), Standard to $20.99, and even the ad tier to $9.99. Netflix's premium tier has risen over 50% across the last decade, and the pattern is unmistakable: the ad tier exists so every other price can rise "behind" it.

Kayo — up to $45.99 (February 2026). Premium rose $5.99 to $45.99; the renamed Standard tier dropped 1 cent to $29.99 — a price rise dressed as a rebrand. Kayo Premium now costs more per month than Netflix, Stan and Binge's ad-free tiers combined.

Stan — the quiet shuffle (2026). Stan didn't announce a "price rise" — it did something sneakier: it retired the $12 Basic plan and replaced it with a $9.99 Basic with Ads tier, pushing Standard to $17.99 and Premium to $23.99. If you were on Basic and wanted to stay ad-free, your only path was up to Standard — a 50% increase delivered as a "new lineup."

Stan Sport — up $5, and the Optus exodus. The Sport add-on rose to $20/month, and the migrated Optus Sport customers who'd been paying $9.99 saw their transition deal end in January 2026 — landing at roughly triple what they signed up for. (We cover the whole saga, including how to cancel, in our Stan Sport guide.)

Paramount+ — two rises in 18 months. The Standard plan went from $9.99 to $10.99 in August 2024 and sits at $12.99 today, with a $17.99 Premium tier layered on top — a 30% climb on the plan most people hold, absorbed so quietly that most subscribers never noticed.

Apple TV+ — up 23% (September 2025). From $12.99 to $15.99 — the single biggest percentage jump of the bunch. Ted Lasso got expensive.

The ad-tier domino effect. Netflix normalised ads, then Prime Video added them, then Paramount+, and now Stan. Each new ad tier means the "price from" number in every ad gets smaller while the price you actually pay gets bigger. Binge — one of the last ad-free holdouts — is the only big service that hasn't joined the shuffle yet. The endgame is obvious, and it's the reason your bill keeps drifting up without a single email announcing "we're raising your price."

The four moves that actually work

1. Audit what you're actually paying.

Price changes are exactly how subscriptions outlive their welcome — most people couldn't tell you their current Netflix rate off the top of their head, let alone for four services. The 15-minute statement audit in our spending guide walks you through it, and the average person doing it finds at least one charge they'd forgotten entirely.

2. Rotate instead of holding.

You don't need Netflix, Stan, Binge AND Disney+ every month — you need the one with your show this month. Subscribe to one or two, binge, cancel, rotate to the next. Every service lets you cancel in minutes and keeps your watchlist for when you return:

1. How to cancel Netflix
2. How to cancel Stan
3. How to cancel Binge
4. How to cancel Kayo (and its off-season trick)
5. How to cancel Stan Sport

A household that rotates two services instead of holding four saves roughly $500-$700 a year — more than any price rise will ever cost you.

3. Downgrade before you cancel.

If you can't bear to lose a service, drop a tier instead. Netflix Standard to the ad tier saves $132 a year. Kayo Premium to Standard saves $192. Stan Premium to Standard saves $72. The ad tier you were avoiding is now a genuinely rational choice — $10 a month to keep watching while you decide.

4. Time your cancellations — never pay for the dead season.

Sport is the clearest case: EPL runs August to May, AFL/NRL roughly March to September. If you hold Kayo or Stan Sport year-round for a six-month season, you're gifting them $60-$90 every off-season. Cancel at the final whistle, resubscribe at round one — both services keep your account intact.

The takeaway

Streaming isn't getting cheaper, and no regulator is coming to fix it — the only defence is treating subscriptions like the recurring bills they are: audited, rotated, and cancelled the moment they outlive their use. The 2026 price rises took roughly $10-$15 a month off the average household's wallet compared to two years ago. Rotation, tier drops and off-season cancellations take it all back.

Digital Crate tracks every subscription, every price, and every renewal date — and pings you before one lands, so a price rise never sneaks past you again. Free for up to 5 subscriptions, works in any currency. Start free — no card needed