Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier Crosses 94 Million Monthly Active Users

Netflix announced today that its $7.99/month ad-supported plan has now crossed more than 94 million monthly active users, a number that’s up from 70 million in November 2024. This 94 million number shouldn’t be confused with subscribers, as there can be multiple users on the same ad-supported subscription.

During its third Upfront presentation to advertisers yesterday, Netflix also said that its ad-supported plan reaches “more 18-34-year-olds than any other US broadcast or cable network.” On average, subscribers to Netflix Standard in the US spend 41 hours per month on Netflix.

This high engagement made Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, enthusiastic about the performance of Netflix ads. “When you compare us to our competitors, attention starts much higher and ends much higher. And even more impressive, members pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and the movies themselves,” the exec said.

Netflix initially partnered with Microsoft for its advertising needs, but the company has since built its own advertising platform that’s now serving ads to subscribers in the US and Canada. It will come to the 12 ad-supported countries by June, offering more new creative formats and more precise metrics to advertisers.

“While a lot of companies are either/or — either they have great technology, or they have great entertainment — our superpower has always been the fact that we have both. And because our audience is unique, engaged and attentive, a dollar spent on Netflix is more valuable than a dollar spent anywhere else,” Reinhard explained.

While Netflix continues to aggressively court advertisers, so is Amazon. During its Upfront presentation earlier this week, the company announced that its ad-supported Prime Video tier now reaches more than 130 million US customers, up from 115 million last year.

Amazon also said that 88% of Prime Video viewers have also shopped on Amazon, which is something Netflix can’t rival yet. The company also revealed how it plans to introduce AI-generated pause ads that “feel like natural extensions of what viewers are watching.” This is another area that Netflix has yet to explore.