Amazon Prime Video Now Has Ads And It Costs $3/month More To Remove Them

Amazon Prime Video now has ads. The company announced the change last month so this may not come as a surprise to those that have been following the news. Either way, it now costs an additional $2.99 a month to have access to an ad-free Prime Video experience.

The move towards offering an ad-supported plan is one of the big recent trends within streaming, and following Disney+ and Netflix’s launch of a ‘with ads’ tier, Amazon Prime Video was one of the few popular streaming services still offering an ad-free-only viewing experience.

That has officially changed today. Anyone signing up for a Prime membership or a standalone Prime Video subscription, as well as those that are currently signed up to Prime or Prime Video, now only have access to an ad-supported streaming experience. For those looking to watch without the ads, Amazon now charges an additional $3 a month on top of the base cost of Prime membership and Prime Video.

Considering Prime costs $14.99 a month, the additional $2.99 a month for access to ad-free Prime Video increases the total to $17.98 a month. If signed up to Prime membership on an annual basis, members also now need to pay $2.99 a month for ad-free Prime Video, resulting in an additional $35.88 a year and taking the overall total up to $174.88.

Likewise, with those signed up for a standalone Prime Video subscription already paying $8.99 a month, the $2.99 on top takes the total up to $11.98 a month.

According to Amazon, the additional charge for ad-free Prime Video will “allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Amazon also explains that the aim is “to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”

As is the case with all streaming services that offer ad-supported and ad-free plans, there are some instances where ad-free subscribers will still encounter ads. For example, watching content offered through Amazon Freevee, or watching live events, including sports, will still include ads.