4 Reasons People Are Quitting Netflix

It’s been a tough year for Netflix. And it’s about to get tougher.

In the second quarter of 2022, the company lost nearly a million subscribers — the biggest loss in company history, as we noted in “9 Good Reasons to Cancel Netflix.”

They may be wishing for a return of those halcyon days if a recent survey of 1,000 people from Reviews.org turns out to be correct. It found that 1 in 4 people plan to ditch Netflix this year, which would be about 18 million subscribers.

Following are the top reasons people say they plan to quit Netflix.

4. Using other services more often

Survey respondents who cited this reason for leaving Netflix: 18.25%

Once upon a time, Netflix was just about the only name in streaming. Competitors showed up, but they were slow to develop their own content and license the stuff good enough to lure people away.

That’s no longer the case. There are “12 Streaming TV Services That Cost $20 a Month — or Less,” and they have things Netflix doesn’t, from Disney’s “Star Wars” and Paramount’s “Star Trek” programming to Amazon’s new “Lord of the Rings” The Rings of Power” series.

In short, Netflix, some of us just want to see other people.

3. The rising costs of general expenses

Survey respondents who cited this reason for leaving Netflix: 19.58%

Another issue really has nothing to do with Netflix and everything to do with the economy. This year’s record inflation has tightened many budgets, and calling Netflix a “necessary expense” can be a hard sell. This is the “it’s not you, it’s me” breakup.

2. Missing titles on Netflix

Survey respondents who cited this reason for leaving Netflix: 21.69%

An even bigger issue for many people — although they all tie together, really — is that there just isn’t enough to watch on Netflix to justify the cost anymore.

Brands that used to let Netflix stream their content have launched their own platforms and taken that content back, and these services all fight to exclusively stream other classics. And if Netflix is losing money, the company probably wants to be a little more selective in what they offer.

1. The rising cost of Netflix

Survey respondents who cited this reason for leaving Netflix: 40.49%

Naturally, the biggest reason is the simplest: The price keeps going up.

The most basic Netflix plan now costs $10 per month, compared with $8 per month for Disney+ or $4.99 for Paramount Plus. Netflix recently debuted an ad-supported plan that costs $6.99 a month, but even that might not be enough to satisfy many subscribers.