Binge follows Netflix with cheaper ad-supported subscription plan

Foxtel-owned streaming service Binge has announced a new cost-effective tier. The catch? You’ll have to sit through ads. There’s no confirmation yet, however, of how much this more affordable ad-supported subscription plan will cost or the exact date when it will be rolled out – we just know it's coming in the first quarter of 2023.

This announcement follows last week’s update from Netflix where the streaming giant confirmed the pricing structure for its latest ‘Basic with Ads’ tier that will be available from November this year.

Binge’s Basic option is already slightly cheaper – currently set at AU$10 a month – as compared to Netflix’s current base tier (AU$10.99 p/m), but it’s impossible to speculate right now whether the ad-supported plan will also be cheaper than the Netflix counterpart priced at AU$6.99. Perhaps we’ll get precise details closer to its launch in early 2023. 

What we do know is that disruption to viewing will be a minimum, with the Foxtel Group promising a cap of four minutes for ads per hour. The aim, Foxtel says, is to keep watchability high. Users will still have the option to upgrade to an ad-free subscription if they prefer.

Binge hasn’t been around for very long, only starting up in 2020, but it has clued in quickly to what viewers want, offering big HBO shows such as House of the Dragon and The Walking Dead for Aussie audiences to enjoy. In two years it’s already amassed almost 1.3 million subscribers. 

As third in line to this new ad-included tier, with Netflix taking the helm and Disney Plus following in December, the cost for watching your favourite shows is about to become a little more affordable.

Is it really worth it?

Of course, saving where you can is ideal and by offering a cheaper option, streaming services like Binge, Disney Plus and Netflix become a bit more accessible for Aussie families. It’s getting harder to afford entertainment with the rising cost of living, especially when a lot of homes might have more than one service in order to keep every member of the household happy.

If you currently wanted to have access to all three of the aforementioned services, you are looking at a minimum of AU$31 per month or around AU$372 per year, with a one-year subscription to Disney Plus (AU$119.99 annually) and a basic subscription to both Binge (AU$10 per month) and Netflix (AU$10.99 per month). So far only Netflix has confirmed its monthly price, but even if all three of these services were offered at the same price, you’d be looking at saving around AU$10 a month.

The Foxtel Group also owns Australia's sports-dedicated streaming service Kayo Sports, which currently costs AU$25 p/m for the base tier. While there's been no announcements on whether there might be a new ad-supported plan added to this platform, we could see a similar option in future if it works for Binge.

While the savings are significant if you’d like to hold on to multiple streaming platforms, you will need to get used to watching ads. Whether that’s worth it or not is entirely up to you.

• Want to see how Binge compares? We’ve compared the best streaming services currently available in Australia.