At the end of last year, Netflix launched a cheaper, advertising-supported subscription model. This met with little interest. With a trick, the provider is now trying to beautify the numbers – with disadvantages for viewers.

Those who tend to opt for the cheapest Netflix subscription should be careful when signing up for a new subscription in the future. Because a detail on the offer overview has changed, which could cause trouble afterwards. At first glance, Netflix staggers the offer as follows: basic subscription with advertising, standard and premium – without an advertising-free subscription. Only by clicking on “Show all subscriptions” does a fourth option appear: Basic for 7.99 euros.

Netflix: Advertising subscription with numerous disadvantages

So on paper you exchange advertising in an unknown amount for a saving of three euros – you could think about it. And that’s exactly what Netflix wants to achieve. The reason: The advertising subscription has not been particularly well received by viewers so far, Netflix has not been able to meet the expectations of its business partners and is said to have already reimbursed some of the advertising money to the first companies.

This development now seems to want to be stopped by all means. This requires more subscribers in the basic tariff with advertising. However, the 5-euro subscription does not suffer from the humane advertisements, but has completely different disadvantages, which Netflix summarizes in the small print as follows: “With the basic subscription with advertising, there is a limited number of films and series that for licensing reasons are not available. Some location and device restrictions also apply.”

And that’s probably the reason why most Netflix viewers prefer to invest a few euros more. The star test of the new advertising tariff showed that if you watch Netflix with the lowest subscription, large parts of the catalog are not available. This not only affects a small selection of films and series, but numerous popular productions – some even Netflix originals.

Also read: Netflix advertising subscription: You really get so much advertising – and these other disadvantages

No downloads, no players

Also, Netflix doesn’t allow media downloads, which gets in the way of relaxed media consumption when traveling without internet service. The IT specialist magazine “Golem” also points out that the advertising-supported Netflix subscription does not work on devices such as the Apple TV, the Playstation 3 or a Chromecast – probably for technical reasons.

When booking a new subscription, you should therefore pay close attention to the type of basic offer – unless you are already booking standard or premium tariffs. As long as Netflix does not improve the functionality, streaming with advertising is unfortunately not a recommended alternative.