Ever since Netflix transformed into the streaming giant it is today, the United States has led the way with the most content. “Most” doesn’t always translate to value for money however, as there is a disparity of prices across the world that Netflix is forever increasing. Fortunately, you can get the most out of your investment simply by using a VPN.
The reason this imbalance in selection exists is that Netflix must follow copyright law as a legitimate business, licensing content from third parties per country. Sometimes the company deems a movie or television series unprofitable for a certain market or is simply beaten to the punch by a rival network.
In fact, very few countries manage to reach the 5,000-video barrier. This is particularly prominent in Europe, where Netflix provides almost half the content seen within its English-speaking counterparts. Of course, much more English content is produced per year thanks to the dominance of Hollywood, but there’s nothing stopping subtitled and dubbed versions appearing on foreign versions of the service.
Since Netflix grants access to its entire library through its Basic Plan, this is the best place to start. The first thing to do is convert each currency into US dollars. This doesn’t necessarily account for many of the economic differences that would factor into an individual’s perception of value, but it does help to create a baseline comparison of international pricing. From here, simply divide the converted Basic Plan price by the total videos available in a country to determine how much you would be paying per title.
The €7.99 entry-point for some European countries initially seems fair as this currently converts to the same price as the $8.99 Basic Plan in the US. Despite this, content in the continent is up to 47% less, which ultimately drives the price per title up significantly. Portugal is the worst offender since it has just 3,119 total videos available, but Italy and Spain don’t fare much better. Sweden, Poland, and Switzerland all eschew the Euro but are also among the lowest value.
Not all of Europe is in the same boat, as Lithuania boasts much more value for money. Currently, the Americas still dominate, as a subscription in Argentina is the single best value thanks to ARS 179 converting to as little as $4.26 per month and Canada also showcases a strong conversion while providing a library to rival its US cousins. Australia is also rather favorable for the same reason.
Overall, the average cost per title is around $0.001907421. Since the United States sits at $0.001516787, it is incredibly valuable but by no means the lowest. Contrary to popular opinion, the United Kingdom is even better off with $0.001336421 per title, making it easy to see why Netflix is currently trialing increases in cost to its Basic Plan. Still, the value is dependent on the person, as price per title doesn’t factor in average income, GDP per Capita or the percentage of people opting for higher tier subscriptions.
You can’t just choose any VPN however, as most will greet you with error code m7111-5059 and a message telling you that you need to turn the unblocker or proxy off before continuing. This is not because circumventing geo-blocking is illegal, but rather Netflix bolstering its efforts to please partners in Hollywood and beyond.
Instead, you simply need to choose one of the 5 best VPNs to spoof your location and easily unblock Netflix from our list. These aren’t cheap, but often provide a myriad of must-have features in keeping you private and secure while browsing the web.
Most offer a free trial period or money-back guarantees, but one thing to ensure before you commit to a purchase is that the VPN provides servers in locations you want to access. All offer easy access to the US, but some will allow for larger catalogs than others.
The reason this imbalance in selection exists is that Netflix must follow copyright law as a legitimate business, licensing content from third parties per country. Sometimes the company deems a movie or television series unprofitable for a certain market or is simply beaten to the punch by a rival network.
Libraries vary per region
Thanks to uNoGS displaying just how many movies and shows are currently available across 29 different countries, we can see that regions with English as their first language are slowly catching up. Compared to the 5,927 videos available in the US, the UK currently houses 5,612. This is closely followed by Canada, which has 5,781 videos in total and Australia with 5,429.In fact, very few countries manage to reach the 5,000-video barrier. This is particularly prominent in Europe, where Netflix provides almost half the content seen within its English-speaking counterparts. Of course, much more English content is produced per year thanks to the dominance of Hollywood, but there’s nothing stopping subtitled and dubbed versions appearing on foreign versions of the service.
Price per title
While it’s easy to feel as though Netflix is ripping you off, quantity doesn’t necessarily translate to value. Calculating the value of each subscription is difficult, as there is no way to factor in the subjectivity of quality, but we can determine the price per title per month.Since Netflix grants access to its entire library through its Basic Plan, this is the best place to start. The first thing to do is convert each currency into US dollars. This doesn’t necessarily account for many of the economic differences that would factor into an individual’s perception of value, but it does help to create a baseline comparison of international pricing. From here, simply divide the converted Basic Plan price by the total videos available in a country to determine how much you would be paying per title.
The €7.99 entry-point for some European countries initially seems fair as this currently converts to the same price as the $8.99 Basic Plan in the US. Despite this, content in the continent is up to 47% less, which ultimately drives the price per title up significantly. Portugal is the worst offender since it has just 3,119 total videos available, but Italy and Spain don’t fare much better. Sweden, Poland, and Switzerland all eschew the Euro but are also among the lowest value.
Not all of Europe is in the same boat, as Lithuania boasts much more value for money. Currently, the Americas still dominate, as a subscription in Argentina is the single best value thanks to ARS 179 converting to as little as $4.26 per month and Canada also showcases a strong conversion while providing a library to rival its US cousins. Australia is also rather favorable for the same reason.
Overall, the average cost per title is around $0.001907421. Since the United States sits at $0.001516787, it is incredibly valuable but by no means the lowest. Contrary to popular opinion, the United Kingdom is even better off with $0.001336421 per title, making it easy to see why Netflix is currently trialing increases in cost to its Basic Plan. Still, the value is dependent on the person, as price per title doesn’t factor in average income, GDP per Capita or the percentage of people opting for higher tier subscriptions.
Increase your value with a VPN
Thankfully, no matter where you are in the world, you can increase the value of your library with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Although purchasing one inevitably adds to the overall monthly cost, these tools can help you bounce your signal across the world to potentially access any region’s library that you deem desirable.You can’t just choose any VPN however, as most will greet you with error code m7111-5059 and a message telling you that you need to turn the unblocker or proxy off before continuing. This is not because circumventing geo-blocking is illegal, but rather Netflix bolstering its efforts to please partners in Hollywood and beyond.
Instead, you simply need to choose one of the 5 best VPNs to spoof your location and easily unblock Netflix from our list. These aren’t cheap, but often provide a myriad of must-have features in keeping you private and secure while browsing the web.
Most offer a free trial period or money-back guarantees, but one thing to ensure before you commit to a purchase is that the VPN provides servers in locations you want to access. All offer easy access to the US, but some will allow for larger catalogs than others.
