Netflix plans explained: which one actually fits you

The single most common message we get is some version of "which Netflix should I take?" It is a fair question, because the plan names describe billing tiers rather than what you actually experience. Here is the plain version.

The only question that matters

How many people need to watch at the same time? Not how many people will use it across a month — how many at the same moment, on a Friday evening.

The 1-user trap

A 1-user plan lets you sign in on two devices — your phone and your TV, say. What it will not do is stream on both simultaneously. Start a film on the TV while your phone is still playing and Netflix stops one of them.

This catches people out constantly. If you and someone else in the house both watch in the evenings, you want two plans or the 5-user one. We would rather tell you that before you pay than after.

Longer durations are cheaper per month

The 12-month 1-user plan works out at 833 ETB a month versus 999 monthly — roughly two free months across the year. The catch is obvious: you are paying up front. If cash flow matters more than the discount, monthly is the honest answer.

Our own busiest tier is 1-user monthly. Most people start there, then move to 3 or 12 months once they trust that the account keeps working.

What about keeping my own account?

If you already have a Netflix account with your profiles and watch history on it, our top-up pays that account directly instead of giving you a new login. You keep everything.

One top-up is 4,499 ETB. How long it lasts depends entirely on which Netflix plan you are on, because Netflix charges different amounts for each:

So on Mobile the top-up is excellent value and on 4K Premium it is roughly line-ball with our own accounts. If you have years of history built up, that is usually the deciding factor rather than the price.

Written by the Bezuale Solutions team in Addis Ababa. Questions? Message us on Telegram.