Bad news for anime fans: Popular streaming service Crunchyroll has announced another price increase across all of its tiers, including its cheapest “Fan Tier.” Subscribers will have to pay between $12 and $24 extra a year starting next month. Just one of many services that’s getting more and more expensive.
On February 2, Crunchyroll announced that all three of its streaming tiers ( Fan, Mega Fan, and Ultimate Fan) are getting price increases in the United States on March 4. Here’s what’s changing:
- Fan Tier – $9 a month (was $8)
- Mega Fan Tier – $14 a month (was $12)
- Ultimate Fan Tier – $18 a month (was $16)
According to Crunchyroll, this is the first time since 2019 that the anime-on-demand service has raised the price of the Fan tier in the U.S. Last time the service raised prices in 2024, the increase didn’t affect the cheapest option, the Fan tier. But that’s not the case this time with next month’s price hike.
Why Crunchyroll’s price is going up in March
In an effort to help explain the price increase, Crunchyroll listed some features it’s working on adding or has already recently added to the service. These include profiles for teens, the ability to skip intros and credits, and support for multiple profiles.
That’s nice, and I imagine Crunchyroll subscribers have been wanting some of these features for a bit now and are happy to have them or to be getting them in the near future. It doesn’t change that these days it feels like every app, service, subscription, and website is going up in price while not really offering much in exchange.
Ubisoft recently announced it is raising prices on Just Dance’s streaming service. Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus keep going up. PC parts and other tech are getting pricier and pricier. In January, new data showed that the cost of items sold online has reached a higher point in the past month that at any time in the last 12 years. Welcome to the future: It costs a lot to own anything and just about as much to rent or stream it. Thanks, AI hyperscalers, greedy execs, and tariffs.