TL; DR
- Netflix has introduced a free tier in Kenya.
- This only applies to Android devices and gives access to a quarter of the catalog.
- However, users at this level cannot download or stream content.
Netflix is no stranger to offering cheaper plans and other more accessible ways to stream. Well, it looks like the company’s latest offering is a free plan in that regard, albeit in one country for now.
Netflix announced yesterday (h / t: Engadget) that it is now offering some kind of free plan for Android users in Kenya. diversity reports that this free tier can only access about a quarter of the catalog of paid plans.
At this free tier, users don’t need to enter any payment details either, as all they need to do is create an account and verify that they are at least 18 years old. Even so, users get personalized recommendations, multi-profile support, ad-free playback, and parental controls.
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There are a few other drawbacks to this level, however. Aside from the much smaller content library, the Netflix free tier also doesn’t let you download any content to your Android device or stream it to a TV.
But will this plan also come to other countries? Well, Netflix did tell diversity that it was first launched in Kenya to test how effective a free tier could be in attracting paid subscriptions. We can imagine that this stage will therefore spread to other markets if this strategy is actually successful in Kenya.