Update: It appears that this is not the case. The standalone Prime Video plan is still available here.
It seems that Amazon just discontinued the Prime Video-only plan from its catalog. The change was detected in the United States and the United Kingdom. This means that new users will no longer find the plan available anywhere on the platform.
As reported by Cord Busters, the Amazon Prime Video subscription is no longer available separately. However, that does not mean that those already subscribed to the plan will lose it. For now, they will have it active for as long as they pay the subscription. But if they cancel it for a month, they will not be able to activate it again. In that case, they will only have the option of paying for the full Amazon Prime plan to enjoy Prime Video content.
Amazon Prime Video-only plan discontinued
Amazon seems to have wanted to do this for a long time. The company had been increasingly hiding access to the section to activate the plan. At some point, it even became impossible to do it on mobile devices. Meanwhile, the Amazon website hid the existence of the service behind cumbersome menus. Basically, the company prefers that you sign up for the full Prime plan.
The discontinuation of the Prime Video-only plan was made “in the shadows” and without prior notice from the company. Maybe they hoped people wouldn’t remember the existence of the Prime Video standalone plan after keeping it “hidden” for a long time. Prime Video is home to such popular series as The Boys, Gen V, Young Sheldon, and the recent show adaptation of the Fallout saga, among other titles.
Current pricing scheme
Before its removal, the ad-supported Prime Video subscription cost $8.99 monthly in the United States and £5.99 in the UK. On the other hand, the ad-free subscription cost $11.99 monthly in the United States and £11.98 monthly in the UK.
Now, with respect to the full Prime plan, it currently costs $14.99 per month (United States) and £8.99 per month (UK), but with ads on Prime Video content. Removing the ads costs an additional $2.99 (US) or £2.99 (UK). There are also discounts if you pay for one full year of the plan, so the final price is better.
While the prices seem adequate for all the benefits of Amazon Prime, there are people who just don’t want that. After all, most of Prime’s benefits depend on how you use Amazon. If you are not a regular buyer on the platform and you only wanted to enjoy the Prime Video content, it will now be more expensive for you. Also, the ad-supported Prime Video plan has been missing some features.