Amazon Prime vs Netflix: Which is more expensive for smartphone users? Why annual plan is better at Amazon?

Days after Netflix lowered the prices of its plans, its rival Amazon has done the opposite. The US-headquartered company has hiked the prices of Amazon Prime membership by upto 67 percent.

Per the new rates, for Amazon prime subscription, people will have to pay Rs 299 per month. The plan's old price was Rs 179 per month. For the 3-month package, Amazon Prime will have to pay Rs 599 as opposed to Rs 459 before.

The company has made no changes to its annual plans. For Amazon Prime Lite membership, a person will have to pay Rs 999. For the full membership, the annual price is Rs 1499. These are the most value-for-money propositions.

In Amazon Prime membership, the company provides Amazon shopping, music and OTT services through the application. Under this, you get full access to Amazon's movies and shows, 10 crore songs on its music app, fast shopping deliveries through its shopping app. It also offers free e-books, magazines, comics and games.

On Wednesday, Netflix lowered its subscription fees by 20–60%.

“India is a big prize because it’s an enormous population of entertainment-loving people and we have to have the product they love. So, we are doing the creative part and getting the pricing better and there’s always lots of promise to continue to grow in India. It is a very specific market in terms of (the fact that) they like local content, but also you are seeing their local content is travelling more than ever," Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive officer said during an earnings call.

The company's mobile only plan has been slashed from Rs 199 per month to Rs 149. The basic all access plan has come down from Rs 499 to Rs 199.