Outside of Japan, Crunchyroll has established itself as the biggest anime platform and has maintained that position for quite a while now. Crunchyroll has a massive anime library that fans can enjoy. With Crunchyroll, anime fans have even been able to get same-time anime releases as in Japan. For a few years now, Crunchyroll's base subscription fee has been stable, which fans certainly appreciated, but now it's changing. Starting next month, in March 2026, all of Crunchyroll’s tiers are increasing in price. Fans will be charged $2 more for whatever tier they have subscribed to.
Crunchyroll Is Raising Its Prices Starting March 2026
- All Plans Are Going up by $2
- First Major Increase Since 2019
Big news has broken out recently concerning the Crunchyroll platform. The anime streaming platform has now become extremely popular for anime fans all around the world outside of Japan. But now, Crunchyroll is raising its prices, and as expected, fans aren't happy about the change.
Luckily for fans, this price increase does not take effect in February. Instead, it starts next month, in March 2026. Starting next month, fans will be charged $2 more for their subscription plan, whichever one they might choose or are already subscribed to, whether it's the Fan Tier, the Mega Fan Tier, or the Ultimate Fan Tier. Instead of $7.99, the Fan Tier will now be $9.99. For the Mega Fan Tier, the price is going from $11.99 to $13.99. For the Ultimate Fan Tier, Crunchyroll’s most expensive tier, the price will be increasing from $15.99 to $17.99.
As far as the Fan Tier goes, this is the first time since 2019 that its rates have been increased. What's annoying to many, however, are the price hikes for the Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan Tiers. These two tiers went up in price in 2024, which is rather recent. A price increase after less than two years is definitely shocking and has discouraged quite a lot of anime fans.
It’s important to note that this price increase isn’t exclusive to Crunchyroll subscribers in the United States. Crunchyroll is increasing its prices worldwide, but of course, the price difference might vary depending on the country and currency. For example, in France, the price is going up by €1, which is less drastic than the US price increase. Of course, fans have always anticipated prices to go up eventually, and this could be happening more frequently over the next few years, unfortunate as that is.
Crunchyroll’s New Approach Has Upset Many Fans
Crunchyroll has always been the go-to streaming website for anime fans, but that might be changing soon. Not only did Crunchyroll just increase the price of its subscriptions, but the platform has been undergoing many other major changes that have displeased fans.
Just recently, in January 2026, Crunchyroll removed one of its most popular features, which was to allow fans to watch anime on Crunchyroll without a subscription by watching ads instead. This feature has been completely removed, and now, fans absolutely need a subscription to be able to view anything on Crunchyroll. This comes after many other controversial decisions taken by Crunchyroll, such as the inclusion of more AI content, like terrible AI subtitles, on their platform. Fans consider this a drastic move in the wrong direction from Crunchyroll, especially as now more than ever, many other streaming giants like Netflix are acquiring rights to anime series.
Crunchyroll Subscribers Could Switch Tiers To Combat Price Hike
Fans Can Choose Between Fan, Mega Fan, and Ultimate Fan Tiers
Now more than ever, fans need to choose wisely which tier they want to splurge on for Crunchyroll. For many, this might be the time to downgrade their Crunchroll subscription. The base Crunchyroll subscription, or the Fan Tier, is a solid option for most fans. With it, fans get to watch anime without any ads. It also allows fans to download content on their device to watch offline. Of course, it also gives fans a slight discount when purchasing merch from Crunchyroll, 5% to be exact.
Crunchyroll's middle ground subscription is the Mega Fan tier. It offers the same perks as the Fan Tier but also allows fans to stream on 4 devices, get access to Crunchyroll Game Vault, offline HD viewing, and instead of a 5% discount, fans get up to 10% discount on the Crunchyroll store.
Finally, Crunchyroll's most expensive tier, the Ultimate Fan Tier, gives fans the most perks. In addition to everything the Mega Fan tier offers, fans get to stream on 6 devices, 15% discount on the Crunchyroll store, and access to Crunchyroll's manga library.
