Outside of Japan, Crunchyroll has established itself as the largest anime platform and has maintained this position for some time. Crunchyroll has a huge anime library for fans to enjoy. With Crunchyroll, anime fans even had the option of getting anime releases at the same time as in Japan. For a few years now, Crunchyroll's basic subscription fee has been stable, which fans have certainly appreciated, but now that's changing. Starting next month, March 2026, all Crunchyroll tiers are going up in price. Fans will be charged $2 more for any tier they have subscribed to.
Crunchyroll is increasing its prices from March 2026
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All plans increase by $2
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The first big increase since 2019
Recently, there has been some big news regarding the Crunchyroll platform. The anime streaming platform has now become extremely popular for anime fans around the world outside of Japan. but now Crunchyroll is raising prices, and as you might expect, fans aren't happy about the change.
Fortunately for fans, this price increase will not be reflected in February. Instead, it starts next month, in March 2026. Starting next month, fans will be charged an extra $2 for their subscription plandepending on which one they choose or already have subscribers, be it fan level, mega fan level or top fan level. The Fan Tier will now be $9.99 instead of $7.99. For the Mega Fan Tier, the price ranges from $11.99 to $13.99. For the Ultimate Fan Tier, Crunchyroll's most expensive tier, the price will increase from $15.99 to $17.99.
As for the level of fans, this is the first time since 2019 that its rates have been raised. However, what is annoying to many are the price increases for the Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan Tiers. These two levels rose in 2024, which is fairly recent. The price increase after less than two years is definitely shocking and has turned quite a few anime fans off.
It's important to note that this price increase doesn't apply exclusively to Crunchyroll subscribers in the United States. Crunchyroll is increasing its prices worldwide, but of course the price difference may vary by country and currency. For example, in France, the price goes up by €1, which is less drastic than the price increase in the US. Of course, fans have always expected prices to go up eventually, and that could happen more often in the next few years, as unfortunate as it is.
Crunchyroll's new approach has angered many fans
Crunchyroll has always been a favorite streaming site for anime fans, but that may soon change. Not only has Crunchyroll just raised the price of its subscription, but the platform is undergoing many other big changes that have fans worried.
Just recently, in January 2026, Crunchyroll removed one of its most popular features that allowed fans to watch anime on Crunchyroll without a subscription by watching ads.. This feature has been completely removed and now fans absolutely need a subscription to watch anything on Crunchyroll. This comes after many other controversial decisions made by Crunchyroll, such as the inclusion of additional AI content such as terrible AI subtitleson their platform. Fans see this as a drastic step in the wrong direction from Crunchyroll, especially since many other streaming giants such as Netflix are acquiring the rights to anime series now more than ever.
Crunchyroll subscribers could change tiers to fight price hikes
Fans can choose between fan, super fan and ultimate fan tiers
Now more than ever, fans need to choose wisely what level they want to spend on Crunchyroll. For many, this may be the time to downgrade your Crunchroll subscription. Crunchyroll's basic subscription, or Fan Tier, is a solid choice for most fans. This allows fans to watch anime ad-free. It also allows fans to download content to their device to watch offline. Of course, it also gives fans a slight discount when purchasing merchandise from Crunchyroll, 5% to be exact.
Crunchyroll's medium subscription is the Mega Fan level. It offers the same benefits as the Fan Tier, but also allows fans to stream on 4 devices, access the Crunchyroll Game Vault, offline HD viewing, and instead of the 5% discount, fans get up to 10% off the Crunchyroll store.
Finally, Crunchyroll's most expensive tier, the Ultimate Fan Tier, gives fans the most benefits. In addition to everything the Mega Fan tier offers, fans can stream on 6 devices, a 15% discount on the Crunchyroll store, and access to Crunchyroll's manga library.
