Amazon pulls the plug on a free service for customers

There is no doubt that business has been booming for Amazon (AMZN) over the past few months, despite recent shifts in consumer behavior across the country.

During the first quarter of 2025, as Amazon’s net sales increased by 9% year-over-year, it generated a net income of about $17 billion during the quarter, which is almost 40% higher than what it earned during the same time period last year.

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Amazon Prime, which currently costs $14.99 a month, is also increasing in popularity across the U.S.

The subscription service, which offers Amazon customers access to exclusive benefits such as free shipping, one-day delivery, Prime Day discounts, etc., reached roughly 180.1 million U.S. subscribers last year, which is about 44% higher than the number of U.S. subscribers it had in 2017, according to data from Statista.

Amazon Prime is projected to reach 185 million U.S. subscribers this year as the service continues to see increased consumer momentum.

Amazon is discontinuing a free service.

Image source: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Amazon sends stern warning to customers

As Amazon Prime becomes more popular, Amazon has decided to cut the cord on a free service in order to push more customers onto its popular Prime Video platform.

The company is discontinuing Freevee, its free streaming TV service that launched in 2019.

The service allows customers to stream thousands of movies and TV shows and watch entertainment channels through its app, which can be downloaded on multiple devices such as Apple TV, FireTV, Roku, Playstation 5, etc.

In the Freevee app, Amazon warns users that the service “will be accessible [only] until August 2025.” It also claims that “Prime Video is the new exclusive home for Freevee TV shows, movies, and Live TV.”

“Continue watching your favorite Freevee Originals and our library of hit movies, shows, and live TV on Prime Video for free, no subscription needed,” reads the message in the app.

Amazon first revealed this upcoming change in November last year, claiming that the move allows it “to deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers.”

Amazon Prime Video recently underwent a controversial change

The move from Amazon comes after it introduced ads to its Prime Video platform in 2024. This sparked backlash from consumers and even a class-action lawsuit, despite Amazon giving users the option to remove the ads for an extra $2.99 a month.

When Amazon Prime first introduced ads to its platform, it claimed in an email to customers that it aims “to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”

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However, Amazon Prime Video ads have reportedly been gradually elongated to last four to six minutes per hour. When ads were first introduced on the platform, they only lasted two to three-and-a-half minutes per hour.

While Amazon ramps up ads on Prime Video, it increased its advertising revenue by about 17% year-over-year during the first quarter of this year. Its revenue from subscription services also increased 9% year-over-year.

Amazon’s increased reliance on ads comes during a time when free streaming platforms such as PlutoTV and Tubi, which earn revenue through ads, are becoming more popular among consumers.

According to a recent survey from digital security firm All About Cookies, 42% of Americans watch TV through free streaming services.

Amid this growing trend, Paramount, which owns PlutoTV, revealed during an earnings call in May that PlutoTV “delivered its highest consumption ever” during the first quarter of 2025.

That same month, Fox also revealed during an earnings call that its free ad-supported streaming platform Tubi faced “accelerating growth” during the same quarter.