You'll start seeing ads on Amazon Prime Video today — unless you pay an extra $3 a month to remove them

• Ads are coming to Amazon Prime Video today unless you start paying an extra $3 a month.
• The streaming service ordinarily costs $9 per month alone or is included in a Prime membership.
• The change follows similar price hikes in 2023 at competitors like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Max.

If you use Amazon Prime Video, expect to start seeing some ads today unless you're willing to shell out a few more bucks a month.

The streaming service began to roll out ads on Monday unless subscribers pay an additional $2.99 per month to avoid them.

Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 per month, or $139 if bought for the year. You can also pay for Prime Video alone for $8.99 per month.

The change will affect viewers in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada first and later reach those in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia.

Amazon expects its Prime Video ads will reach more than 115 million people in the US each month, according to a briefing document it sent to ad buyers that was obtained by Business Insider.

The price hike follows similar increases at Amazon Prime Video's streaming rivals.

Competitors like Netflix, Hulu, Max, Disney+, Peacock, and Paramount+ With Showtime all raised prices in 2023. Netflix and Disney+ both launched ad-supported tiers the year prior.

While Amazon increases the price of Amazon Prime Video, the company is also paring back its labor costs. Amazon earlier this month announced layoffs affecting "several hundred" people in its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios divisions.