Netflix Raises Price: How It Compares to Hulu, Amazon Prime

— -- Netflix is raising prices for new users by $1 a month as the company touts original programming you can't find elsewhere.

The company, based in Los Gatos, California, is raising the cost of its most popular streaming plan to $9.99 a month, which allows customers to watch media on two screens at the same time.

But it won't increase the price of its other plans: a $7.99 a month "basic" plan that allows customers to watch on one screen at a time without HD and a "premium" plan of $11.99 a month that allows four simultaneous streams.

Here's how Netflix stacks up against Hulu and Amazon Prime streaming:

1. Netflix

On its website, Netflix informs customers that those with an "active account" may be on a "price guarantee," though they should view their billing page for more details. The billing page indicates a date by which their plan price is guaranteed, such as May 9, 2016.

"To continue adding more TV shows and movies including many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price for some new members in the U.S., Canada and Latin America," the company said in a statement. "As a thank you to existing Netflix members -- who aren’t already benefiting from a previous price guarantee -- we will maintain their current price for a year."

Netflix also offers optional DVD or Blu-ray delivery plans that never have late fees. These range from $4.99 for two DVD discs a month to $19.99 for three Blu-ray discs out at once.

2. Hulu

Hulu plans start at $7.99 for "limited commercials" for "minimal interruptions." On its website, the company touts that its ads are "still fewer than broadcast TV."

Hulu's plan that offers no commercials costs $11.99. When you sign up on an iOS device, or iPad and iPhone, and pay for your Hulu subscription with your iTunes account, there's an extra cost due to transaction costs with Apple. That comes to $13.99 a month.

Showtime cable network access is available to paying Hulu customers for an additional $8.99 a month, always commercial-free.

3. Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime membership includes Prime Video streaming at $99 a year or $49 for students. That includes unlimited free two-day shipping for eligible purchases and access to Kindle Owner's Lending Library, which allows you to borrow one Kindle book per month from over 800,000 titles without a due date. Members can also listen to "hundreds" of Prime music stations for free.

In August, the company introduced a new program called Amazon Households, which limited the way Amazon Prime members can share benefits. Under that program, Prime members with one adult family member and four children the free two-day shipping benefit, plus Kindle Owners' Lending Library, Amazon's video streaming service and early access to Prime sales.

Previously, Prime customers could share their shipping perk with up to four household members, but not the other features. The website gives customers who are presently sharing their membership the option to only share with one adult family member the shipping benefit and the other Amazon services.

Another perk: Amazon Prime Video is the only subscription service to offer members the ability to download "thousands" of movies and TV episodes to iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets for offline viewing, the company announced last month.