Koreans Now Spend More Monthly on AI Subscriptions Than Netflix

2026-01-19

South Koreans are now spending more on AI subscriptions each month than on Netflix. According to Hankyung Aisel, in December 2025, the payment volume for seven AI services, including ChatGPT and Gemini, was estimated to reach 80.3 billion won (approximately 55 to 60 million US dollars). This surpasses the average monthly subscription revenue of Netflix in South Korea for 2024, which was 75 billion won (around 50 to 55 million US dollars). A key distinction is that the AI data includes corporate payments, while Netflix is a consumer-only service.

Credit card payments for AI services skyrocketed from 52,000 transactions in January 2024 to 1.666 billion transactions by December 2025. Individual customers paid an average of 34,700 won (about 24 US dollars), while corporate clients averaged 107,400 won (approximately 74 US dollars). ChatGPT dominated with 71.5% of the payment share, followed by Gemini at 11.0% and Claude at 10.7%. As explained by Kim Hyung-min, CEO of Hankyung Aisel, South Korea's subscription market is experiencing continuous growth, with generative AI becoming a standard subscription offering.

Netflix's reports indicate that the average revenue per subscription in the Asia-Pacific region is about 7 US dollars, compared to roughly 17 US dollars in the United States and Canada. This represents a significantly higher revenue per subscription month.

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comma voice

Comma is a voice input and speech-to-text app for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Hold to speak, slide out to pause without ending the note, and slide back when the thought returns. On-device recognition keeps working offline.