Is Yandex Plus still worth it?

Honestly, I don't think so. The company's new strategy just doesn't feel right, and the value for money isn't what it used to be.

Can I still use my KinoPoisk online cinema subscription?

Unfortunately, no. Yandex has discontinued the service, and you won't be able to use it anymore.

How do I contact Yandex customer support?

You can reach out to them through their website or social media channels. They're usually pretty responsive, but be prepared for some back-and-forth.

Can I still get a refund for my Yandex Plus subscription?

I'm not sure. You'll have to contact Yandex directly to see what they can do for you.

Is Yandex Plus available outside of Russia?

Unfortunately, no. The service is only available in Russia, and you won't be able to use it if you're outside of the country.

Can I still use my Yandex.Knigi audiobooks if I cancel my subscription?

I'm not sure. You'll have to contact Yandex directly to see what they can do for you.

How do I cancel my Yandex Plus subscription?

You can cancel your subscription through the Yandex website or mobile app. Just be aware that you might lose access to some of your benefits.

Can I still get customer support if I cancel my subscription?

Unfortunately, no. You'll only be able to get customer support if you're still a subscriber.

What's the deal with the 360-day subscription period?

To be honest, I'm not a fan of it. It's just plain weird, and it's not like it's a lot of extra time or anything.

Why I'm Ditching Yandex Plus for Good: A Honest Review

I've been a loyal Yandex Plus subscriber for years, but recently, I've been left feeling disappointed and frustrated with the company's new strategy.

It all started when I signed up for a package deal that included six months of subscription and six cinema visits for just 1,200 rubles. I loved going to the movies, and at the time, the cost of a ticket was already making the subscription a better deal. Plus, I got six months of the KinoPoisk online cinema, so why not give it a try?

But then COVID hit, and the cinemas closed. I was left with one unused cinema visit, and my subscription had expired. But Yandex extended it, and then extended it some more - for over a year and a half, I got to enjoy a subscription I'd paid for just six months.

I was really impressed with the customer service, despite the company changing its tune at one point. I still remember, I was stuck in a taxi in Antalya when I got a message saying that Yandex Plus would be discontinued within a week. Seven days to use up my last cinema visit. I wrote back saying I couldn't make it because I was abroad, but Yandex was firm.

That cinema visit went to waste, but the fact that I got to watch movies on KinoPoisk for free for another year made up for it.

A deal I couldn't resistI got another amazing offer at the start of 2022 - a subscription with Amedia for 3200 rubles a year, forever. The offer arrived in January, but I paid for the subscription only in April. Since then, April has become the place where Yandex Plus meets my wallet. It's because, for regular people, a year is 365 days, but for Yandex, it's 360.

Yandex Plus with Amedia auto-payment in 2024Every year, the price has been going down. It was 3200 in the first year, then auto-payment took off about 3100. Last year, it was 3039 rubles. What a deal!

I thought that the reason the price was going down was because, like with insurance, if there were no emergencies in a year, you get to keep the good price for our services.

At some point, I added Sber's subscription to my Yandex one. I got it to get a higher interest rate on my deposit. But it turned out that Sber has a ton of perks: a higher cashback on MegaMarket, and also SberZvuk and the Okko online cinema. Compared to Sber's subscription, Yandex just faded into the background, but since I was a 'privileged client,' I was planning to continue paying for Yandex Plus anyway.

Yandex Plus subscription price hike in 2025I was shocked to see my Yandex Plus subscription price jump from 3200 to 4469 rubles on April 10th. To make matters worse, they added an extra 21 rubles as some kind of bonus. Thanks, I guess.

xa0

I reached out to customer support, and it turned out that my "forever" subscription had actually expired in December, but they never bothered to notify me via email or even a Kinopoisk notification, which I check every day.

Do you like it when your tariff gets changed without your knowledge?No warning, no offer to adjust my plan. Yandex just went ahead and deducted the amount they thought was fair. Nice job!

xa0

But wait, there's more!

For some reason, my husband's credit card was linked to my account, and the payment was deducted from that instead. He was waiting all day for the charge to go through, but it didn't show up until 4 pm. We were left wondering where the money went.

We eventually found out that the payment was made from a different credit card, which I had used to pay for something on Yandex Market in the past. I guess they thought, "Why not use it again?"

I have no idea why they didn't deduct the payment from the linked credit card, which had enough funds to cover the new price, including the extra 21 rubles.

I've been meaning to write this review for a while now, so I've been preparing. The only difference is that it's supposed to be a positive one.

I knew that my subscription price was my price, and in the review, I had to provide the value for money for everyone. My subscription with Amedia cost 4500. I just checked - the new price is already 5299 rubles.

So, for external customers, it increased by 800 rubles, and for regulars like me, it's up by 1100. Yeah, you need to attract new suckers, and you can take advantage of the old ones.

Yandex has only two subscriptions. They used to have more differences between them. For example, in the number of devices you could connect. They've evened that out now.

The cheaper subscription costs 3490, and the more expensive one is 5299 for 360 days. The only difference is that the more expensive one comes with the 'Kids' option and Amedia on Kinopoisk. From what I can see from the table, the rest is the same.

When this subscription cost me 3000+ per year, I thought it was a fair price for the package I got, but for over 4,000 rubles, I'd like to go into more detail about each service.

Kinopoisk. With Amedia.

I registered on Kinopoisk back in 2009. At the time, it was just a movie website without the ability to watch anything. My hobby was writing movie reviews.

Over time, I stopped doing that, and Kinopoisk stopped being a movie catalog and turned into an online movie theater. What was initially a cool idea like a Wikipedia for movies turned into just another IVI.

I resisted the subscription for a long time, but eventually, I gave in, and oh, how some things in it used to annoy me!

Just add a movie to 'To Watch' and it's already been removed, and the 'Watch' button is gone.

Movie catalog in Kinopoisk abroad - and I'm asked to pay 4490 rubles a year for it. Where's the Media Library?! But things got even worse when I left the country. Here in Kinopoisk, it's just a collection of old Soviet movies that are scratched to bits, plus a handful of low-budget TV shows. I only found one imported movie - 'Samurai' with Alain Delon. Not a single Amedia TV show in my Yandex Plus Amedia subscription! I have no idea what I'm paying extra for. Kinopoisk just refuses to work with programs that let you pretend you're accessing the internet from Russia.xa0

Yandex Music

xa0

I'm really happy with Music. I can listen to anyone from Delfina to Madonna. It's weird that they're cutting back on movie catalogues, though.

My Wave - my favorite discovery in Yandex Music I love My Wave in Music - it's like a radio, but without ads and only with your favorite songs.xa0

Yandex Books

xa0

Oh man, this was our major point of contention with the service. I read a lot, mostly on my phone, but sometimes I like to listen to audiobooks too.

The original audiobook catalog in Yandex Music before it became a paid service I used to be happy with the small audiobook catalog in Yandex Music, to be honest. A little bit of classics, a few new releases. Considering I devour 2-3 audiobooks a month, it was more than enough for me.

The moment I couldn't believe my eyes... But then the service started asking me to pay an extra 100 rubles a month for the "Bookmaker" feature. Are you kidding me?! I reached out to customer support, explaining that when I paid for the subscription, I got a bundle of services. A bundle, guys! Don't try to nickel-and-dime me for individual services. But the people who work in Yandex's support team are a different story altogether. First, you have to navigate through the bot, and then you get a response after a ridiculously long time. In the end, I got a response that basically told me I was an idiot, and I just shrugged it off by switching to podcasts.

Budulai is back! (sort of) I was thrilled when the Bookmaker feature, aka Budulai, returned to the subscription. Since last fall, I've been enjoying audiobooks in the Yandex Books app, and I've also been reading physical books when I don't have the chance to use my headphones. The service is decent, but it's got its flaws. Yandex Books App The catalog looks massive at first glance, but it's actually pretty lacking. I was surprised to find that many popular authors are missing, like Donna Tartt and John Marrs. Some series are only partially represented, like 'Why Mom Wants to Get Drunk...'

The 'Want to Read' list is a messSome books just disappear from my subscription. Marking books as 'Want to Read' is pointless, as they might not be available tomorrow morning. The app also gets the count of books I've read wrong. It's easier to just keep a paper list. The book list is a mess, too. It's a jumbled mix of books I've already read, ones I'm planning to read, and who knows what else.

You can't even view your reading stats. No way to see how much time you've spent reading or when you finished a book.

Yandex Books App Despite all the issues, Yandex Books was the one feature that made me willing to pay over 3000+ per year. But not 400+! SberZvuk has audiobooks, too, if you're interested...

That's it, really. The comparison list for Yandex subs is just a bunch of empty cells. Sports on KinoPoisk? Come on! Or kids' content... That's all part of the media package, so why separate it?

Before, the Yandex subscription insisted that it gave me perks when ordering taxis and making purchases on the Market. But now they've taken that away because, honestly, it was never actually a thing.

There have been plenty of times when I needed to call a taxi, I'd check my app with the subscription profile and someone nearby would be looking at the taxi app without a subscription. My prices were always higher. And to make matters worse, with the subscription, I couldn't even order a car with a car seat – that feature just doesn't exist. So, I'd have to ask my husband to order it from his account.

The cashback on the Yandex Market was laughable, so I barely even bothered mentioning it.

Even the subscription didn't remove ads from my Yandex Mail. It's a small thing, but Yandex is just being greedy.

I used to think it was impossible for me to want to cancel my Yandex subscription, even though most of the content on Kinopoisk was inaccessible to me. But now I'm so disappointed in the company's sneaky tactics and the fact that they're deciding for me which card to use for their own gain that I've set a reminder for 359 days from now to make sure I don't forget to turn off auto-renewal.

xa0

This situation reminded me of mobile operators, where they also have this concept of a tariff plan. But it's not acceptable for them to quietly switch you to a new plan without your consent, even if the old one is no longer working.

Imagine if your mobile operator started charging you 450 rubles instead of 300 every month, and they just told you that you'd been switched to a new plan because the old one was discontinued. That's basically what's happening here.

xa0

I wouldn't recommend getting the Yandex Plus subscription. For me, it's become clear that there are too many downsides, and the main one is the lack of respect for the customer.