Flat-Rate Subscription Services a Hit with All Ages in Japan

In October 2025, Line Research, a smartphone research platform operated by Line, carried out a survey on the usage of flat-rate subscriptions, where users can have unlimited access to products and services for a fixed fee, receiving 3,148 responses from people aged 15 to 69.

Overall, 58.3% stated they “are using” flat-rate subscription services, and by age group, this rose significantly to 72.9% for those in their twenties and 70.6% in their thirties. Usage was less than 50% among people in their fifties and sixties.

The top two most popular types of subscription services by far were “video streaming” (33.9%) and “music streaming” (21.1%), followed by online services such as “cloud storage” and “gaming.” In fifth place was the real-life service of “gym memberships,” including for activities like fitness and yoga.

“Video streaming” and “music streaming” ranked first and second respectively across all the age groups, indicating usage of entertainment services was particularly high.

Among people in their teens, subscriptions for “learning and education” stood out, while it was “e-books and magazines” for those in their fifties, and “software” for those in their sixties.

Young People Keeping Their Subscription Fees Low

Of the 1,725 respondents who paid for their own flat-rate subscriptions, just over 20% said that their total monthly payments were “¥500 to ¥999” and the same percentage paid “¥1,000 to ¥1,999”, meaning almost half were keeping their monthly payments below ¥2,000.

The percentage of teens paying “under ¥500” was higher than any other age group, while among those in their forties and above, roughly 20% stated they were paying “¥5,000 or more.”

Data Sources

• Flat-rate subscription usage survey (Japanese) from Line Research.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)