Nintendo Switch

FAQ #5 – Is Nintendo Switch Online worth it? Which plan do you have?



This week, I posted some of the most common Frequently-Asked-Questions we have seen submitted to r/NintendoSwitch or elsewhere, with the intention that we can collect common or quality answers into a dedicated post which can be easily referenced or linked when relevant.

The last FAQ on my short list that new Switch owners and buyers often ask:

Is Nintendo Switch Online worth it? Which plan do you have?

Another way of asking this question might be, what made NSO worth it or not worth it to you? What would be a good or bad reason to buy [or not buy] an NSO membership?

If you bought NSO and did not like it, why? On the other end, did anyone wish they had bought it sooner?

Do you purchase NSO as an individual or as part of a family group? Do you purchase on a monthly or annual basis?

Here are some official overview / comparison / FAQ pages from Nintendo:

Here are some relevant posts from over the years:

Find more comments on the cross-post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitchHelp/comments/1hk0hh2/faq_5_is_nintendo_switch_online_worth_it_which/?

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by Sephardson

15 Comments

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  2. notthegoatseguy

    At its start I was on the individual $20 plan and I think that’s worth it if a bit high priced for what you get. But if you break it down by month it really isn’t all that much. Guess its a perspective thing.

    I got 7 online “friends” together from an old web forum I’m active on and we split the Expansion Pack. $10 a year is a pretty trivial amount and I think for online access, cloud saves and the included DLCs its worth it. I can’t say I play the retro apps a ton but when I do its an overall good experience, and there are some pretty deep cuts included in the NES, SNES and Genesis apps in particular.

    I may struggle to justify the $50 +EP individual plan if that was my only option.

    I do wish we’d at least get a road map of remaining first party Nintendo published games with original IPs. There isn’t much left among NES or SNES, but we still have gaps in 64, GB/GBC, and GBA.

  3. Flimsy-Raspberry-493

    I would say it depends. Which games do you like play and if online is needed for them. Lets say you have animal crossing if your super into decorating your island you would need online so you can access the codes for other peoples paths designs. You can always just use it for a couple months then ditch it when you have what you need. 

    I would be mindful if you are getting for your young one because if they start playing online in certain games have where they fight against other players who mind you generally can be adults who have no problem beating something a child would find hard. Honestly we had to restrict which games my younger could play online because they would get frustrated that they lost but it was a game with free to play but had in game purchases. 

    I know it looks cheesy when the commercial shows the families playing apart in different cities but it really does that. There are younger siblings who miss when they’re older siblings/relatives moving out even if it’s for a short amount of time like going to college school year. Being able to play online  can mimic what they had in the house.

  4. FiresideCatsmile

    I gathered 7 other people who own a switch from around my circle and set up a family plan. That’s like 8€ each approx. per year.

    I barely make use out of it and still think it’s worth it. The others feel the same. Just for the occasional N64 nostalgia for example.

  5. arijitlive

    I have a single switch, and bought the basic $20 plan. My son plays a lot of older games, and online smash bros, MK8. And on top of that, the cloud save data backup – worth the $20 a year in my eyes.

  6. Nympho_BBC_Queen

    No it’s definitely not worth it anymore they drip feed content too much and the DLC add ons are lacking.

    Honestly they should probably start a new program to attract new subscribers.

    My idea is basically a digital only revival of the Nintendo Select program.

    Give Switch online subscribers exclusive access to discounted games.

    Look at a list of Nintendo published games with less than 250k sales in a business year and put those games on a special discount (50%) for Online subscribers. Maybe put the games on a monthly rotation and add a popular game with them like Mario Wonder, Botw etc.

    It would drive the subscription count fast and would also revitalise sales of more niche IPs like Bayonetta, Xenonlade, Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, the Mario RPGs, Mario Sports games etc.

  7. Lanzido

    I’m solo and buy the cheapest plan on the yearly subscription. F-Zero 99 alone justifies this for me, but I also enjoy other perks like the SNES app.

  8. tsabin_naberrie

    I rarely play online, so for me it is more of a retro gaming + Mario Kart expansion (as well as Nintendo Music now), but I feel like I get decent enough mileage out of those offerings. I’m in family group with my brother and some of his friends—who *do* game online a lot—so it comes down to $16/year for me.

    A bit pricey, but I’m certainly paying less while getting more than I would be if I did the base NSO package by myself, so it’s overall felt worthwhile.

  9. whyyoutube

    NSO is absolutely worth it….if they ever properly fix the “O” part of NSO.

    For those who ever dealt with random framerate slowdowns during a Mario Party minigame or dealt with the many times you or another person disconnects during a Splatoon match, you should know what I mean.

    I don’t care about the old NES/SNES games you can play on NSO, or the Nintendo Music app. Those are just compensation for how garbage their online functionality is. I would give up both those features AND pay separately for them if NSO caught up to modern gaming standards. Hell, I’d would finally pay for the NSO expansion pack if that happened.

  10. El_Barto_227

    It’s ridiculous to have to pay to be allowed to use multiplayer. Not only is it often peer to peer, 3rd party games aren’t having their servers hosted by Nintendo.

  11. 40WAPSun

    Wasn’t worth it for me. I never really played any of the nes/snes games and gave up on pokemon for good so I canceled

  12. onlyhereforbookworm

    It’s worth it if you want to play with people, otherwise it’s not. I don’t have it, as it’s not worth it to me, but most of my friends do.

    It’s really scummy of them to lock online features behind a subscription. But what van you do but either pay or play the game on a different platform?

  13. babybimmer

    Primarily for the cloud backup. It helps when I have a Switch Lite (mostly for travel) and a regular Switch.

  14. Sleepycoworkerzzz

    I’m in a fortunate position financially where the cost is inconsequential and I have individual $50 plan. Don’t find myself using the online features but $50 a year is better than the other systems prices. I’m also very optimistic that they will have a much improved online experience with the Switch 2.

  15. supercakefish

    It’s worth it to me for the peace of mind of cloud saves alone. I wish Nintendo didn’t lock such basic functionality behind a paywall, but that’s the reality we live in.

    Also with Splatoon being my favourite game on Switch, NSO feels necessary for that too.

    I have basic NSO. Expansion pack does not interest me at all.

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