Netflix Removed Star Ratings: Here's How to Get Them Back

If you've been on Netflix for more than five years you'll remember the five-star rating system. Stars were how you decided what to watch, at a glance, you knew if a show was generally loved or generally a waste of time. Then in 2017 Netflix removed them. Replaced them with a thumbs-up/down button and a vague "98% Match" percentage that's based on Netflix's algorithm rather than any external view of quality.

The result: deciding what to watch on Netflix is now harder than it should be, and you've probably noticed yourself picking up your phone halfway through a film you wouldn't have started if you'd seen the rating up front.

Here's why Netflix did it, why their replacement is worse for users, and the simplest fix in 2026, getting real ratings (IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes) back onto every Netflix title in under two minutes.

Why Netflix removed star ratings

Netflix's official line in 2017 was that star ratings were dishonest. They argued people rated documentaries five stars while actually watching reality TV and reruns of Friends, what users said they valued didn't match what they actually consumed. The thumbs system, they claimed, captured behavioural preference more accurately and would feed better into the recommendation engine.

There's a kernel of truth in that. Aspirational rating is a real bias. But the change wasn't really about rating accuracy. It was about pushing Netflix's own content. The match percentage isn't a quality score, it's a personalised fit score. A film with a 98% match for you might be 7.8 on IMDb and a film with a 65% match might be 8.7. Netflix has every incentive to surface its own originals (which often score lower externally) under high match percentages, because every viewer who watches a Netflix original instead of a licensed film saves them on royalty payments.

So the rating system change was rational from Netflix's perspective. From the user's perspective it was a downgrade, you lost a clear quality signal and got a marketing one in return.

What you actually want back

Most people don't really miss the five-star system specifically. They miss being able to glance at a thumbnail and know if it's worth their time. The five-star average answered that. So does an IMDb score. So does a Rotten Tomatoes percentage. You just need one of those numbers visible without having to switch tabs and search.

That's the problem Flix-Rate solves. It overlays IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings as small badges on every Netflix thumbnail. Same Netflix interface, same rows, same algorithm, but with the rating data added back in.

How to get ratings back on Netflix in 2026

The simplest approach is a Chrome extension. Three options exist:

1. Manually search every title on IMDb. Works, but takes ten seconds per title and breaks the browse flow. Most people give up after the third lookup.
2. A free IMDb-only extension. Several exist on the Chrome Web Store. They show IMDb ratings but typically miss Rotten Tomatoes and don't cover episode-level ratings, and most are ad-supported with aggressive analytics.
3. Flix-Rate. Shows both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes side by side, covers episode ratings on Pro, and runs on a paid model so we don't sell your data or show ads.

For pure IMDb ratings the free extensions are fine. For both rating systems plus the episode-level data, Flix-Rate is the cleanest option.

The 60-second setup

1. Go to the Flix-Rate listing on the Chrome Web Store and click "Add to Chrome."
2. Click the Flix-Rate icon in your browser toolbar and sign in with Google or email.
3. Open Netflix. Ratings appear on every thumbnail automatically.

That's the entire setup. The badges sit cleanly in the top-right corner of each thumbnail and update as you scroll. Browse pages, search results, episode lists for series, all covered.

What about the official Netflix thumbs?

The thumbs system is fine for what it is. It feeds Netflix's recommendation engine and gives you a low-effort way to mark "more like this." But it doesn't help you decide what to watch in the first place, the only thing it tells you about a thumbnail is what Netflix's algorithm predicts you'll think.

You can keep using the thumbs alongside Flix-Rate. The two answer different questions. The thumbs answer "will Netflix's algorithm think I'll like this?", IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores answer "is this actually any good?"

Free vs Pro: which to start with

The free tier covers IMDb ratings on Netflix browse pages with a 20-lookup-per-day limit, which is enough for most casual browsing. If you binge-browse, want Rotten Tomatoes scores too, or want episode-level ratings (which is the under-rated feature for shows where the middle seasons drop off), Pro is £4.99/year. There's a launch deal for £4.99 lifetime which is the same price as one year, that ends shortly.

FAQ

Will Netflix bring star ratings back?

Almost certainly not. The thumbs system has been in place since 2017 with no signal Netflix plans to revert. They've doubled down on the match percentage and personalised rows, both of which serve their content strategy. Bringing back stars would expose the gap between high-match-percent recommendations and actual quality, which is the opposite of what Netflix wants.

Does Flix-Rate work on the Netflix mobile app?

No. Flix-Rate is a browser extension and only works on netflix.com in Chrome (and other Chromium browsers). The Netflix mobile app doesn't allow third-party extensions of any kind.

Are there any privacy concerns?

Flix-Rate doesn't collect or transmit data about what you watch on Netflix. Ratings are fetched anonymously from the OMDb database, cached locally, and discarded after 24 hours. The full privacy policy is here.