How to Save Money on Netflix, Disney+ and More (Without Just Canceling Your Subscription)

In the early days, streaming was cheap. A standard Netflix plan was $7.99 a month, while ad-supported Hulu cost just $5.99, making it easy and affordable to access tons of movies and shows. Free one-month trials and discounted intro rates were easy to come by, and no service bothered cracking down on password sharing either.

Sadly, the era of low-cost, no-hassles streaming is all but over.

While consumers have more viewing options than ever at their fingertips, it's become less feasible to subscribe to everything you want as streaming prices have approximately doubled in the past decade.

In the last few months alone, many of the major streaming services have announced higher prices. The cost of a standard Disney+ membership, which was only $6.99 when the service first launched, will increase from the current rate of $13.99 per month to $15.99 in October. The price of an ad-free Paramount+ with Showtime subscription went up from $11.99 to $12.99 on Aug. 20 as well. These moves followed earlier price hikes this year from Peacock (Comcast) and Max (Warner Bros. Discovery).

Streaming prices now vs. launch

Following recent price adjustments, here’s how much it costs to subscribe to the ad-free versions of the most popular services:

• Apple TV+: $9.99 per month (up from $4.99 at launch in 2019)
• Disney+: $13.99 per month (up from $6.99 per month at launch in 2019)
• Hulu: $17.99 per month (up from $11.99 when the ad-free option was created in 2015)
• Max: $16.99 per month (up from $14.99 when HBO Now launched in 2015)
• Netflix: $15.49 per month (up from $7.99 per month in 2011)
• Paramount+: $12.99 per month (up from $9.99 at launch in 2021)
• Peacock: $13.99 per month (up from $9.99 at launch in 2020)
• Amazon Prime Video: $11.98 per month (a $2.99 fee to avoid ads was added in January)

The monthly costs of some of the newer streaming services have been rising by about $1 per year, which is a much faster pace of increase than how prices have gone up over the years for older subscriptions like Max or Netflix.

Peacock and Disney+ are examples of newer services that have aggressively increased prices. These services launched with a growth strategy and a goal of competing with giants like Netflix, which remains the largest service.

But even though no one's as big as Netflix, other companies have finally established themselves in the scene enough that they need to focus on turning profits. In addition to increasing prices, they’re also cracking down on password sharing just like Netflix has, and they're adding or increasing ads.

Streaming companies have justified their price increases stating that they’re necessary to pay for expanded libraries, original movies and series and new forays into exclusive sports streams.

For example, the price of an ad-free Peacock plan recently increased by $2, bringing it to $13.99. The change took effect a week before the Summer Olympics in Paris, which were broadcasted by Peacock and NBCUniversal. The cost of an ad-free Max plan increased by $1 to $16.99 ahead of Season 2 of House of the Dragon, which averaged 25 million viewers per episode across platforms, according to HBO.

On the other hand, some streaming services have trimmed parts of their catalogs to reduce costs, and customers should be warned they may be paying in monthly fees for less content. You can keep track of which shows and movies are coming and going from various streaming services with a website like Reelgood.

How to save money on Netflix, Hulu, Max and more

Instead of signing up for a new service every time something catches your eye, assess the broader catalog and read reviews from customers or blogs to see if it's worth it.

You should also consider the following ways to save money on streaming:

Get the cheaper ad-supported plan

The simplest way to save money on streaming in 2024 is to opt for an ad-supported subscription, which nearly every streaming service has at this point. (Apple TV+ doesn’t have a plan with ads, but that’s reportedly coming soon.)

Choosing an ad-supported plan is a tradeoff, though, so think about how much you plan to use the service and how much you care about avoiding ads.

Hop from service to service

If you don’t see value in a service beyond one or two shows you're binging, consider “service hopping.” All of the major services have monthly subscription options, making it possible to cancel at pretty much any time. Service hopping refers to cancelling your subscription when you’re finished watching something. Move on to the next and repeat.

Look for whatever free trials that still exist

Many streaming services have done away with their once-generous free trials. But a few companies still offer free tryout periods for 30 days, including Hulu and Amazon Prime (which includes Amazon Prime Video content). So you may be able to watch a new season of a show without paying a dime. If you're a student, you can get a free trial of Amazon Prime for a full six months, followed by a subscription that's half the usual monthly price.

Pay less due to your student status

As mentioned above, students can sometimes get discounts on streaming plans. After the six-month free trial of Amazon Prime, the student rate is $7.49 a month versus $14.99 normally. A Hulu subscription with ads costs as little as $1.99 a month for eligible students too. Peacock offers the same $1.99 monthly rate for students, but the deal is only good for 12 months — after that, you'll be billed at the usual price if you don't cancel.

Take advantage of subscription and credit card deals

There are several different ways to access streaming at no additional cost via other membership programs and credit cards. Among the options:

• If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you already have access to Prime Video. Likewise, Walmart’s Prime competitor Walmart+ includes Paramount+.

• The American Express Platinum card includes a $20 monthly credit for streaming services including Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu or Peacock, and it also includes Paramount+ via Walmart+.

• The Chase Sapphire Reserve card includes a year of Instacart+, which gives access to Peacock.

Get discounts via your phone or internet plan

Your existing phone or internet plan may have streaming perks. As of June, Verizon internet customers can subscribe to several streaming services at discounted rates through a new service called MyHome. One of the best deals is a Netflix and Max (with ads) combo for $10 per month, which represents a savings of $6.98 per month. T-Mobile also offers streaming perks to certain customers, including access to Apple TV+ and the ad-supported versions of Netflix and Hulu.

Pay for an annual plan rather than monthly

Annual plans can offer savings compared to monthly subscriptions. Max with ads is $99.99 for a year, which comes out being $20 cheaper than paying $9.99 for 12 months, while the annual option for the base Hulu plan can save you $16.

The best streaming bundles

Several of the large streaming services are currently advertising bundle deals, which give customers access to multiple catalogs for one monthly price that's often much cheaper than paying a la carte.

Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

The best-known case is Disney+. At this point, it would be almost foolish to subscribe to Disney+ without going for one of the bundle options unless you really have no interest in Hulu or ESPN+. While Disney+ without ads is $15.99 per month and Hulu without ads is $17.99 per month, you can bundle the ad-free versions of both for $19.99 per month. Alternatively, you could get all three services with ads for $14.99 per month.

Disney+ and Max

You can also bundle Disney-owned streaming services with Max. For example, an ad-free Disney+, Hulu and Max bundle costs $30. If you're paying for each separately, it would cost about $49.

Comcast Xfinity StreamSaver

In May, Comcast announced a new service called StreamSaver, which is available to Xfinity internet customers and TV customers for $15 per month and includes AppleTV+, Netflix with ads and Peacock with ads. You’ll save about $10 per month with this bundle versus subscribing to all three separately.

Apple One with Apple TV+

Lastly, Apple One is essentially an in-house Apple bundle that gives access to Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and iCloud storage for $19.95 per month, a $9 discount off the full cost for all of these services.

More from Money:

Best Credit Cards of August 2024

5 Proposals to 'Fix' Social Security — and How They Could Affect Your Benefits

Car Shoppers Can Expect 'More Discounting and Better Prices' in the Second Half of 2024