A US household that pays for Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, Apple TV and ad-free Prime Video now spends $119.42 a month if it takes the cheapest ad-free plan of each and buys Disney+ and Hulu as a bundle. That adds up to $1,433.04 a year before any live TV, while ad-supported plans start at $6.99 for Discovery+ and $8.99 for Netflix, Paramount+ and standalone Prime Video. The most expensive plan in this group is Netflix Premium, which costs $26.99 a month for 4K on four screens.
Prices moved again this autumn, when Disney raised Disney+ and Hulu for new subscribers on September 23, 2026 and began charging existing subscribers more on billing dates from October 21. Every price below comes from the company’s own help or pricing page or from dated price reporting, as of November 2026.
Netflix at $8.99 to $26.99 and Where Bundles Beat Single Plans
- Netflix charges $8.99 with ads, $19.99 for Standard and $26.99 for Premium.
- Disney+ Premium and Hulu Premium now cost $21.49 each, which makes them the most expensive ad-free entry plans on this list.
- The ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle costs $21.99, only 50 cents more than either of the two services bought on its own.
- Annual plans cut about 17% off Disney+ Premium and both Paramount+ tiers, and Amazon Prime is $40.88 cheaper paid yearly.
- In our worked example, a family trims its yearly bill from $917.40 to $490.20 by switching one bundle to ads and rotating two services.
With-Ads, Ad-Free and Top Plan Prices Service by Service
The table lists every main US plan for the big subscription video services, where “with ads” means the cheapest ad-supported tier and “ad-free” means the cheapest tier without commercials. A third column covers the top plan where one exists, usually the tier that adds 4K or extra screens. Annual prices appear only where the service sells a yearly plan and the price was confirmed.
| Service | With ads (monthly) | Ad-free (monthly) | Top plan (monthly) | Annual option | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | $8.99 (Standard with ads) | $19.99 (Standard) | $26.99 (Premium, 4K) | None | Netflix |
| Disney+ | $12.49 | $21.49 (Premium) | $21.49 | $214.99 (Premium) | Disney |
| Hulu | $12.49 | $21.49 (Premium) | $21.49 | Not listed | Disney |
| HBO Max | $10.99 (Basic with Ads) | $18.49 (Standard) | $22.99 (Premium, 4K) | Not listed | Skydance |
| Peacock | $12.99 (Premium) | $19.99 (Premium Plus) | $19.99 | Not listed | Comcast |
| Paramount+ | $8.99 (Essential) | $13.99 (Premium) | $13.99 | $89.99 / $139.99 | Skydance |
| Prime Video | $8.99 standalone, or with Prime ($14.99) | Add $2.99 | Not applicable | Prime $139 | Amazon |
| Apple TV | No ad tier | $12.99 | $12.99 | Not listed | Apple |
| Discovery+ | $6.99 | $11.99 | $11.99 | Not listed | Skydance |
Prices are US list prices before tax.
Two patterns stand out. The first is that the gap between the ad tier and the ad-free tier keeps widening, and it now stands at $11 a month on Netflix and $9 on Disney+. The second is that ownership is shrinking to a handful of media groups. Paramount completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026, and the merged company, Skydance, now runs HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+. We covered the first price move under the new owner in our report on the Discovery+ price increase after the Skydance deal.
Ad-Free Monthly Prices Charted
Sorting the services by their cheapest ad-free plan shows three clear price bands. Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock and HBO Max sit between $18.49 and $21.49, Paramount+ and Apple TV sit in the low teens, and Discovery+ and Prime Video with the ad-free add-on come in just under $12.
The chart compares the entry ad-free tier rather than the best picture quality, so anyone who wants 4K should expect to pay more than the bars show, with Netflix Premium at $26.99 and HBO Max Premium at $22.99.
Netflix Plans and Prices
Netflix has three US plans. Standard with ads costs $8.99 a month and streams on two screens at once in 1080p, while Standard drops the ads for $19.99 and keeps the same two screens. Premium costs $26.99 and adds four screens, 4K Ultra HD and HDR.
Netflix also sells “extra member” slots for someone who lives outside your home, with one allowed on Standard and up to two on Premium. Each slot costs $7.99 a month with ads or $9.99 without, which is cheaper than a second full account and suits a grown child or a parent who lives elsewhere.
Netflix has no annual plan in the US. Its ad-free Standard plan rose from $15.49 to $17.99 in early 2025, and it costs $19.99 today, a 29.1% rise on the same plan in under two years. You can check that math with our percentage calculator.
Disney+ and Hulu After the October 2026 Increase
Disney+ with ads went from $11.99 to $12.49 a month, and Disney+ Premium went from $18.99 to $21.49, in an increase announced in September 2026. New subscribers paid the new prices from September 23, and existing subscribers see them on billing dates on or after October 21. The Premium hike is 13.2% while the ad tier rose just 4.2%, which tells you Disney would much rather have you watching ads.
Hulu moved to the same prices: $12.49 with ads and $21.49 for Hulu Premium. A Disney+ Premium annual plan costs $214.99, and since paying monthly for a year would cost $257.88, the annual plan saves $42.89, or 16.6%. Hulu subscribers get a price-change notice first, so the exact date of their increase depends on each account.
Disney+ launched in November 2019 at $6.99 a month, and Premium now costs $21.49, which is 207% more after seven years of steady increases.
HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+ Under One Owner
HBO Max has three tiers. Basic with Ads costs $10.99 a month, Standard costs $18.49 and Premium costs $22.99. Premium adds 4K streaming and more downloads, and all three prices date from an increase across every tier in October 2025. HBO Max posts notices of plan price changes in its help center.
Paramount+ is the cheaper sibling in the same family. Essential costs $8.99 a month or $89.99 a year, and ad-free Premium, which includes Showtime, costs $13.99 a month or $139.99 a year. Both rose by $1 for new subscribers on January 15, 2026, and paying yearly saves $17.89 on Essential and $27.89 on Premium.
Discovery+ costs $6.99 with ads and $11.99 without after an increase in October 2026. Skydance plans to unify its streaming apps into a single service over time. When that happens, one price will probably replace three, and because nobody outside the company knows that number yet, it makes sense to avoid long commitments on these apps until the plan is clearer.
Peacock Prices for Premium and Premium Plus
Peacock raised every plan on August 18, 2026. Premium, the ad-supported tier, now costs $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year, and ad-free Premium Plus costs $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. Peacock Select, the cheapest plan, rose to $8.99 a month. Existing monthly subscribers moved to the new prices from their first bill on or after September 17, 2026. That makes Peacock’s ad tier one of the most expensive in the group, a sharp change for a service that once sold itself as the budget option.
Peacock is the streaming home of NBC and Bravo shows, and if you subscribe mainly to catch up on one season, it is a strong candidate for the rotation method described further down.
Prime Video and Apple TV Pricing
Prime Video comes with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year, and Amazon also sells Prime Video alone for $8.99 a month. Either way, Prime Video shows ads by default, and removing them costs another $2.99 a month.
For most households, Prime is the cheapest way in, because anyone who already pays for Prime to get free shipping gets Prime Video at no extra cost. Paying for Prime yearly instead of monthly saves $40.88.
Apple TV has one plan with no ads at $12.99 a month. The service, then called Apple TV+, launched in 2019 at $4.99 and rose from $9.99 to $12.99 in August 2025. It is also the only service in this comparison that does not sell an ad-supported tier.
Streaming Bundles That Actually Save Money
Bundles are the one place where prices have fallen in relative terms. Disney sells its own apps together and also sells a three-way bundle with HBO Max. The prices below include the October increase.
| Bundle | Old price | New price | Cost of the apps separately | Monthly saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disney+ and Hulu, with ads | $12.99 | $12.99 | $24.98 | $11.99 |
| Disney+ and Hulu, no ads | $19.99 | $21.99 | $42.98 | $20.99 |
| Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max, with ads | $19.99 | $21.99 | $35.97 | $13.98 |
| Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max, no ads | $32.99 | $34.99 | $61.47 | $26.48 |
| Disney+, ESPN and Hulu, with ads | $19.99 | $21.99 | Not compared | Not compared |
| Disney+ and Hulu (no ads), ESPN Select (ads) | $29.99 | $32.99 | Not compared | Not compared |
The ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle is the best deal in US streaming right now, since it costs only 50 cents more than Disney+ Premium alone. Anyone paying for Disney+ Premium without Hulu is leaving a free service on the table. Disney plans to fold the separate Hulu app into Disney+ during 2026, which will make the bundle feel like a single service.
The three-way bundle with HBO Max saves $26.48 a month on the ad-free version, which works out to more than $317 a year for a family that wants all three services.
What Streaming Costs a Typical Household per Year
Monthly prices hide the real damage, so take a family of four in Ohio with a common mix of services. They pay for Netflix Standard, the ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle, HBO Max Standard and Peacock Premium, and they also have Amazon Prime for shipping with the $2.99 ad-free option on Prime Video.
| Service | Plan | Monthly | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Standard | $19.99 | $239.88 |
| Disney+ and Hulu | Bundle, no ads | $21.99 | $263.88 |
| HBO Max | Standard | $18.49 | $221.88 |
| Peacock | Premium (ads) | $12.99 | $155.88 |
| Prime Video | Ad-free add-on | $2.99 | $35.88 |
| Total | $76.45 | $917.40 |
That is $917.40 a year, and Prime itself is not counted because they buy it for shipping anyway. The picture changes once you look at how the family actually watches. Everyone uses Netflix all year, the kids watch Disney+ and do not mind ads, HBO Max matters for one big series, and Peacock matters for a few months of NBC shows.
So they make three changes. They switch the Disney+ and Hulu bundle to the ad-supported version, they keep HBO Max for only three months a year and Peacock for three different months, and they drop the Prime Video ad-free add-on.
| Service | New setup | Months paid | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Standard, kept | 12 | $239.88 |
| Disney+ and Hulu | Bundle with ads | 12 | $155.88 |
| HBO Max | Standard, rotated | 3 | $55.47 |
| Peacock | Premium, rotated | 3 | $38.97 |
| Prime Video | Ads kept | 0 | $0.00 |
| Total | $490.20 |
The new total is $490.20, a saving of $427.20, or 46.6%, and the family loses almost nothing it cared about. The biggest single saving comes from rotation rather than from cutting a service for good.
How to Cut Your Streaming Bill Without Losing Your Shows
These tactics work on any mix of services, and the first few cost you nothing in viewing time.
- Rotate instead of stacking: Most of these services bill month to month and let you cancel at any time, so keep one or two “anchor” services all year and run the rest one at a time. Subscribe when a show you want finishes its season, watch it, and cancel before the next bill.
- Buy annual plans only for services you keep all year: The yearly price is cheaper, but it locks you in. An annual plan makes sense for Paramount+ or Disney+ if you would never cancel, and it is a poor fit for a service you only want for one show.
- Take the ad tier where you watch least: Ads bother people most on the service they use every night, so take the ad tier on the service you open twice a month, where it saves money with little pain.
- Use the Disney bundles: If you pay for Disney+ Premium alone, switching to the ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle adds Hulu for 50 cents.
- Do not pay for 4K you cannot see: Netflix Premium and HBO Max Premium charge extra for 4K, which only helps on a 4K TV with a fast, steady connection. Our guide to internet speeds by country shows typical US speeds, and our explainer on what Wi-Fi 7 changes at home covers several 4K streams at once.
- Check your phone and internet plans: Some wireless and broadband plans include a streaming service, so check your account before you pay for the same app twice.
Make one more habit stick by putting every subscription in one list with its bill date. Video apps are rarely the only charges that creep up, and fitness apps do it too, as our look at the Supernatural VR price shows, and so do music plans. A calendar reminder two days before each renewal is often all you need to cancel in time.
Where YouTube Fits Into the Streaming Budget
YouTube TV belongs in a different budget line because it replaces cable with live channels, and its base plan was listed at $82.99 a month in March 2026. That single bill costs more each month than the whole trimmed household example above. Some families who drop it pair one on-demand service with a free antenna for local channels.
Free YouTube competes with every paid app for the same evening hours. Creators earn from ads and sponsors rather than from your subscription, which is how they can give so much away. Our guide to how YouTubers make money explains that model.
Which Streaming Plan Suits Which Viewer
Price alone does not pick a service, so match the plan to how your home actually watches.
- A single viewer on a tight budget: Netflix Standard with ads at $8.99 plus Prime Video if you already have Prime, with one more service added at a time on rotation.
- A family with young kids: The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads at $12.99 covers kids’ shows and adult TV for less than either Premium plan alone.
- A prestige drama fan: HBO Max Standard at $18.49 while a big series is airing, then cancel. If you also want Disney+ and Hulu, the three-way bundle is cheaper than paying for HBO Max on its own plus the Disney bundle.
- A Paramount+ and Showtime fan: An annual plan, at $89.99 for Essential or $139.99 for Premium, works out to $7.50 or $11.67 a month for a service you keep all year.
- Someone who hates ads: Apple TV at $12.99 never shows them, and for a bigger library without ads, the ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle gives two services for $21.99.
Cheapest Service, Disney+’s 2026 Rise and Annual Plans
What Is the Cheapest Streaming Service in the US?
Among the paid services in this comparison, Discovery+ with ads is the cheapest at $6.99 a month, followed by Netflix Standard with ads, Paramount+ Essential and standalone Prime Video at $8.99 each. Prime Video costs nothing extra if you already pay for an Amazon Prime membership.
How Much Is Netflix per Month Without Ads?
Netflix Standard costs $19.99 a month without ads and streams on two screens in 1080p, while Premium costs $26.99 and adds four screens, 4K and HDR.
When Did Disney+ Raise Its Prices in 2026?
New subscribers paid the higher prices from September 23, 2026, and existing Disney+ subscribers were charged the new rates on billing dates on or after October 21, 2026, when Disney+ Premium went from $18.99 to $21.49.
Is the Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max Bundle Worth It?
It is worth it if you want all three, because the ad-free version costs $34.99 a month against $61.47 for the three ad-free plans bought separately, a saving of $26.48 a month. If you only watch HBO Max for one show a year, rotating it in and out is cheaper.
Which Streaming Services Offer Annual Plans?
Disney+ Premium ($214.99), Paramount+ Essential ($89.99) and Paramount+ Premium ($139.99) sell yearly plans, and Amazon Prime costs $139 a year, but Netflix does not offer an annual plan in the US.
Netflix Help, Tom’s Guide and Price Hike Reports for 2026
- Netflix Help Center: Plans and Pricing (US)
- Tom’s Guide: Disney+ Confirms Another Price Hike (September 24, 2026)
- Gadget Hacks: Disney and Hulu Price Increase 2026, New Costs Compared
- Tom’s Guide: What Streaming Costs in 2026 (updated August 20, 2026)
- ConsumerAffairs: Peacock Raises Subscription Prices (August 2026)
- Keeping Up With Inflation: Streaming Subscription Prices 2026
- HBO Max Help: Plan Price Changes
- SEC filing: Paramount Completes Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (October 2026)
