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The streaming revolution was supposed to let us swap expensive cable TV bills for a more affordable, a la carte viewing experience. And while a Netflix membership is cheaper than a Comcast or Spectrum TV subscription, the cost ticks up if you also need Max for House of the Dragon, Apple TV+ for Severance, and Hulu for The Bear.Not helping matters is a constant stream of price hikes and plan adjustments in recent years. If you want an ad-free experience on Netflix, for example, your cheapest option is now $15 per month. And don’t even think about splitting the cost by sharing a password. Mooching off your old roommate’s sister’s login is now a thing of the past as major streaming services crack down.The latest: Paramount+ is increasing prices for two of its plans, effective Aug. 20, though some existing subscribers get a break.If you don’t keep close tabs on your subscriptions, it’s easy to miss a cost increase. A subscription that started at $4.99 per month can easily creep up to $9.99. If you have a half dozen or so video-streaming services, plus music streaming or cloud storage, it quickly adds up.Below we’ll run through the price history of the top video-streaming services, and what you’ll pay if you sign up today.
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Netflix
(Credit: Netflix/PCMag)
After doing away with its Basic plan, Netflix now has three tiers: Standard with ads ($6.99), Standard ($15.49), and Premium ($22.99). You’d think a company would want as many people on is most expensive plan as possible, but the ad-based tier has proven popular and lucrative, hence the demise of the Basic plan.January 2024: Announces plans to get rid of Basic plan for existing users.October 2023: The Basic plan goes up $2 per month from $9.99 to $11.99.The Premium plan increases $3 from $19.99 to $22.99.The Standard and ad-supported plan remain the same at $15.49 and $6.99, respectively. July 2023: Gets rid of Basic ad-free $9.99 plan for new subscribers.May 2023: Add another member is $7.99 per month/person for higher tiers.November 2022: Launches ad-based tier for $6.99 per month.January 2022: Basic plan increases $1 per month from $8.99 to $9.99.Standard plan increases $1.50 from $13.99 to $15.49.Premium plan goes up $2 from $17.99 to $19.99.October 2020: Netflix raises the Standard plan by a dollar to $13.99 a month, and the Premium tier by two dollars to $17.99 a month. January 2019: The Standard plan goes up from $11 per month to $13. The Basic plan, on the other hand, increases from $8 to $9.Apple TV+Apple TV+ came in at a low price due to an emerging library of original content. Plus, Apple could afford it. But as its shows have picked up steam over the years thanks to hits like Ted Lasso and Severance, the service’s pricing has fallen in line with its rivals. Purchasing a new Apple device will get you three months for free (for new customers); Apple is still a hardware company after all.October 2023: Goes up to $9.99 per month Plus, the Apple One bundle, which includes cloud storage, Apple TV+ and Apple Music, among other services, now costs $19.95 per month for individuals, up from $16.95. October 2022: Price increase to $6.99 per month and $69 annually.November 2019: Debuts at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.HBO Max / Discovery+
(Credit: PCMag/Warner Bros. Discovery)
HBO made the jump to streaming in 2015 ahead of the season five premiere of Game of Thrones, with one service for those with a pay TV subscription and another for those who just watched online. At $14.99 per month, it was one of the more expensive options, but prestige TV doesn’t come cheap. Now Max, it includes an ad-supported tier and content from Discovery.June 2024: Ad-free tier increases from $15.99 to $16.99. The Ultimate Ad-Free plan, which offers 4K streams, jumps $1 to $20.99. Ad-free annual plans also increase by $20 per year.October 2023: Ad-free Discovery+ jumps from $6.99 per month to $8.99.May 2023: RIP HBO Max, long live Max.April 2023: Warner Bros. Media announces Max, which combines HBO Max and Discovery+. A $9.99 per month ad-supported tier remains, but it drops 4K for 1080p and reduces concurrent streams from three to two.Adds 4K quality to a new “Ultimate” tier for Max, which costs $19.99 per month and offer subscribers four concurrent streams.January 2023: Ad-free tier increases from $14.99 to $15.99.June 2021: Ad-supported HBO Max tier added for $9.99 per month.May 2021: WarnerMedia and Discovery merge to become Warner Bros. DiscoveryJanuary 2021: Discovery+ launches for $4.99 per month ($6.99 ad-free).July 2020: HBO retires HBO GO for pay TV subscribers and rebrands as just HBO.May 2020: HBO Max launches for $14.99 per month (RIP HBO Now).March 2015: HBO Now debuts for $14.99 per month.Amazon Prime VideoMost people get Prime Video via an Amazon Prime membership, which has seen a few price hikes over the years. Earlier this year, the company irked customers by adding commercials to the base tier and requiring an extra $2.99 per month to remove them.April 2024: Amazon denies reports that standalone Prime Video will be shut down.Jan. 29, 2024: Ads roll out to Prime Video; extra $2.99 per month to ditch themFebruary 2022: Amazon increases the price of Prime from $119 to $139 for annual subscribers. Monthly subscribers see a $2 increase to $14.99. 2018: Prime price increase from $99 to $119. April 2016: Standalone Prime Video launches for $8.99 per month.Hulu
(Credit: Hulu/PCMag)
Hulu subscribers who weren’t paying attention to their bills probably got the biggest sticker shock last fall, when the service went up from $14.99 to $17.99 per month for the ad-free tier. If you can deal with commercials, consider bundling Hulu with Disney+ and ESPN+ for $14.99 per month.
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October 2023: Ad-free Hulu up from $14.99 to $17.99 per month; ad-supported still $7.99.December 2022: Ad-free version of Hulu up from $12.99 to $14.99 per month.2020-2021: A series of hikes for Hulu with Live TV. It’s currently $76.99 with ads (plus Disney+ and ESPN+) or $89.99 per month without ads. Disney+For Disney fans (and now, Swifties), this streamer is a no-brainer. But the price for the ad-free tier has basically doubled in five years, from $6.99 at launch to $13.99 now. As mentioned above, if you’re a sports fan or tend to watch a lot of ABC content, bundling with Hulu and/or ESPN+ could save you a couple bucks here.October 2023: Disney+ Premium increases from $10.99 to $13.99 per month; ad-supported remains at $7.99.December 2022: March 2021: Price up from $6.99 to $7.99 or $69.99 to $79.99. Bundle up to $13.99.November 2019: Disney+ debuts at $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year with no ads, or $12.99 a month for a bundle of Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.Paramount + with ShowtimeThis service started its life as streaming platform for CBS TV shows, but now includes the Paramount and Showtime universes. That means throwback MTV shows, series like Billions, and some of Paramount’s blockbuster movies. June 25, 2024: Starting Aug. 20, Paramount+ Essential will increase from $5.99 to $7.99 per month, while Paramount+ with Showtime will be $12.99 per month.April 30, 2024: Paramount Global shuts down Showtime and moves everyone to Paramount+.June 2023: Paramount+ and Showtime merge for $11.99 per month. Standalones continue at $9.99 for Paramount+ and $10.99 for Showtime. Plus, Paramount+ without Showtime for $5.99, up from $4.99.March 2021: CBS All Access rebranded as Paramount+.August 2016: CBS All Access launches ad-free tier for $9.99 per month.October 2014: CBS All Access launches for $5.99 per month.PeacockPeacock is for all things NBC, including The Office and 30 Rock, as well as Bravo reality series, and movies from the NBCUniversal library. At launch, Peacock tried its hand at a free, ad-supported tier, but quickly discovered that streaming is pricey and cut the free tier last year. Enjoy $5.99-per-month streaming for the next few months before NBC comes for your wallet.April 2024: Peacock announces plans to increase ad-supported Premium plan from $5.99 to $7.99 per month and Premium Plus plan from $11.99 to $13.99 per month in summer 2024.July 2023: Increase of $1 to $5.99 per month/$59.99 per year for Premium, or $2 bump for Premium Plus to $11.99 / $119.99.February 2023: Axes free streaming tier.July 2020: Peacock launches with free, ad-supported tier; Peacock Premium is $4.99/$49.99, and ad-free Premium Plus is $9.99 / $99.99.Crunchyroll Anime fans with a higher-tier Crunchyroll membership saw a price hike in May, its first since 2019, a move that’s necessary to fund “the increase in content on Crunchyroll in recent years,” the streaming service says. Paid viewers can tap into 45,000 episodes across 1,400 series and movies; the free, ad-supported version lives on with 1,000 hours of anime. But Crunchyroll is lowering its free-trial period from 14 to seven days. Prices across the service’s tiers are now:Premium Fan: $7.99 per month (no price change).Mega Fan: Increases from $9.99 to $11.99 per month. Ultimate Fan: Increases from $14.99 to $15.99 per month.
(Credit: Crunchyroll )
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