Canceling Disney+, Hulu or ESPN+ Ahead of Price Increases? What Are the Best Alternatives?
For the third fall in a row, Disney is increasing prices on all of its streaming services.
Mickey Mouse isn’t messing around. For the third year in a row, Disney has announced that it's raising prices on all of its streaming services. Customers will have to pay more for standalone services like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, as well as most of the Disney Bundle options starting in October. If you’re fed up with the “streamflation” at Disney and want to look elsewhere for entertainment, I’ll break down your best options to save money and enjoy similar content below!
Key Details:
- Ad-supported Disney+ is rising to $9.99 per month, more than Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount+ and Netflix.
- Ad-free Hulu will be best replaced by a Max subscription.
- It is still hard to replicate the value of the Disney Bundle, even after price increases.
Which Streamers Could Replace Disney+?
Best Ad-Supported Replacement: Paramount+ Essential
Canceling Disney+ will be tough for parents with kids, but fortunately Paramount+ will offer a good replacement. This streamer has a mountain of kids’ content from Nickelodeon, from classics like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Rugrats” to favorites like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and much more.
Parents will love shows like “Mayor of Kingstown” and many others from the pen of Taylor Sheridan, Paramount+ originals in every genre, as well as live sports like NFL football and [UEFA Champions League] soccer. Paramount+ also boasts a good selection of lean-back style content like “Cheers” and “Frasier,” and even when the price increases later this month its Essential plan will come to just $7.99 per month, the same price that Disney+ now charges.
Best Ad-Free Disney+ Replacement: Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
Staying in the Paramount+ family, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME removes the ads and lets customers who prefer to watch Disney+ without commercials continue to do so on their new streaming service. Paramount+ with SHOWTIME will cost $12.99 per month when the price rises in August, $3 cheaper than Disney+ Premium will be when its rate is hiked in October.
Paramount+ with SHOWTIME offers all the same content found on Paramount+, as well as new selections for parents in the SHOWTIME section. It also comes with a 24/7 livestream of your local CBS station, bringing more news and sports to subscribers.
Which Streamers Could Replace Hulu?
Best Ad-Supported Hulu Replacement: Netflix Standard with Ads
Hulu is best known for its general entertainment, with a few prestige TV shows sprinkled in to draw new customers. Netflix is the perfect replacement in this regard; its library is stocked with thousands of shows and movies customers can use to stay entertained while they wait for a new season of “Stranger Things” or “Bridgerton.”
Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan costs $6.99 per month, a full $3 less than Hulu will begin charging once the price rises in October. That’s a good value, even before mentioning Netflix’s expanding slate of live events, which will include exclusive NFL football games for the first time in 2024.
Best Ad-Free Hulu Replacement: Max Ad-Free
At $18.99 price to stream Hulu alone without ads will outstrip most other major streaming services’ ad-free plans. Partly, that’s by design, as Disney wants to use it to drive more people to its bundle options. But if you’re only subscribed to ad-free Hulu and are looking to cancel when the price goes up, you’ll want to check out Max.
Its ad-free plan costs $16.99 per month, and for that price, you’ll get much more variety than you will on Hulu, along with more prestige TV. Max is the home of HBO favorites like “Succession,” “House of the Dragon,” “The White Lotus,” “The Sopranos” and more, and also comes with live news from CNN via the CNN Max hub. Live sports via the Bleacher Report Sports add-on are still free on Max, though the company does plan to start charging $9.99 per month for that add-on eventually.
Which Streamer Could Replace ESPN+?
Best ESPN+ Replacement: Peacock
As a sports-first streamer, there aren’t many alternatives that can do what ESPN+ can do. But Peacock has a huge live sports lineup, and its inventory is expanding all the time. Ad-supported Peacock Premium comes in at $7.99 per month, a full $4 cheaper than ESPN+’s new price as of October.
In 2024 alone, Peacock will carry “Sunday Night Football” from the NFL, Big Ten football and basketball, Big East basketball, Notre Dame football, auto racing from NASCAR, English Premier League soccer, and more. In 2025, the streamer will welcome NBA basketball in the regular season and the playoffs, giving Peacock a truly staggering sports lineup for a streamer its size.
Is a Disney Bundle Replacement Available?
Even after the price increases take effect, I still think the Disney Bundle options available will constitute a decent value. There simply aren’t that many products out there like it yet, though one product that won’t rise in price is the Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle that first became available this summer. That will remain at $16.99 per month to stream with ads, or $29.99 to stream ad-free.
Viewers who subscribe to an Xfinity internet or TV plan can also opt for the StreamSaver bundle, which features ad-supported Netflix and Peacock as well as ad-free Apple TV+ for $15 per month. This offers a good balance of prestige TV, high-quality originals, and lean-back content as well as shows and movies for kids, but it’s not available to the general public.