Disney Streamers Are Set to Raise Prices; How Do New Rates Stack Up to Competition?
Disney Streamers Are Set to Raise Prices; How Do New Rates Stack Up to Competition?
Disney is raising prices on almost all individual services and bundles on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Disney may be the owner of the Happiest Place on Earth, but it is about to make tens of millions of streaming customers rather upset. As announced in August, Disney is raising the price of all streaming services starting Thursday, Oct. 17, meaning that Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, as well as almost all iterations of the Disney Bundle, are getting more expensive. I’m breaking down how the new rates compare to other streamers below, so you can decide whether or not the increased prices are worth paying.
Key Details:
- The cheapest Disney+ plan will cost $10 per month once the price hikes are enacted.
- The least expensive Disney Bundle option is only increasing by $1 per month.
- Disney has some of the most expensive ad-supported plans now available.
Disney is raising the price of subscribing to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ by at least $1 per month each. In turn, the Disney Bundle is increasing prices from $1 to $2 for most plans; the only Disney Bundle package that is remaining the same price is the Duo Premium combination of ad-free Disney+ and Hulu, which is holding at $20 per month.
It’s not just on-demand streaming services offered by Disney that are increasing in cost either; Hulu + Live TV, which delivers nearly 100 cable channels in addition to on-demand Hulu titles is also raising its subscription price.
Check out the full schedule of price changes coming to Disney streaming services here.
| Streamer, Bundle | Current Price per Month | New Price per Month |
|---|---|---|
| Disney+ Basic (with ads) | $8 | $10 |
| Disney+ Premium (without ads) | $14 | $16 |
| Hulu With Ads | $8 | $10 |
| Hulu With No Ads | $18 | $19 |
| ESPN+ | $11 | $12 |
| Disney Bundle Duo Basic (Disney+ and Hulu with ads) | $10 | $11 |
| Disney Bundle Trio Basic (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ with ads) | $15 | $17 |
| Disney Bundle Trio Premium (Disney+ and Hulu without ads, ESPN+ with ads) | $25 | $27 |
| Hulu + Live TV (with ads on Disney+ and Hulu) | $77 | $83 |
| Hulu + Live TV (without ads on Disney+ and Hulu) | $90 | $96 |
How Do Disney Streaming Prices, Features Compare with Major Competitors Now?
Individually, Disney+ and Hulu are now some of the most expensive ad-supported streaming plans on the market. No other top streaming service sells its lowest-priced plan at a higher price, and only Max matches Disney+ and Hulu in terms of monthly cost.
This is, of course, all part of the plan for Disney. By making its individual streaming services more expensive, it hopes to drive customers to its bundled options instead. The cost of the Disney Duo Basic Bundle with ad-supported Hulu and Disney+ is now $11, just $1 more than subscribing to either service by itself.
Take a look at Disney’s entertainment streaming services as compared to other on-demand streamers below, and see how it stacks up in terms of price and most important features.
| Service Name | Price Per Month (Cheapest Plan) | Ads Per Hour | Simultaneous Streams | 4K Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | $7 | 4-5 min. per hour | 1 | No |
| Disney+ | $10 | 5 min. per hour (none during kids’ content) | 4 | Yes |
| Max | $10 | 4 min. per hour | 3 | No |
| Peacock | $8 | 4-5 min. per hour | 3 | No |
| Paramount+ | $8 | 9-10 min. per hour | 3 | No |
| Hulu | $10 | 9-10 min. per hour | 2 | Select titles on certain devices |
| Apple TV+ | $10 | None | 6 | Yes |
| Prime Video | $9 | 3-5 min. per hour | 3 | Yes, on compatible devices |
Disney streamers might be some of the most expensive individually, but they still have a selection of features comparable to competitors like Netflix. Disney+ and Hulu allow viewers to watch some titles in 4K regardless of plan, unlike Netflix and Max, which only let viewers on select ad-free plans stream in Ultra-High-Definition.
If you’re looking to cancel your Disney streaming subscription thanks to the latest price increases, there are lots of alternatives available. Disney Bundle customers are still getting a good amount of value even with the price changes, but no subscriber can be blamed for being fed up after seeing Disney raise the price of its streaming services for the third year in a row.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”