Canceling Peacock Due to Newly Announced Price Hike? Which Streamers Offer Best Content for Cheaper Price?
NBCUniversal announced on Monday that it was raising the price of a Peacock subscription by $2 per month on both of its tiers.
The peacock has always been a sign of extravagant wealth, and NBCUniversal appears to be leaning into that stereotype. As forecast by The Streamable's experts, on Tuesday, NBCU announced that it will be raising the subscription price of its streamer Peacock, and that beginning this summer, both of its two plans will cost $2 per month more than they do now. If that’s a little too much to pay for the relatively smaller content library of Peacock, and you’re thinking about canceling the service before the price hike kicks in, check below for options that will allow you to watch a much larger array of content for the same amount, or even less, each month!
Key Facts:
- Netflix offers ad-supported streaming for $1 per month less than Peacock’s new price.
- Disney+ is the same price as Peacock plans to start charging and carries popular franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar.
- Paramount+ comes in at $2 per month cheaper than Peacock’s new prices and carries a good variety of live sports as well as on-demand content.
Peacock has announced that its ad-supported Premium plan is rising in price from $5.99 to $7.99. The commercial-free Premium Plus tier is increasing to $13.99 per month. New customers will see the change go into effect on July 18, and existing subscribers will see it reflected on their first bill after Aug. 17.
Paramount+ is a general entertainment streamer, much like Peacock. It offers a wide range of original titles, from Taylor Sheridan-produced projects like “Mayor of Kingstown” and “1923,” and it gets first crack at Paramount-produced blockbuster movies like “Top Gun: Maverick” and the upcoming “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.” Paramount+ has content for all ages, and its kids section is bolstered by classics from Nickelodeon like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and the new series “Knuckles.”
Viewers will get access to NFL football with Paramount+ as well, as both subscription tiers carry NFL games appearing on CBS in the subscriber’s market, as well as UEFA Champions League soccer.
A subscription to Paramount+ costs $5.99 per month for its Essential tier, which comes with limited ads. Viewers who want to ditch the ads can sign up for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for $11.99 per month, and enjoy ad-free streaming during playback as well as a livestream of their local CBS station for more live sports and news. This plan also includes access to SHOWTIME content like “A Gentleman in Moscow” and “Yellowjackets.” Either Paramount+ plan will allow you to save $2 per month over their equivalent Peacock plan.
Disney+ costs $7.99 for ad-supported streaming, or $13.99 per month to go ad-free. Savvy observers will note this isn’t actually cheaper than Peacock, as those are the same prices NBCU’s streamer will charge when rates go up starting this summer.
The wide range of hugely popular franchises on Disney+ makes it worth at least considering as a lateral move, however. Customers can stream titles from the Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar franchises only on Disney+, as well as animated Disney classics from “Alice in Wonderland” to “Snow White” and everything in between. Customers who are also subscribed to Hulu can even watch titles from that streamer like “Shōgun” and “Fargo.”
There aren’t many sports available on Disney+ now, but the streamer will launch a new ESPN extension that will feature every sport available on that channel in 2025. Viewers will likely have to pay extra for this extension, but it will carry a wider range of sports than any other streaming platform, including Peacock.
If you’re thinking of leaving Peacock behind thanks to its latest jump in prices, Netflix should probably be one of the top streamers you consider as a replacement. Original Netflix shows like “Squid Game,” “Stranger Things” and “Wednesday” have become worldwide sensations, and the platform is also home to original movies like “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and the “Rebel Moon” films from Zack Snyder. The service shares rights to stream “Suits” with Peacock, and starting in 2025 it will carry weekly installments of “WWE Raw,” which will help former Peacock customers who like watching WWE pay-per-view events on that streamer.
A subscription to Netflix’s Standard with Ads plan costs just $6.99 per month, $1 less than the price of Peacock will be starting this summer. Ad-free customers won’t save with Netflix, however, as it’s cheapest commercial-free plan costs $15.49 per month, which is $1.50 more than Peacock Premium Plus’s increased rate.