The arrival of a new year of streaming brims with anticipation for all the great things you’ll watch. You could get hooked on an underrated show, binge the return of a favorite or stream a new best-picture Oscar winner from your couch. Envisioning upcoming entertainment is better when you don’t factor in how the price to watch it could change — and already is.
The year has already brought increases to services you might use to stream shows, movies, music and live TV, such as Spotify, Netflix, Sling and Crunchyroll. Streamflation or not, you probably aren’t going to take a total break from streaming this year, so we’re tracking every price rise in the US from 2025 onward. If you hit your spending limit, you can cancel, rotate services or scout for discounts.
2026 Streaming Price Hikes
YouTube Premium (April 2026)
YouTube Premium got a hike for the first time since 2023. The subscription offers YouTube viewers ad-free videos, downloads and the ability to continue playing videos on their phone while using other apps, plus a subscription to YouTube Music Premium. Individual Premium now costs $16 per month, up $2, and Premium Family now costs $27 per month, $4 more than before.
YouTube’s Premium Lite subscription — another option for people who want to pay for ad-free streaming — also increased by $1 to $9 per month.
Prime Video (April 2026)
The default version of Prime Video you get with a Prime membership includes ads, and the price to remove them increased from $3 to $5 per month on April 10. Amazon rebranded its existing ad-free offering to Prime Video Ultra, with 4K UHD streaming now exclusive to those paying the extra fee.
Netflix (March 2026)
Netflix costs more as of March 26. The streaming service also raised prices in 2025, updating the price of its ad-supported plan for the first time since its 2022 launch.
With the new hike, the ad-based plan went up again, increasing by $1 to $9 per month. Netflix also increased its ad-free Standard plan by $2 to $20 per month and upped its ad-free Premium plan by $2 to $27 per month.
Netflix streaming prices March 2026
| Previous price (monthly) | New price (monthly) | |
| Netflix Standard With Ads | $8 | $9 |
| Netflix Standard | $18 | $20 |
| Netflix Premium | $25 | $27 |
Crunchyroll (February 2026)
The anime streaming service Crunchyroll announced a price hike on Feb. 2, including an increase to its entry-level Fan subscription for the first time since 2019. Crunchyroll shut down its free, ad-supported tier about a month earlier.
With the increase, which is in effect for new customers and started on March 4 for existing customers, Crunchyroll’s ad-free plans now cost $10 per month for Fan, $14 for Mega Fan and $18 for Ultimate Fan — a $2 increase across plans.
Amazon Music (February 2026)
Amazon Music Unlimited Individual plans recently rose to $13 per month (or $12 per month for Prime members — both $1 bumps). Family plans increased by $2 to $22 per month. Prices went into effect Feb. 3 for new customers, and current subscribers will pay more on or after March 5. Amazon Music Unlimited also adjusted prices in 2025.
Paramount Plus (January 2026)
If you missed Paramount Plus’ mid-January price increase, it might be because the details emerged two months earlier, in November 2025. When the hike did arrive, it brought ad-supported Essential from $8 per month or $60 per year to $9 per month or $90 per year. Paramount Plus‘ ad-free version, Premium, rose from $13 per month to $14 and $120 per year to $140.
Spotify (January 2026)
Spotify added to the price hike pile with its announcement on Jan. 15. The updates included a $1 bump to the Premium Individual plan, effective right away for newbies, and in February for existing subscribers. The prices increased for Individual to $13 per month, Premium Duo to $19, Premium Family to $22 and Premium Student to $7.
Sling TV (January 2026)
Live TV streaming service Sling changed rates on its Blue packages in some regions. It’s increased in markets where at least one local ABC, Fox or NBC station is available. Blue now costs $9 extra (up from $5) if you have all three locals, and $4 extra (up from no charge) if you have one or two. While newcomers saw the change in January, existing customers won’t be affected until their billing date on or after Feb. 20.
2025 Streaming Price Hikes
HBO Max (October 2025)
HBO Max raised prices on Oct. 21, right around the launches of new series It: Welcome to Derry and I Love LA. The ad-supported basic tier rose by $1 to $11 per month, and the ad-free Standard tier increased by $1.50 to $18.50 per month. The ad-free Premium tier jumped $2 to $23 per month.
The hike affected new customers immediately and existing customers on their first billing cycle on or after Nov. 20. Disney streaming increases took effect the same day, hiking the price of HBO Max, Hulu and Disney Plus bundles.
HBO Max streaming prices October 2025
| Previous price (monthly) | New price (monthly) | Previous price (annual) | New price (annual) | |
| HBO Max Basic With Ads | $10 | $11 | $100 | $110 |
| HBO Max Standard | $17 | $18.50 | $170 | $185 |
| HBO Max Premium | $21 | $23 | $210 | $230 |
Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Select, Hulu Plus Live TV (October 2025)
The largest hike of 2025 probably belonged to Disney. Its increases extended to standalone Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Select plans, as well as bundle plans and Hulu Plus Live TV plans. Notably, ad-free Hulu and the ad-free Disney Plus and Hulu bundle didn’t see a hike. The changes went into effect on the same day as HBO Max’s increase — Oct. 21 — applying to existing customers on or after that date.
Disney streaming prices October 2025
| Previous price (with ads) | New price (with ads) | Previous price (ad-free) | New price (ad-free) | |
| Disney Plus | $10 | $12 | $16 | $19 |
| Hulu | $10 | $12 | $19 | no change |
| ESPN Select | $12 | $13 | — | — |
| Disney Plus, Hulu bundle | $11 | $13 | $20 | no change |
| Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Select bundle | $17 | $20 | $27 | $30 |
| Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max | $17 | $20 | $30 | $33 |
| Hulu Plus Live TV (with Disney Plus, ESPN Select) | $83 | $90 | $96 | $100 |
| Hulu Plus Live TV only | $82 | $89 | — | — |
DirecTV (October 2025)
Price increases may have affected DirecTV customers’ bills on or after Oct. 5, according to a support page that instructs customers to sign in to learn more. A DirecTV representative told CNET that the company was communicating the update directly to customers and did not have a breakdown to share.
Philo (September 2025)
On Sept. 30, the budget live TV streamer Philo increased the price of its Core plan and added access to ad-supported HBO Max and Discovery Plus. Its subscription price rose by $5 to $33, with existing Core customers paying more on or after Oct. 30.
Apple TV (August 2025)
Before its rebrand to Apple TV, the streamer formerly known as Apple TV Plus got a $3 hike on Aug. 21. The ad-free service now costs $13 per month.
Peacock (July 2025)
The ad-supported and ad-free versions of Peacock rose $3 in July, bringing Premium to $11 per month and Premium Plus to $17 per month. Peacock also began testing a new $8-per-month Select tier with current seasons of NBC and Bravo shows. Annual plans increased by $30, and changes took hold for current customers on or after Aug. 22.
Streaming Price Decreases
Fubo (January 2026)
A much less common occurrence in the streaming world, Fubo initiated some price cuts amid its carriage dispute with NBCUniversal. Fubo reduced its Pro and Elite monthly subscriptions by $11 to $74 and $84, respectively, with existing customers paying less on or after Jan. 1. Here’s more on the dispute and loss of NBCUniversal channels from Fubo.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
