It’s been a rough year for folks who watch a lot of TV or movies, and it’s not over yet.
Inflation continues to take a toll on most expenses, and our subscriptions are no exception. Many popular streaming services have hiked prices in 2023 or have said they will soon.
Following are several streaming services raising prices this year.
Disney+
Disney+, home to family classics and blockbuster Marvel and Star Wars films, intends to raise the price of its ad-free plan in mid-October from $10.99 per month to $13.99.
Before that, it will begin to offer a new bundled Disney+ and Hulu plan: both services without ads for $19.99 per month, The Verge reports.
Hulu
If you don’t care about Disney+, you can certainly subscribe to Hulu on its own. But the price of that will rise from $14.99 to $17.99 in October, too, for those avoiding ads.
Peacock
NBCUniversal’s Peacock raised its prices for the first time since launch on Aug. 17, TechCrunch reports.
Its Premium plan, which has ads, went from $4.99 to $5.99 per month. Ad-free Premium Plus went from $9.99 to $11.99.
Earlier in the year, Peacock ended free access to its Premium plan for Xfinity customers as well.
Paramount+
Paramount+, which includes content from CBS, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central among others, raised its prices in July.
Its ad-supported Essential plan went from $4.99 to $5.99 per month, and its $9.99 Premium plan was replaced with an $11.99 plan that includes Showtime.
Spotify
It’s not just TV streaming that’s inundated with price hikes. Music service Spotify announced a price hike in July — although it could be worse.
After more than a decade of paying $9.99 for a Premium subscription, individuals now pay $10.99. Spotify’s other plans were adjusted too:
- Premium Duo: $14.99
- Premium Family: $16.99
- Premium Student: $5.99
YouTube TV
YouTube TV, which offers live TV from more than 100 channels, raised prices in March for new members and in April for existing members. It was a relatively steep increase — from $64.99 to $72.99 per month.
Max
Max, which dropped HBO from its name earlier this year, also raised the price of its ad-free tier in January. The jump from $14.99 to $15.99 was the first increase since the service launched in 2020.
Netflix
Netflix hasn’t technically raised prices in 2023, but many users are paying more than they were.
It eliminated its Basic ad-free plan, which was $9.99, for new subscribers and now forces them to choose between a $6.99 Standard plan with ads or the ad-free version for $15.49 a month.
Another policy change which amounts to a price increase for some people is the ongoing crackdown on password sharing. It’s time to pony up.
