Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu will be the three streamers owned by the House of Mouse once Comcast gives up its share for Hulu in 2024. Between all three, Disney now has more subscribers than Netflix. But, more success means higher prices. This means Disney+ and Hulu are planning on raising monthly subscription prices before the end of 2022.
Disney+’s original price was $6.99 per month when it was announced in April 2019. Since then, the streaming service has increased to just $7.99 per month. It’s incredibly cheaper compared to its competitors, considering Netflix can be as much as $19.99 per month. The decision to increase prices wasn’t too surprising when Disney announced it as part of the August 2022 earning call. But the increase will go all the way to $10.99 per month.
Luckily, fans who can’t afford to spend an extra $36 per year for the streaming service on top of the $95.88 it already costs have options. The $10.99 per month plan is for “Disney+ Premium.” The platform will also have “Disney+ Basic,” a $7.99 per month tier. So what’s the catch? It will have ads, estimated four minutes per hour. Disney will not accept any ads that might be deemed “political” or sell alcohol. Those ads will only be for adult profiles. Any profile set to “kids” will be ad-free.
Hulu, on the other hand, will go up a dollar to $7.99, matching the Disney+ ad-supported tier’s pricing. Hulu’s ad-free tier, now $12.99, will increase to $14.99 per month. For those who enjoy ESPN+, the price jump from $6.99 to $9.99 per month that was announced in July remains unchanged.
Those who bundle Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, the price for all three is all going to increase. Currently, the Disney Bundle with ad-supported Hulu costs $13.99 per month. This bundle will jump to $14.99. The Disney Bundle with ad-free Hulu, which was $19.99 per month will stay at that price point.
Disney doesn’t plan to change all of these prices at once. The ESPN+ jump was announced in July and goes into effect on Aug. 23, 2022. The Hulu and Disney Bundle price increases will begin on Oct. 10, 2022. The Disney+ price increase won’t start until Dec. 8, 2022.
This means fans can keep enjoying their favorite Disney shows and movies at the old prices, ad-free, for now. But once the holidays hit, expect to pay more or with more ads than before.
