The streaming price increases 2026 hit almost every major service, and the short version is this: the big ad-free tiers now run from about $13.99 to $26.99 a month, and a typical four-service stack costs roughly $90 more a year than it did last summer. Below is the full, dated list so you can check each price against your own budget and see exactly how much your total moved.
No estimates, no rounded guesses. These are the current July 2026 prices, plus what changed and when, so you can do the math instead of guessing.
On this page
- The 2026 streaming price increases at a glance
- What each major service costs now
- Do the math: what a typical stack costs now
- How to claw back a hike without cancelling
- Key takeaways
- FAQ
The 2026 streaming price increases at a glance
Here is every major service in one place, cheapest plan and top ad-free tier, plus what moved this year.
| Service | Cheapest plan (2026) | Top ad-free tier (2026) | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Standard with Ads $8.99 | Premium $26.99 (Standard $19.99) | +$1 on every tier, March 26, 2026 |
| Disney+ | Basic with Ads $11.99 | Premium $18.99 | Raised late 2025 (no-ads $15.99 to $18.99) |
| Hulu | With Ads $11.99 | No Ads $18.99 | Ad-free sits $7 above the ad tier |
| Paramount+ | Essential $8.99 | Premium $13.99 | +$1 each, January 15, 2026 |
| HBO Max | Basic with Ads $10.99 | Premium $22.99 (Standard $18.49) | Raised January 2026 |
| Peacock | Select $7.99 | Premium Plus $16.99 | Premium (ads) sits at $10.99 |
| Apple TV+ | (no ad tier) | $12.99 | Raised from $9.99 in August 2025 |
| Prime Video | $8.99 standalone (with ads) | +$4.99 Ultra add-on = $13.98 | Ultra ad-free tier launched April 2026 |
| YouTube TV | Entertainment plan $54.99 | Base plan $82.99 | Base jumped from $72.99 in early 2026 |
That is nine services and nine higher numbers than a year ago. Now let us break down the ones most people actually pay for.
What each major service costs now
Netflix
Netflix raised prices across the board on March 26, 2026, its second increase in under two years. Standard with Ads is now $8.99, the ad-free Standard plan is $19.99, and Premium (4K, four screens, spatial audio) is $26.99. Each went up by a dollar. Extra-member slots climbed too, so a shared account costs more than the headline number suggests. You can confirm the current tiers on Netflix’s official plans page.
Disney+ and Hulu
Disney raised Disney+ in late 2025, and those prices carry into 2026: Basic (with ads) is $11.99 and Premium (no ads) is $18.99. Hulu mirrors that spread almost exactly, with the ad tier at $11.99 and No Ads at $18.99. Because Disney owns both, the cheapest real path to either usually runs through the Disney bundle rather than buying them standalone, which is worth checking before you renew. Disney is also changing what it makes, not only what it charges: we looked at whether its newest movie was built for TikTok.
Paramount+
Paramount+ added a dollar to both plans on January 15, 2026. Essential (ads) is now $8.99 and Premium (ad-free, with your local CBS station) is $13.99. Annual billing lands at $89.99 and $139.99, which quietly undercuts twelve monthly payments. Paramount confirmed the increase alongside its push into live sports and UFC content.
HBO Max
HBO Max reset its tiers in January 2026. Basic with Ads is $10.99, Standard is $18.49, and Premium (the only tier with 4K and Dolby Atmos) is $22.99. Standard is the sweet spot for most people, though it still caps out at 1080p, so 4K fans get pushed toward the top tier.
Peacock, Apple TV+, Prime Video, and YouTube TV
The rest round out the picture. Peacock now offers a cheaper Select tier at $7.99, with Premium (ads) at $10.99 and Premium Plus at $16.99. Apple TV+ sits at a flat $12.99 after its 2025 jump from $9.99. Prime Video gets murkier: the standalone plan is $8.99 with ads, and going fully ad-free means adding the new Prime Video Ultra tier for $4.99, so about $13.98 all in. YouTube TV is the heavyweight, with its Base plan up to $82.99, though genre-specific plans now start at $54.99 if you do not need everything.
Do the math: what a typical stack costs now
Individual dollar bumps hide the real story, which is the stack. So let us add up a common four-service ad-free setup and compare it year over year.
| Plan (ad-free) | Summer 2025 | Now (July 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix Standard | $17.99 | $19.99 |
| Disney+ Premium | $15.99 | $18.99 |
| HBO Max Standard | $16.99 | $18.49 |
| Paramount+ Premium | $12.99 | $13.99 |
| Monthly total | $63.96 | $71.46 |
| Yearly total | $767.52 | $857.52 |
That is $7.50 more a month, or about $90 more a year, for the exact same four apps you already had. Nobody sent you a bill labeled “$90 increase.” It arrived one quiet dollar at a time. If you want a faster way to run your own numbers, we built a quick two-minute worksheet before you renew that does this math for whatever mix you actually pay for.
How to claw back a hike without cancelling
You do not have to quit anything to erase most of a year’s increases. Here are the moves that actually recover money, ranked by how little you give up.
| Move | What you give up | Rough monthly saving |
|---|---|---|
| Switch to annual billing | Nothing, if you will keep it a year | 10-20% (often one hike’s worth) |
| Drop the top tier to Standard/no-4K | 4K on services you watch on a phone anyway | $3-8 |
| Step down to an ad tier | Sit through ads | $7-8 |
| Rotate one service off, one on | One library at a time | Half the stack |
Annual billing is the easy win most people skip: Paramount+ Premium at $139.99 a year works out to $11.67 a month instead of $13.99, which roughly cancels this year’s increase on its own. Rotating is the power move if your household binges in bursts. Watch one library hard for a month, cancel, move to the next, and you pay for two services instead of four while still seeing everything eventually.
Before you decide, it is worth pressure-testing whether a bundle actually beats paying separately for your specific apps, because the Disney and Max bundles change the math a lot. And if your total feels higher than it should be, run a 15-minute audit to catch the ones you forgot you were still paying for.
Key takeaways
- Nearly every major service raised prices in 2026. Netflix (March), Paramount+ (January), HBO Max (January), and YouTube TV (early year) all went up, on top of late-2025 hikes at Disney+ and Apple TV+.
- Ad-free flagships now run $13.99 to $26.99. Netflix Premium sits at the top; Paramount+ Premium is the cheapest of the big ad-free tiers.
- A four-service ad-free stack costs about $90 more a year than last summer, spread across small bumps you barely noticed.
- You can recover most of it without cancelling by switching to annual billing, dropping a tier, or rotating services.
FAQ
Which streaming service raised prices the most in 2026?
By percentage, YouTube TV’s Base plan saw one of the steepest single jumps, from $72.99 to $82.99. Among on-demand apps, Disney+ Premium’s move to $18.99 was among the largest dollar increases.
How much does Netflix cost now in 2026?
As of March 2026, Netflix is $8.99 for Standard with Ads, $19.99 for ad-free Standard, and $26.99 for Premium with 4K and four screens.
Is Paramount+ still worth it after the increase?
At $13.99 for Premium, it remains one of the cheaper ad-free tiers, and it includes your local CBS station and live sports, which sets it apart from most rivals at that price.
What is the cheapest way to watch Disney+ and Hulu together?
The Disney bundle almost always beats buying both standalone, since Disney+ and Hulu each cost $18.99 ad-free on their own.
Did every service really raise prices, or just some?
Not literally every service on the same day, but the major ones all moved within about a year. The ones listed above each carry a higher price now than in summer 2025.
How can I lower my streaming bill without giving up shows?
Switch to annual billing where you will keep the service a year, step down from 4K tiers you do not need, or rotate services one month at a time instead of paying for all of them at once.
The bottom line
The streaming price increases of 2026 were designed to be forgettable, one dollar at a time, which is exactly why they add up. Now that you have the full dated list and your real stack total in front of you, the math is easy: keep what earns its spot, trim or rotate the rest, and switch anything you are keeping to annual billing. If you want each month’s price changes and money-saving moves sent to you before your next renewal hits, our newsletter rounds them up so you never get surprised by a quiet bump again.