The Real Monthly Cost of Streaming Services: A Complete Comparison

Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Peacock, Max — how much does it all add up to? Here's a plain-English breakdown to help you decide what to keep.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.List All Your Current Streaming Subscriptions
2.Identify What You Actually Watch
3.Choose Ad-Supported Tiers to Save Money
4.Bundle Services to Save
5.Rotate Services Seasonally

List All Your Current Streaming Subscriptions

~18s

Check your credit card or bank statement for recurring streaming charges. List each service and its monthly cost. Many people discover subscriptions they forgot about or that overlap in content.

Quick Tip

Check your iPhone Subscriptions (Settings → your name → Subscriptions) and Google Play Subscriptions for additional charges you may have forgotten.

Identify What You Actually Watch

~17s

For each service you pay for, think about how many hours per week you watch it. If a service costs $16/month and you watch 2 hours a month, you are paying $8 per hour of entertainment — more than a movie ticket. That service may not be worth keeping.

Choose Ad-Supported Tiers to Save Money

~24s

Most streaming services now offer cheaper plans with ads. For a $7-8 plan vs a $16 plan, the difference is commercials — usually 4-5 minutes of ads per hour, similar to broadcast TV. Ad-supported tiers represent significant monthly savings for households on a budget.

Quick Tip

Netflix Standard with Ads and Peacock Premium cost about the same as buying one DVD movie per month — but give you access to thousands of titles.

Bundle Services to Save

~15s

Disney bundles Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ together for less than buying them separately. Apple One bundles Apple TV+, Apple Music, and iCloud+. Check if a bundle covers services you already pay for separately — bundling often saves $5-10/month.

Rotate Services Seasonally

~24s

Cancel services you are not actively watching and resubscribe when a show you want comes back or when a new season drops. Most services do not charge cancellation fees. You keep your account history and watch progress — just lose access to content until you resubscribe.

Quick Tip

Follow a site like JustWatch.com to see which streaming service currently has a specific movie or show — it updates in real time as content moves between services.

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Streaming services seemed like a money-saving alternative to cable when there were only one or two of them. But as more services launched and prices increased, many households now pay $80-150 per month for streaming — comparable to or more expensive than cable.

This guide provides a current breakdown of the major streaming service prices and what each includes, so you can decide which services are worth keeping for your household.

As of 2026, here are approximate monthly prices for ad-supported (cheaper) and ad-free tiers:

Netflix:

$7.99/month (Standard with Ads), $15.49 (Standard), $22.99 (Premium 4K) Hulu: $7.99/month (with ads), $17.99 (no ads), $82.99 (Hulu + Live TV with ads) Disney+: $7.99/month (with ads), $13.99 (no ads) Max (HBO Max): $9.99/month (with ads), $15.99 (ad-free) Prime Video: Included with Amazon Prime ($14.99/month or $139/year) Peacock: $7.99/month (Premium), $13.99 (Premium Plus, no ads) Apple TV+: $9.99/month (included free for 3 months with new Apple device) Paramount+: $5.99/month (with ads), $11.99 (no ads) Sling TV (live): $40/month and up

Prices change frequently — always verify current pricing on each service's website.

The most common advice: maintain one to two subscription services at a time and rotate them seasonally. Watch through one service's catalog, cancel, subscribe to another for a few months, then rotate back. This costs $15-30/month total instead of $100+.

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