i can’t believe it’s just been accepted by people now that you can have ads even tho you’re paying a subscription
Aranthar on
The amazingly low prices weren’t going to last – everyone was trying to grab market share and willing to burn cash. Now the pinch has arrived and they need to turn profitable.
Back to cable pricing 🤣, all that hoopla just to end up back where we started
BigMrTea on
We try and wriggle out from under the extortionate high priced thumb of cable companies, and they find a way to pin us back down again. God I hate corporations.
needhelpgaming on
I genuinely think people need to start learning how to pirate again using VPNs and cancelling their subscriptions with these services until they lower their prices back below $10 without ads.
Interestingly, the cost of subscribing to all 8 major services ad-free has actually **not gone up**, but only **if you avail of the bundles**. The cost of all 8 services without the bundles is $130.42. With the Disney/Hulu/HBO bundle and the Apple/Peacock bundle it’s $96.95.
The only service that hasn’t hiked their prices in the past 2 years is Prime Video. Supposedly their standalone plan is still $8.99, with an additional $2.99 to remove ads, but they’re buried the option somewhere deep in their site so people are more likely to be driven to the full Amazon Prime membership ($14.99/month).
Source: The websites of the major streaming services. Tools: Photoshop.
3ke3 on
I left piracy for Netflix in 2016 when it was convenient, fairly-priced, and had most of what I wanted to watch.Â
In the past couple of years, I have given up on all my monthly subscriptions except YT premium. Turns out “naughty” websites have better UI and selection nowadays lol
HobbesMW on
this is neat, nice data set!
its a little confusing to stack the ad free part over the ads, because it’s not clear that the blue bar is the “difference between ads and no ads” and not “entire cost of no ads”. It could maybe be clearer as side by side bars. small error that the amazon prime colors look mixed up.
this sort of begs the question of what paying for cable/youtube tv/fubo cost in comparison to paying for some number of these. like finding the “just pay for cable” break even point
ma2016 on
Gotta throw Dropout on there. $7 per month and I enjoy it more than a ton of content on these other platforms.Â
(Sam Reich, please give me money for this free ad)
Nope_______ on
I can’t believe people pay for this when they can just get it all for free very easily these days. You can even automate it all and aggregate it in a single app. It’s not the sketchy Limewire days of your youth.
AuntieMarkovnikov on
VPN + Pirate Bay. $4.99/month
RmpleFrskn on
If buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t theft.
MissMouthy1 on
Just get a SuperBox and never pay again!
i_amnotted on
Why is the bar color for Prime video reversed?
Just a mistake?
pogguyz on
The Amazon one is slightly deceiving. As far as I’m aware, the only no ads option is a $2.99 A MONTH add on. There is no way to get a no ad option for your yearly Amazon Prime subscription.
braumbles on
This is why you just get black Friday deals. $3 a month for Max, $1 a month for Starz, $6 a month for apple and so on.
xtaberry on
I spend $0 monthly on streaming services. I might pick one up for a month or two for a specific show, then I cancel them again.
I highly recommend it.
TheDwiin on
Am I the only one who’s irritated that the Amazon prime has the colors reversed compared to the others?
Optimal_Brain_2908 on
Netflix is way more if you want 4k. This shit is misleading.
Scorpio989 on
It’s still cheaper and more convenient than what came before. Also, what moron is paying for all of these at the same time. If money is an issue, stop wasting it on services you wouldn’t even have enough time to use.
funkmon on
FWIW: many of these come with services you might otherwise like.Â
Prime you might want for the shipping or GrubHub premium access. Hulu comes with my T-Mobile bill. Paramount Plus comes with my Walmart membership, Peacock comes with Instacart.Â
Instacart is free with my no annual fee credit card. T-Mobile is MVNO tier inexpensive for my phone plan. I’m considering dropping Amazon Prime. Walmart was $50 for a year. Disney Plus is free with my no annual fee Amex.
So for one year I am paying $190. So about $15 per month, and I get Disney, Hulu, Paramount and Peacock in addition to free shipping at Walmart and Amazon and free food and grocery delivery should I choose to use it. Plus I save money on gas at Walmart, Exxonmobil, Shell, and BP. Not a bad deal.
5hadow on
Enshitification visualized.
suffffuhrer on
Prime video is $13 in the US? Unless it has a bigger and better offering, it certainly isn’t worth it.
In Belgium it’s €2,99 and the only time I have it is if I used Amazon prime delivery, as it comes with it.
Menirz on
Don’t forget Crunchyroll if you want anime, dropout for great comedy shows, and YT Premium if you watch any significant amount of content on devices that are annoying to implement adblockers on (phones & TVs).
Mewtewpew on
Modern day piracy and torrent sites look more professional than these ai slop subscription services xD
drhiggs on
Why is the red and grey bar inverted for prime video?
baden27 on
What’s more important for me is: Do they support the use of VPN? Netflix doesn’t. I don’t know about most of the other services
If you log on to the same account from multiple locations, not necessarily at the same time, it won’t allow that.
entaro_tassadar on
Add YouTube on there too. It’s the service I watch the most
il_doc on
do what you want, cause a pirate is free
Theothercword on
It’s getting so out of hand we’re just on a freight train straight back to the main problem with cable that streaming was supposed to fix.
Apple TV is the only one I will probably not stop paying for anytime soon, good shows, reasonable price, rentals available, no ads. The rest have been canceled either due to politics or ads and price gouging. We do currently have Netflix and use it enough but after this WB deal if it shits the bed it’s gone too. Especially since they still charge an insane amount if you want 4K which is now basically standard across the other services.
Stiggalicious on
Genuinely surprised that Apple TV is one of the least expensive options here. Makes sense given their library is small, but honestly I care more about quality than quantity, and Apple TV shows are really, really good. I only have a handful of hours of time per week to watch something, so I might as well watch something good. Their Sci-Fi is fantastic.
![[OC] Streaming service subscription costs, as of Feb 2026](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/1771436736_5xwc2c8um9kg1-1469x1536.png "[OC] Streaming service subscription costs, as of Feb 2026")
31 Comments
i can’t believe it’s just been accepted by people now that you can have ads even tho you’re paying a subscription
The amazingly low prices weren’t going to last – everyone was trying to grab market share and willing to burn cash. Now the pinch has arrived and they need to turn profitable.
Update with sources:
D+ burned billions before becoming profitable: [https://floridapolitics.com/archives/673100-disney-hits-big-milestone-with-its-first-profitable-quarter/](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/673100-disney-hits-big-milestone-with-its-first-profitable-quarter/)
Peacock is getting closer, still not there yet: [https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/07/31/peacock-losses-stabilizing-nba-on-the-way-for-nbcuniversal/](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/07/31/peacock-losses-stabilizing-nba-on-the-way-for-nbcuniversal/)
AppleTV still way behind, but trying: [https://www.theverge.com/news/633591/apple-tv-plus-losing-1-billion](https://www.theverge.com/news/633591/apple-tv-plus-losing-1-billion)
Netflix has been profitable for a long time: [https://businessmodelanalyst.com/is-netflix-profitable/](https://businessmodelanalyst.com/is-netflix-profitable/)
Paramount+ barely reached profitability later in 2025: [https://www.thewrap.com/paramount-earnings-q1-2025/](https://www.thewrap.com/paramount-earnings-q1-2025/)
Back to cable pricing 🤣, all that hoopla just to end up back where we started
We try and wriggle out from under the extortionate high priced thumb of cable companies, and they find a way to pin us back down again. God I hate corporations.
I genuinely think people need to start learning how to pirate again using VPNs and cancelling their subscriptions with these services until they lower their prices back below $10 without ads.
This is an update to [a post I made 2 years ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1ah7af0/oc_streaming_service_prices_comparing_adsupported/). The monthly subscription costs of these services have gone up so much and so frequently since then, I have had some request to do an updated version.
Interestingly, the cost of subscribing to all 8 major services ad-free has actually **not gone up**, but only **if you avail of the bundles**. The cost of all 8 services without the bundles is $130.42. With the Disney/Hulu/HBO bundle and the Apple/Peacock bundle it’s $96.95.
The only service that hasn’t hiked their prices in the past 2 years is Prime Video. Supposedly their standalone plan is still $8.99, with an additional $2.99 to remove ads, but they’re buried the option somewhere deep in their site so people are more likely to be driven to the full Amazon Prime membership ($14.99/month).
Source: The websites of the major streaming services. Tools: Photoshop.
I left piracy for Netflix in 2016 when it was convenient, fairly-priced, and had most of what I wanted to watch.Â
In the past couple of years, I have given up on all my monthly subscriptions except YT premium. Turns out “naughty” websites have better UI and selection nowadays lol
this is neat, nice data set!
its a little confusing to stack the ad free part over the ads, because it’s not clear that the blue bar is the “difference between ads and no ads” and not “entire cost of no ads”. It could maybe be clearer as side by side bars. small error that the amazon prime colors look mixed up.
this sort of begs the question of what paying for cable/youtube tv/fubo cost in comparison to paying for some number of these. like finding the “just pay for cable” break even point
Gotta throw Dropout on there. $7 per month and I enjoy it more than a ton of content on these other platforms.Â
(Sam Reich, please give me money for this free ad)
I can’t believe people pay for this when they can just get it all for free very easily these days. You can even automate it all and aggregate it in a single app. It’s not the sketchy Limewire days of your youth.
VPN + Pirate Bay. $4.99/month
If buying isn’t owning then piracy isn’t theft.
Just get a SuperBox and never pay again!
Why is the bar color for Prime video reversed?
Just a mistake?
The Amazon one is slightly deceiving. As far as I’m aware, the only no ads option is a $2.99 A MONTH add on. There is no way to get a no ad option for your yearly Amazon Prime subscription.
This is why you just get black Friday deals. $3 a month for Max, $1 a month for Starz, $6 a month for apple and so on.
I spend $0 monthly on streaming services. I might pick one up for a month or two for a specific show, then I cancel them again.
I highly recommend it.
Am I the only one who’s irritated that the Amazon prime has the colors reversed compared to the others?
Netflix is way more if you want 4k. This shit is misleading.
It’s still cheaper and more convenient than what came before. Also, what moron is paying for all of these at the same time. If money is an issue, stop wasting it on services you wouldn’t even have enough time to use.
FWIW: many of these come with services you might otherwise like.Â
Prime you might want for the shipping or GrubHub premium access. Hulu comes with my T-Mobile bill. Paramount Plus comes with my Walmart membership, Peacock comes with Instacart.Â
Instacart is free with my no annual fee credit card. T-Mobile is MVNO tier inexpensive for my phone plan. I’m considering dropping Amazon Prime. Walmart was $50 for a year. Disney Plus is free with my no annual fee Amex.
So for one year I am paying $190. So about $15 per month, and I get Disney, Hulu, Paramount and Peacock in addition to free shipping at Walmart and Amazon and free food and grocery delivery should I choose to use it. Plus I save money on gas at Walmart, Exxonmobil, Shell, and BP. Not a bad deal.
Enshitification visualized.
Prime video is $13 in the US? Unless it has a bigger and better offering, it certainly isn’t worth it.
In Belgium it’s €2,99 and the only time I have it is if I used Amazon prime delivery, as it comes with it.
Don’t forget Crunchyroll if you want anime, dropout for great comedy shows, and YT Premium if you watch any significant amount of content on devices that are annoying to implement adblockers on (phones & TVs).
Modern day piracy and torrent sites look more professional than these ai slop subscription services xD
Why is the red and grey bar inverted for prime video?
What’s more important for me is: Do they support the use of VPN? Netflix doesn’t. I don’t know about most of the other services
If you log on to the same account from multiple locations, not necessarily at the same time, it won’t allow that.
Add YouTube on there too. It’s the service I watch the most
do what you want, cause a pirate is free
It’s getting so out of hand we’re just on a freight train straight back to the main problem with cable that streaming was supposed to fix.
Apple TV is the only one I will probably not stop paying for anytime soon, good shows, reasonable price, rentals available, no ads. The rest have been canceled either due to politics or ads and price gouging. We do currently have Netflix and use it enough but after this WB deal if it shits the bed it’s gone too. Especially since they still charge an insane amount if you want 4K which is now basically standard across the other services.
Genuinely surprised that Apple TV is one of the least expensive options here. Makes sense given their library is small, but honestly I care more about quality than quantity, and Apple TV shows are really, really good. I only have a handful of hours of time per week to watch something, so I might as well watch something good. Their Sci-Fi is fantastic.