➡️ The Shortcut Skinny

• 💰 Disney Plus and Hulu are both receiving price hikes in December

• 📈 Disney+ Premium will cost $10.99, an increase of $3 per month

• 🤑 Hulu Premium will cost $14.99, an increase of $2 per month

• 🆕 Disney is launching its ad-supported tier on December 8 for $7.99 a month

Disney+ and Hulu are getting a price hike, which is also the date a new ad-supported subscription for Disney+ will launch.

The new ad-supported tier of Disney+ will cost $7.99 per month, while the current ad-free tier will cost $10.99 a month, which is a price rise of $3 per month.

Hulu’s premium tier also gets a price increase on October 10 from $12.99 to $14.99 a month.

Disney media and entertainment distribution chairman Karem Daniel said the new ad-supported subscription will give consumers more choice but didn’t explain why the price of both the premium Hulu and Disney+ tiers was increasing as a result. In a statement on the Walt Disney Company website, Daniel said:

“With our new ad-supported Disney+ offering and an expanded lineup of plans across our entire streaming portfolio, we will be providing greater consumer choice at a variety of price points to cater to the diverse needs of our viewers and appeal to an even broader audience.

“Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ feature unparalleled content and viewing experiences and offer the best value in streaming today, with over 100,000 movie titles, TV episodes, original shows, sports and live events collectively.”

Here’s a full breakdown of all the new pricing tiers and bundles:

Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ standalone plans

Disney+

• Basic (with ads) - $7.99 monthly

• Premium (no ads) - $10.99 monthly / $109.99 annual

Hulu

• Basic (with ads) - $7.99 monthly / $79.99 annual

• Premium (no ads) - $14.99 monthly

ESPN+

• With ads - $9.99 monthly / $99.99 annual

• UFC PPV - $74.99 monthly (per event)

• UFC PPV + Annual - $124.98 annual

Disney Bundle Plans

Disney bundle

• Basic (with ads): Disney+, Hulu - $9.99 a monthly

• Basic (with ads): Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ - $12.99 monthly

• Legacy (existing subscribers only): Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads) - $14.99 monthly

• Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN+ (with ads) - $19.99 monthly

Hulu + Live TV plans

• Basic (with ads): Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ - $69.99 monthly

• Legacy (existing subscribers only): Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads) - $74.99

• Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN+ (with ads) - $82.99

Prices are on the rise

Disney isn’t the first company to raise its prices, nor will it be the last. In the last few months alone, we’ve seen the Amazon Prime price hike come to Europe, the news that Meta is raising the price of Quest 2 by $100, and even Sony has refused to rule out a PS5 price increase.

With the cost of living crisis continuing to squeeze consumers, it’s frustrating to see subscriptions that might already be luxury purchases become even more expensive.