Paramount Plus is getting a price hike in 2026, and soon you won't even be able to enjoy a free trial
Another subscription is going to cost more soon
Paramount Plus’s pricing is going up in Q1 2026 for US viewers as part of some new changes to the service
Prices for subscribers in the US on January 15th, 2026, bringing the ad-supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 per month
It’s the first price rise for Paramount Plus since June 2024
As part of these changes, the company is also removing free trials
Paramount Plus is getting a price hike in 2026 as part of a series of wider changes to the streaming service.
Announced in Paramount’s earnings report today, the company said that its subscription prices will be raised for folks in the US during the first quarter of 2026. Price hikes have also been announced for Paramount Plus subscribers in Canada and Australia today.
It will raise prices for subscribers in the US on January 15th, 2026, bringing the ad-supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, while the ad-free Premium plan will go from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.
Paramount Plus last saw a price rise back in June 2024, so one early next year would keep up with this trend. Back in August, Apple raised the monthly price of Apple TV+ by 30 percent, and it was that service’s first rise in just under two years.
As part of these changes to the service, Paramount also announced that it would be ending free trials for Paramount Plus. This has become more common for other streamers, too, ending the years-long association of a trial period to obtain new subscribers.
It appears these changes to Paramount Plus are part of a wider reassessment of the finances involved with the service. Paramount’s approach to increase its long-term profitability “includes shifting away from certain hard bundles and low-margin subscriptions, reducing investment in select international markets without a clear path to sufficient scale, retiring free trials, and reviewing discount practices”, according to today’s earnings call.
To put this into words that make sense, it seems that the streamer is intent on putting prices up, focusing on more profitable markets that can grow, and getting rid of free trials and discount schemes.
These big changes to Paramount Plus follow the big acquisition of Paramount by media giant Skydance in a hefty $8 billion deal.
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Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.