Streaming Wars: Disney+ and Hulu Increase Subscription Fees in 2026

As the year comes to a close, it’s time for another round of price increases from streaming services. Disney has announced its latest price hikes for Disney+ and Hulu, making us reconsider how much we truly need our fix of Star Wars and MCU content.

This marks the sixth price increase for both Disney+ and Hulu, following a yearly pattern that has become all too familiar since the services launched in 2019. The consistency of these annual hikes from the House of Mouse is becoming expected at this point.

The new pricing brings the ad-free version of Disney+ to a hefty $21.49 per month, surpassing the $20 mark for the first time. This puts it in the same price range as Netflix, which reached this milestone in 2023 for its Premium tier.

It’s a stark contrast from 2019 when Disney first introduced its streaming service at $6.99 per month. It’s hard to believe that it was once considered a bargain, especially now that even the ad-supported tier costs less, with prices going up to $12.49 as of today.

In December 2022, Disney and other streaming services realized the profitability of ad-supported streaming. The standard ad-free Disney plan, which had increased to $7.99 in 2021, transitioned into an ad-supported “basic” tier, with a new $10.99 ad-free Premium plan introduced on top of that.

Subsequently, the ad-free premium plan saw annual increases of $2-$3. The ad-supported plan initially remained at $7.99 in October 2023 but eventually followed the same upward trend.

Disney and Hulu Prices in September 2026

One positive aspect is that the price of the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle has not increased; it remains at $12.99, allowing subscribers of one service to add the other for just $0.50 more.

Similarly, the premium Disney+ and Hulu bundle has seen a modest increase to $21.99 from $19.99, making it only $0.50 more than standalone subscriptions.

Other bundle pricing includes:

• Disney+ Basic / Hulu Basic / ESPN — $21.99, up from $19.99
• Disney+ Premium / Hulu Premium / ESPN Select (with Ads) — $32.99, up from $29.99.
• Disney+ Basic / Hulu Basic / HBO Max Basic — $21.99, up from $19.99
• Disney+ Premium / Hulu Premium / HBO Max Basic — $34.99, up from $32.99.

Disney has provided details of these changes on its updated help center pricing page. New subscribers will see the increased prices today, while existing customers will experience the changes in their next billing cycle on or after October 21, 2026.

Despite entering the $20+ price tier, Disney+ and Hulu still trail behind Netflix. The streaming giant’s Premium plan reached $26.99 earlier this year, while the Standard plan now costs $19.99, offering 1080p resolution and only two device streams, a feature not matched by Disney and Hulu in the US market.

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