:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2227851721-d6503af0797f472a98df8626f50fcf62.jpg "Streaming Costs Are Rising Fast. Is ‘Streamflation’ Hitting Your Wallet This Year?")
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Key Takeaways
- Paramount in November announced price hikes, which took effect in early 2026.
- Several other major streaming companies have also raised subscription prices in recent months, including Disney and Apple.
- Consumers seem to be sticking with their services, while some are opting for cheaper, ad-supported tiers that streamers have introduced in recent years.
If you haven’t checked how much your streaming services cost in a while, you might be spending more than you think.
You can thank “streamflation.” Many of the country’s biggest entertainment companies have hiked subscription prices, with Netflix (NFLX), Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max, Disney’s (DIS) Disney+ and Hulu, Comcast’s (CMCSA) Peacock, and Apple (AAPL) TV all raising prices in 2025 or announcing plans to do so.
Paramount (PSKY) joined the list in November, saying that Paramount+ prices would increase in the first quarter of 2026. Spotify (SPOT), an audio streaming company, also raised prices earlier this year.
Why This Matters to You
Streaming services could be draining a surprisingly large amount of money from your wallet if you haven’t been keeping up with price-increase emails in your inbox.
Some streamers have introduced ad-supported versions of their plans at lower rates, offering a way for users to save, with some signs those plans have grown in popularity. In October, analytics firm Comscore said it found viewing on ad-supported tiers jumped 16 percentage points year-over-year through August for Disney+, and 11 percentage points for Netflix. About 45% of Netflix’s viewing time came through its ad-supported tier, up from 34% in 2025 from the previous year, Comscore found.
Some viewers are using free streaming services that are fully ad-supported. Comscore found that viewing time on those services rose to 1.8 billion hours from 1.3 billion a year ago.
“Once positioned as a lower-cost alternative, ad tiers are now a central pillar of platform strategy, and audiences are responding,” Comscore wrote.
Bundling more than one service could also help you save on individual subscriptions, though you should research which services can be bundled and what you’ll be able to stream through them.
For example, you could bundle Peacock Premium with Apple TV for $15 monthly, $9 lower than the full cost of both. Combining Disney+ and Hulu could also save you nearly half the price of both plans, according to Disney.
As part of the resolution to a carriage dispute between Disney and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) YouTube TV, the new ESPN streaming service will be offered for free to YouTube TV subscribers, and Disney+ and Hulu bundle will also be eligible to add to a YouTube TV plan.
This article has been updated since it was first published to add new information and context.
