Max announces price hike for its ad-free plans amid streaming industry trend
Popular streaming service Max has announced price increases for its ad-free subscription plans. The standard ad-free plan will now cost $16.99 per month, up from $15.99, while the Ultimate ad-free plan, which includes streaming on more devices and 4K support, will rise to $20.99 per month from $19.99.
Existing subscribers will see these changes on their next billing cycle or after July 4, while new subscribers are already subject to the new rates. The ad-supported tier remains unchanged at $9.99 per month. This adjustment aligns with a broader trend of price hikes among streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Hulu, and Spotify a couple of days ago. The timing coincides with the upcoming second season of the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, premiering on June 16.
- Video Streaming App
- Paid • Proprietary
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External links
- Find the Max subscription plan that's right for you.Max • Official source
- Max raises prices across its ad-free plansThe Verge
- Max Ad-Free Price Increase: Here's How Much Plans Now CostCNET
- Pay Up: Max Increases Prices on Ad-Free Streaming PlansPCMAG
- Max is raising prices on ad-free streaming plans againAndroid Police
- Max is now pricier if you don't want adsMashable
Comments
If the price increases keep up, there's going to be a trend of people dumping theses type of services.
I think that's the plan. Ad revenue from free users is more predictable than the hectic subscription hopping. Also less premium user means less load on the servers because of the worse quality that lower tier users get. Seems like it's a common tactic with streaming companies - this way they can lower the maintenance costs while they keep the user count without the loss of revenue. And that's what stakeholders want to see in the quarterly report.
They are already much cheaper than cable ever was, and with fewer or no ads. Max however, pushes their politics on you rather than what you might want to watch. Netflix does too, but at least you can rate movies and it gives somewhat good recommendations. On Max, the top just shows pro-Pride videos, and then if you go down to recommended videos, it looks to be just movies in the same genre as you watched recently.