HBO Max effectively raises subscription prices across all plans, including Basic with Ads
HBO Max has announced new subscription price increases, effective immediately for new users and after the next renewal following November 20 for existing ones, with at least 30 days’ notice. The Basic with Ads plan now costs $10.99 per month, up $1, and $109.99 per year, up $10. It’s worth noting that the most recent price change took place a little over a year ago in June 2024, although at that time only its ad-free plans were affected.
The Standard ad-free plan rises to $18.49 per month, a $1.50 increase, while the annual plan now costs $184.99, up $15. The Premium plan sees the largest jump, now $22.99 per month and $229.99 per year, reflecting $2 and $20 increases respectively.
As if that weren’t enough, HBO Max has also been tightening password-sharing restrictions to limit account sharing among friends or family. The move follows similar actions by other major streamers like Disney+ or Apple TV.
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External links
- HBO Max Hikes Prices Again. Here's How Much You'll Pay and When the Change Will HitPCMAG
- HBO Max raises its prices today. Here's how much it costs nowMashable
- HBO Max Price Rises Kick in Across All Subscription Tiers, HBO Max Standard Now $18.49 per MonthIGN
- Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max is raising its prices across all plansCNBC
Comments
Every time a streaming service hikes up a price, Proton should have a sale on their VPN.
I'm amazed that the movie/TV industry couldn't achieve what the music industry did with Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, et al: different providers where you can access pretty much ALL the content with a single subscription (even if that single subscription ends up being eye wateringly expensive)
Actually, if you think about it, the reason is very clear: Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc. don't make music or podcasts; they just host them.
If a movie/TV production company allows their content to be hosted on another movie/TV production companies platform, they could be at a disadvantage or lose money to the competition.
For instance, Netflix's “Love, Death & Robots” vs Amazon's “Secret Level” vs Marvel's “What if…?”
The platform fees alone would make each company not want that.
The “solution”, I guess, would be to have a neutral service that hosts (or proxies) the titles for a fee, but I highly doubt that would ever happen. Not on Disney's green earth, at least.