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Disney+ Subscriptions Are About to Get More Expensive

Illustration for article titled Disney+ Subscriptions Are About to Get More Expensive

Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP (Getty Images)

Disney+ is getting pricier, but there’s still time to score it at a discount.

As previously announced back in September, Disney+ subscriptions and its bundle package with ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu are getting a price hike. Beginning March 26, subscriptions for the service will jump from $7 to $8 per month, while the annual subscription option will jump from $70 to $80 per year. The Disney+ bundle will increase from $13 to $14 a month. In other words, anybody looking to stay with the service for the next year would be wise to get the annual plan at a discount while they still can.

Disney+ sister services also recently saw their subscription fees increase. The ad-free version of Hulu with Live TV increased to $71 per month from $61 per month in December, while its ad-supported version jumped from $55 to $65 per month. The ESPN+ annual plan saw its subscription costs increase in January from $50 to $60 after a previous increase in monthly costs from $5 to $6 last year.

Frankly, an increase in Disney+ subscription costs was inevitable. The company has dumped a ton of resources into producing 100 new titles for the service each year—Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic included—and recently soared past 100 million subscriptions far ahead of schedule. It’s even restructured its business to focus on making its streaming properties a success.

But it has also created more value on the service with its Premier Access offering, which allows users to pay to see major films from home the same day they release in theaters. Just this week, the company announced it would use this release model for two of its highly anticipated 2021 releases, the live-action remake of Cruella and Marvel Studios’ Black Widow. Its originals are performing well, too. WandaVision premieres seemingly crashed the dang site, for crying out loud.

Even after its price hike, Disney+ is still a steal—particularly for families. Disney may be focused on scale at the moment, but I wouldn’t be shocked to hear about yet another price increase in the not-so-distant future.


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