How much does hbo max cost on hulu

Home to award-winning, critically acclaimed entertainment, bag a HBO Max subscription and watch golden oldies like The Wire and The Sopranos, as well as newer TV shows like Euphoria and the prequel to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon. Offering two HBO Max price points, you can get a cheaper plan with a few ads thrown in. No matter which you go for, though, you'll be entitled to 13,000+ hours of top-tier content. Not to mention there's currently an excellent deal on annual sign ups.

• HBO Max price: head straight to HBO Max to save 40% on annual plans (opens in new tab)

Including Max Originals like DC’s Peacemaker and The Flight Attendant, there are also iconic and exceptional HBO shows (Chernobyl, Mare of Easttown), a curated library of bona-fide movie classics from TCM, and choice picks from the Warner Brothers film and TV archive, too. You’ll find hobbits, superheroes, Friends, and a hell of a lot more too.

HBO Max offers some of the best deals and at an incredible price. But how does it compare to some of the other best streaming services out there like Disney Plus, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video? Find out below as we break it all down.

Are there currently any HBO Max deals?

HBO Max price and plans: your quick guide

HBO Max has two subscription tiers, with the option to pay on a rolling monthly contract, or prepay for a whole year and save 20%.

• ‘With Ads’ plan - $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year (opens in new tab)
• 'Ads-Free' plan - $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year (opens in new tab)

Both offer unmitigated access to all ten of its entertainment hubs – HBO, DC, Classics Curated by TCM, Studio Ghibli, Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop, Crunchyroll, Adult Swim, Cartoonito, and Looney Tunes – on top of exclusive Max Original programming. You'll also get to stream across three devices simultaneously.

With the $14.99 ‘Ad Free’ plan there are no commercials. Select titles are available in glorious 4K HDR, and you can download a maximum of 30 titles for offline viewing.

Devices compatible with HBO Max include Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, HBO Max on Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X & S, and iPad, Android, and iPhones.

Are there any HBO Max deals?

Right now, though, new and returning subscribers can save a huge 40% on annual plans until October 30 (opens in new tab). Pay just $69.99 for With-Ads or $104.99 for Ad-Free for your first month. Thereafter, the HBO Max price will resort back to full price - $99.99 and $149.99 a year respectively.

Alternatively, if you're a new or existing customer of Cricket Wireless (opens in new tab), its Unlimited package includes a free ‘With Ads’ HBO Max subscription.

As for the 7-day free trial? This was discontinued in December 2020 for US customers. However, you can find out more about the HBO Max free trial and possible eligibility in new countries where the service is rolling out in our guide.

Meanwhile, anyone with a current HBO or HBO Now subscription are entitled to a HBO Max account absolutely FREE – as long as they’re registered with an eligible provider.

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How does the HBO Max price compare to Netflix?

HBO Max delivers both affordability and quality content with its With-Ads plan. And now that Netflix has raised the cost of its subscription plans – the Basic option has gone up to $9.99 – as far as pricing goes, the two streamers are evenly matched 

Netflix still sits at the helm of online streaming. It’s got nearly three times as much content as HBO Max – 36,000 hours to its 13,000 – and is regularly flooded with original content, including the long anticipated Stranger Things season 4. It’s got three tiers to pick from: $9.99 Basic, $15.49 Standard, and $19.99 for its Premium plan. 

But now that subscribers can get HBO quality at an affordable price, Netflix’s Basic plan is looking just that…basic. For the same price, HBO Max provides three streams where Netflix offers only one, HD quality content where Netflix offers SD, and most importantly of all…unforgettable TV shows like Euphoria, Succession, and The Wire.

Only Netflix’s Premium plan lets you stream to more devices (a total of four), and admittedly trounces HBO Max regarding the number of titles available to stream in Ultra HD (over 500 where HBO Max has somewhere around 40 in 4K). Admittedly Netflix delivers an abundance of content with no adverts in sight. But HBO Max might just offer the more discerning viewer of film and TV with better value.

How does the HBO Max price compare to Amazon Prime Video?

Let’s be honest: Amazon Prime Video (opens in new tab) kind of blows HBO Max out of the water. As part of a $12.99 Amazon Prime subscription, it’s cheaper than an ‘Ad-Free’ HBO Max account, comes packed with perks like free delivery and free music streaming, and has a whopping combined total of over 20,000 movies and TV series. You can get about 25% off by purchasing a $119 annual subscription, while you'll find hundreds of select titles available to stream in 4K Ultra HD.

Yet HBO Max holds a major advantage with prized content exclusive to the service. South Park, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and The Big Bang Theory are just some of the insanely popular shows here, alongside Studio Ghibli’s award-winning animations. It’s the only place to stream every immaculate HBO show in addition to more recent hits like Station Eleven, Euphoria, and The Time Traveler's Wife? They're right there for you to binge.

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How does the HBO Max price compare to Disney Plus?

Disney Plus remains one of the most popular VOD streaming services with a beloved collection of lucrative brands. And at $7.99 a month it provides amazing value. But, with HBO Max’s cheaper ‘With Ads’ plan, the reduced price difference means HBO Max should begin taking a bigger share of the VOD profits – particularly from grown-ups yearning for more adult content. 

In terms of functionality, Disney Plus account sharing allows four people to stream from one account simultaneously, while HBO Max is capped at three. But from a content perspective, the Mouse of House has a relatively slim bounty, with 500 films compared to 1300 on HBO Max, and all available for just a few dollars more. If you want the ad-free experience though, you’ll have to pay $14.99 a month – nearly double the Disney Plus price. 

Content is key in both cases, and each service is the exclusive home of some beloved brands and film franchises. Disney Plus will enchant those who are Team Marvel, Pixar, The Simpsons and The Muppets - plus Star Wars spin-offs like Obi-Wan Kenobi are coming thick and fast - while anyone beholden to DC Comics, Studio Ghibli, nail-biting TV dramas and blockbuster cinema, will jump at the opportunity to pay the marginally higher HBO Max price.  

How does the HBO Max Cost compare to Apple TV Plus?

Apple TV Plus has been a slow-burn VOD service, quietly accruing subscribers with its high-quality exclusive TV series and films – the  awards juggernaut Ted Lasso, for example, and the Jennifer Anniston-starring newsroom drama The Morning Show. 

At $4.99 a month it’s half the cost of an HBO Max membership, and one account can be shared between an additional five people – more than any other streamer listed here. But, given it’s mainly home to brand-new Apple TV originals, its library of titles is incredibly lean. It’s got about 90 feature films and series, whereas HBO Max has hundreds.

In regards the quality of what’s on offer, Apple TV Plus often produces content on a par with HBO, including recent hits like Severance and Shining Girls. Everything here is immaculately produced, and available to watch in stunning 4K. But as of yet, very little has inspired the adoration of HBO show like The Wire, Euphoria, Sex and the City, or The Sopranos.

Still, Apple TV Plus is a fraction of the HBO Max cost, and there’s a lot to look forward to. Heading to the platform in the future is Marin Scorcsese's Western crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon.

How does the HBO Max cost compare to Hulu?

On the face of it, going for Hulu is a sure-fire winner. It’s on-demand only plans remain highly competitive  at $6.99 a month, or $69.99 annually, and there’s an impressive library of more than 4,000 titles to stream. 

But to provide a similar functionality to a fully-fledged HBO Max subscription, you need to purchase a few add-ons that really bump up the price. Want to forgo the annoying adverts? Then you’ll need to pick the $12.99 Hulu (No Ads) option. Want to share your account with more than two people? Unlimited Screens costs another $9.99, which brings us to a monthly total of $23. Suddenly its $14.99 HBO Max price tag for its ‘Ad Free’ plan doesn’t seem so extravagant.

There’s no question that Hulu offers great value and flexibility. Its Basic plan is available to students for an unbelievable $1.99, while devotees of cable TV can upgrade to Hulu with Live TV for $69.99 a month, where, on top of a roster of more than 75 live channels and a vast VOD library you now get Disney Plus and sports service ESPN Plus thrown in too. So, it beats HBO Max in the price wars. But few would disagree that, when it comes to sheer quality of content, HBO takes the crown – and any naysayers can take their disputes to Tony Soprano.

• Learn more about this service with our full HBO Max review

Daniel Pateman is a freelance writer, producing articles across the cultural spectrum for magazines like Aesthetica, Photomonitor, The Brooklyn Rail and This is Tomorrow. He also provides text-writing services to individual curators and artists worldwide, and has had work published internationally. His favourite film genre is horror (bring on Scream 5!) and he never tires of listening to Absolute 80s on the radio.