It might sound super obvious to say that I really don’t like finding out that I’m paying more for something than I need to, but honestly, the older I get, the more that situation kind of makes my blood boil. So obviously, figuring out how to get a good rate on the best streaming services is an occasional obsession, particularly when that dreaded “we’re raising our prices” email shows up in my inbox.
Recently, I’ve been rearranging my subscriptions a bit in an effort to tighten up my budget — preferably without having to let go of the streaming services I rely on most (in the case of Max, to watch Friends any time I want). The dilemma isn’t actually with whether or not to switch to the Max bundle that includes Disney Plus and Hulu. I already know I want to. The real question is: Should I deal with ads for a lower cost, or should I pay more to go without ads?
You may already have the answer to that for your own personal preference, but I’m going to break it down by the numbers here as it relates to my Disney Plus, Max, and Hulu subscription, and see exactly how the math works out to get the best streaming deal for me.
First, I'm not including the "Ultimate Ad-Free" Max subscription option, which costs more ($20.99/month) and gives you more devices and 4k streaming. Full HD vs. 4k Ultra HD is a whole separate dilemma for someone else to break down. Plus, I'm one person so I don't need to be streaming things on 4 devices at once. Two is plenty.
Also, the above table splits Hulu and Disney Plus into separate subscriptions, which is not a reasonable option, given that the Disney Plus bundle with Hulu is like a dollar more than what it would cost to subscribe to one of them by itself. So let's look at the numbers for Max by itself, and the Disney Plus and Hulu bundle.
| Streamer | Monthly cost with ads (U.S. pricing) | Monthly cost without ads (U.S. pricing) |
|---|---|---|
| Max | $9.99 | $16.99 |
| Disney+ with Hulu | $10.99 | $19.99 |
| Total | $20.98 | $36.98 |
Now let's look at the cost of the bundle that includes all three subscription services.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | With Ads (monthly, U.S. pricing) | Without ads (monthly, U.S. pricing) | Difference with vs without ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max, Disney+ and Hulu bundle | $16.99 | $29.99 | $13 |
| Difference from Max, Disney+, Hulu all separate subscriptions. | -$12.98 | -$21.98 | -$9 |
| Difference from Max by itself, Disney+/Hulu bundled. | -$3.99 | -$6.99 | -$3 |
Ads vs. no ads
Since I'm unbundling my Hulu subscription from another subscription to make this change, I can't focus on the savings I'd be experiencing had I been paying full price for all three of these services separately. With that in mind, the $4/$7 I'd saving by bundling all three subscriptions is less impressive.
But that's not the point of any of this. What it really comes down to is the cost of the "with ads" option vs. the "without ads" option.
If I go without ads, I'll be saving a ton of time in the long run — I have to think about the amount of time I spend watching ads across various streaming platforms, especially when I'm sucked into a big TV series binge.
But if I go with the "with ads" option, I'll be paying — per month, for three platforms I watched regularly — about the same as what I would be paying for one of these services by itself without ads.
I didn't expect this decision, but this is where I'm leaning...
When I started writing this, I was leaning toward springing for the no-ads option. That's what I have for Max right now and I'm afraid I won't love the experience of having Max with ads. But after looking at the numbers — specifically how that $16.99 monthly cost stacks up against the individual cost for each platform, the money I'll be saving by going with the ads plan might be too good to resist.
Anyway, thanks for coming along with me on this journey. The bright side is, no matter which I go with, there's always the option to cancel or switch from one to the other if I find my level of satisfaction (streaming ad-free or benefiting from savings) isn't enough to justify the cost (be it time or money). And the even brighter side is, no matter which one I go with, I get to keep all three subscriptions active, which is a win x3 as far as I'm concerned.
