The Mouse Demands More: Disney+ and Hulu Prices Hike (Again)
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Sadly, it’s that time of the year again. Streaming service price hikes have clearly become an annual affair, and today it’s Disney’s turn to jack up its prices a bit more and make all of us rethink how much we really need our Star Wars and MCU fix.
The latest hikes to both Disney+ and Hulu are coming right on schedule — a year to the day after the September 2025 price increases, and it now marks the sixth price increase since the service launched in 2019. So, seeing the House of Mouse now settling into an almost perfectly synchronized annual rhythm doesn’t seem all that surprising at this point.
Today’s bumps bring the ad-free version of Disney+ up to a staggering $21.49 per month, marking the first time it’s broken through the $20 threshold, putting it in the same league at Netflix, which crossed that line in 2023 for its Premium tier — and now has the Standard tier toying with it.
It’s a far cry from 2019, when Disney unleashed its streaming service for $6.99 per month. It’s hard to believe it was ever such a bargain, considering it’s less than even Disney’s ad-supported tier, which as of today goes up to $12.49.
By December 2022, when Disney (and the rest of the streaming industry) discovered how lucrative ad-supported streaming could be, the standard (ad-free) Disney plan, which had gone up to $7.99 in 2021, morphed into an ad-supported “basic” tier, with a new $10.99 ad-free Premium plan tacked on top.
After that, the ad-free premium plan continued to increase by $2-$3 annually. The ad-supported plan was spared the first increase in October 2023, staying at $7.99, but by the following year, it was following the same trend.
Disney and Hulu Prices in September 2026
| Plan Tier | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disney+ Basic (With Ads) |
— | — | $7.99 | $7.99 | $9.99 | $11.99 | $12.49 |
| Disney+ Premium (Ad-Free) |
$6.99 | $7.99 | $10.99 | $13.99 | $15.99 | $18.99 | $21.49 |
| Hulu Basic (With Ads) |
$5.99 | $6.99 | $7.99 | $7.99 | $9.49 | $11.99 | $12.49 |
| Hulu Premium (Ad-Free) |
$11.99 | $12.99 | $14.99 | $17.99 | $18.99 | $18.99 | $21.49 |
One small silvering lining is that the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle hasn’t seen a price increase; it remains at the same $12.99 as before, which means anyone who is subscribing to only one of the two services can get the other one for only $0.50 more.
The same gap holds true for the premium Disney+ and Hulu bundle, which has seen a more modest price increase of $21.99, up from $19.99, which also places it only $0.50 away from the standalone subscriptions.
Pricing for the other bundles is as follows:
- Disney+ Basic / Hulu Basic / ESPN — $21.99, up from $19.99
- Disney+ Premium / Hulu Premium / ESPN Select (with Ads) — $32.99, up from $29.99.
- Disney+ Basic / Hulu Basic / HBO Max Basic — $21.99 up from $19.99
- Disney+ Premium / Hulu Premium / HBO Max Basic — $34.99, up from $32.99.
Disney has outlined the changes on its updated help center pricing page, which notes that new subscribers will pay the increased prices today, while existing customers will see them change in their next billing cycle on or after October 21, 2026.
While Disney+ and Hulu have just entered the rarefied $20+ tier, they’re still trailing Netflix by a healthy margin. The streaming giant hit $26.99 for its Premium plan in March, and now charges $19.99 for its Standard plan — a 1080p plan that allows only two devices — something for which Disney and Hulu have no US equivalent.
