Every Streaming Price Hike in 2026, Tracked
Paramount+, Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, Apple TV+, ESPN, Disney+, and Hulu all raised prices in 2026. Here's every hike, when it hit, and what it means for your bill.
The short version
- At least seven major services raised US prices in 2026 so far: Paramount+ (January), Prime Video’s ad-free tier (April), Netflix (spring), Peacock and Apple TV+ (both August), and ESPN plus Disney+/Hulu (both September).
- The two most recent hikes just landed. ESPN’s Unlimited and Select tiers went up September 17, and Disney+ and Hulu followed on September 23 — both now push their ad-free plans above $21/month.
- Stacking eight major ad-free services now runs about $139/month (~$1,670/year), per a September 2026 tally — within a few dollars of what an inflation-adjusted cable bill from a decade ago would cost.
- This isn’t a one-off. Several of these services have now raised prices in each of the last three or four years running — treat an annual hike as the new normal, not a surprise.
Streaming was supposed to be the cheap alternative to cable. In 2026, “streamflation” — the industry’s own shorthand for this — has closed most of that gap. Here’s every price change we can confirm this year, in order, with sources.
The 2026 timeline
| Date | Service | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 15 | Paramount+ | Essential (ads) $7.99 → $8.99/mo; Premium (ad-free) $12.99 → $13.99/mo |
| Apr 10 | Prime Video | Ad-free tier (rebranded “Prime Video Ultra”) $2.99 → $4.99/mo, on top of a Prime membership |
| Late March | Netflix | Standard with Ads up to $8.99/mo; ad-free and Premium tiers also increased |
| Aug 18 | Peacock | Select (ads) $7.99 → $8.99/mo; Premium (ad-free) $10.99 → $12.99/mo |
| Aug 28 | Apple TV+ | $12.99 → $14.99/mo; annual plan $99 → $119/yr |
| Sep 17 | ESPN | Unlimited $29.99 → $31.99/mo; Select $12.99 → $13.99/mo |
| Sep 23 | Disney+ & Hulu | Ad-free Premium (each) $18.99 → $21.49/mo; ad-free Disney+/Hulu bundle $19.99 → $21.99/mo; ad-supported tiers (each) $11.99 → $12.49/mo |
A few things stand out. First, the pace: seven confirmed increases across nine months, roughly one a month once you hit summer. Second, the ad-supported tiers aren’t exempt anymore — Peacock, Paramount+, and Disney+/Hulu all nudged their ad tiers up too, just by smaller amounts than their ad-free plans. Third, Disney’s two hikes three weeks apart (ESPN, then Disney+/Hulu) landed back-to-back on the same households, since ESPN is now sold bundled with Disney+ and Hulu.
What a full stack costs now
Adding up eight major ad-free services — Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV+, and Prime Video’s ad-free tier — at September 2026 list prices comes to roughly $139/month, or about $1,670/year, before any bundle discount. Swapping in ad-supported tiers wherever they’re offered brings that down closer to $90/month. Either way, that’s a meaningfully bigger number than it was even a year ago, purely from list-price increases on services most households already had — not from adding anything new.
For the full breakdown of what a realistic four-service stack costs and where live TV blows the budget, see the real cost of cutting the cord in 2026. Our streaming cost calculator lets you plug in your own combination and tiers to see your actual number, and the streaming services hub has the current lineup of what each service offers.
What’s NOT worth doing about it
- Panic-cancelling everything. A price hike of $1-3/month on a service you actually watch weekly rarely changes the math versus cable. Cancel what you’ve stopped watching, not what just got $2 pricier.
- Switching to a “cheaper” live-TV bundle as the fix. Live-TV streaming (YouTube TV, Fubo, Sling) was already priced close to cable before this year’s hikes — see is cutting the cord still worth it for that math. It’s not where the savings are.
- Assuming every bundle is now a bad deal. ESPN and Disney+/Hulu both went up, but the official three-app bundle can still undercut buying them separately now that all three cost more alone too — the gap just moved. Check current bundle pricing against separate pricing before assuming either way; see which streaming bundles actually save money.
What actually helps
- Move to ad-supported tiers where you can tolerate it. Every service in this year’s hikes still raised its ad tier by less than its ad-free tier — the gap between them keeps widening in the ad tier’s favor.
- Re-run the numbers on official bundles. When two or three services you use each go up individually, a bundle that hasn’t widened its own price gap can go from “meh” to “worth it.”
- Drop the service, not just complain about the price. If a hike is the push you needed to finally cancel something you weren’t watching, that’s the whole point of no-contract streaming — use it.
- Recheck annually, not just when a hike hits. With increases landing roughly monthly across the industry in 2026, your stack’s total cost six months from now probably isn’t the same as it is today.
FAQ
How many streaming services raised prices in 2026? At least seven major services: Paramount+, Prime Video’s ad-free tier, Netflix, Peacock, Apple TV+, ESPN, and Disney+/Hulu.
Why do streaming services keep raising prices? Rising content and sports-rights costs plus pressure to show profitability, and it’s now common enough that most of the majors have done it in each of the last several years.
What does a full streaming stack cost now? Around $139/month (~$1,670/year) for eight major services ad-free, at September 2026 pricing — less on ad-supported tiers.
How can I avoid the 2026 price hikes? You can’t dodge a price increase on a service you keep, but ad-supported tiers, dropping unused services, and rechecking bundle math all blunt the impact. Run your own numbers with our cost calculator.
Prices above reflect officially announced US list pricing as of late September 2026 and are sourced from each service’s own pricing announcements as reported by outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TVLine, and Fortune. Streaming prices change often — confirm current pricing on the service’s own signup page before subscribing.