Another Streaming Service Gets a Price Hike, But You May Not Even Need This One

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Discovery+ has announced a price hike that will see the cost of an ad-supported plan go from $4.99 to $5.99 per month and the ad-free plan go from $8.99 to $9.99 per month.

Revised prices will apply to new customers starting Jan. 7 and to existing customers on or after Feb. 7. Those on promotional plans won't see an increase until the promotional period ends.

Discovery+ launched in 2021 with access to shows from Discovery, Animal Planet, HGTV, TLC, ID, Travel Channel, and more. At launch, the ad-free tier was $6.99 a month, and the ad-supported tier cost $4.99. The platform’s first price hike in 2023 increased ad-free viewing to $8.99 a month.

In 2023, Warner Bros. Media launched Max, which combined HBO Max and Discovery+. Max is currently $9.99 per month for the ad-supported tier and $16.99 without ads, and it includes Discovery+ content. Depending on your viewing habits (and tolerance for ads), it may make sense to subscribe to Max over Discovery+.

In our 2023 review of Discovery+, we argued that users were “better served by the new Max app, which has so much more to offer on top of what Discovery+ provides.”

Price hikes have become common in the streaming space. Our detailed guide can help you check the latest streaming service price hikes. And don't forget to keep tabs on your paid subscriptions.

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, Warner Bros. had a combined subscriber base of 110.5 million users from its Max, HBO, HBO Max, and Discovery+ platforms.

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