How to beat the Disney+ price hike: ways to save your money
Disney's recent price bump is starting to affect most users. Looking to save money? Here's how to beat the Disney+ price hike.
Back in November, Disney announced that it was changing the prices for its top streaming service. The house of mouse decided to up the prices of Disney+ from 6 December. But, for many, these changes are only starting to take place now. The subscription price hike was due on your next billing cycle, and if you had an annual plan, it was probably after 6 December.
But now that subscribers are seeing their renewal prices in their inboxes, the price bump has become much more apparent. Not a fan of the more expensive plan and keen to save your money? Here are a few ways to beat the Disney+ price hike.
Do you need the highest tier?
The biggest price change is the introduction of new tiers: Standard With Ads, Standard, and Premium. Each one is priced at a different point, and, naturally, Premium is the most expensive. But, rather sneakily, Disney decided to renew everyone at the Premium tier, unless you change your plan.
On the Premium tier, you get 4K and HDR quality, up to four streams, downloads, and no ads at all. This is £10.90 per month, or £109.99 per year – a big bump from the previous £79.90 it was before. For that same price (or £7.99) you now get the Standard tier, which includes two streams, 1080p quality, downloads, and no ads.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to get around the Disney+ prices. But, you can beat the price hike by downgrading to the Standard tier. If your TV isn’t 4K-ready, or you watch older shows that weren’t filmed in 4K (from the content library rather than new stuff made for streaming), the 1080p plan might be a better option. You can avoid the price bump to the highest tier, and save yourself £3 per month or £30 per year.
And if you don’t mind ads, you can save yourself even more money. The Standard With Ads tier is £4.99 per month, and offers the same 1080p quality. You’ll have to sit through ads, but you may be happy to do so to half the subscription price.
Look for Disney+ offers
If you’ve not signed up to Disney+ yet and the recent price bump is putting you off, keeping an eye out for offers is your best bet. While the house of mouse doesn’t run promotions itself, you’ll be able to find some through partners.
In the UK, Tesco Clubcard customers can buy a three-month subscription for £7.50-worth of points – which is less than a month’s price on the Standard tier. Samsung smartphone owners can get Disney+ free for a year when buying new devices (like the Galaxy S24 series) from Samsung or mobile providers like EE. O2 customers can also claim a six-months subscription for free with any pay-monthly SIM.
Or, in the US, there are a number of carrier deals to get you free or discounted Disney+. Verizon Wireless customers can nab six months of the Premium tier for free. Various carriers offer a Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle for a reduced price of $14.99 – which can save you money if you use all three.
You’ll be able to share accounts soon
As part of a crackdown on sharing passwords (which is against Disney’s rules, so don’t get any ideas here), account owners will be able to set up accounts for people outside their household for an additional fee. It’s a similar move to Netflix, who offers a fee of $7.99/£4.99 to add a separate account for people outside your household.
This isn’t available on Disney+ yet, but is set to roll out later this year. With these shared accounts, you may be able to set up another account for less than a typical subscription. Or, you and the account holder could come to an arrangement to bundle the total fee and split it – which would likely still be less than an original subscription tier of your own.
Connor Jewiss
