How to Save Money on Streaming Services

Before we dig into streaming services, let’s first look at cable and satellite TV, which are the biggest chunk of many households’ monthly home entertainment bill.

My wife and I considered canceling our DirecTV satellite service, but decided to keep it because it’s a good way for her to see most Yankees games. You may likewise find that a traditional cable (or satellite) package is the best way to get all the network TV you want. You may be able to negotiate a cheaper cable TV rate, but other options might still be more cost-effective.

Several cable companies are now offering their own lower-cost streaming packages. Comcast’s Now TV, for example—marketed under the company’s Xfinity brand—is a streaming bundle that offers more than 40 live cable channels, approximately 20 free channels, and Peacock Premium for just $20 a month. The company’s newer Now StreamSaver package includes 40 channels of live TV, plus Apple TV, Netflix Standard (with ads), and Peacock Premium, for $30 per month or $15 per month if you’re already an Xfinity internet or TV customer.

Charter offers a $40-a-month Spectrum TV Stream plan for its internet customers, which includes more than 90 live channels. You can also choose a Spectrum Stream Latino plan, which features 45 Spanish-language channels for $25 per month. Altice’s Optimum service offers a lower-priced streaming internet plan, called Entertainment TV. It provides about 80 channels for $30 a month.

However, none of these cable company plans includes any live local or sports channels, so they may not be suitable for everyone.

Of course, the least pricey approach of all is to use an inexpensive indoor antenna. If you live in or near a city, an indoor antenna will get ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, plus PBS, Telemundo, and dozens of digital subchannels that have been added over the past 20 years. CR has tested good antennas selling for as little as $20. (Just check the return policy in case it turns out that you have poor reception in your home.)

If an antenna won’t work for you, consider using a cable replacement service. It may be cheaper than your cable plan and give you much of the same programming. Cable replacement services stream over the internet, just like Netflix, but they carry local networks and many other stations found on cable. Prices for these services—Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and some others—have been rising, but they may still be cheaper than a cable or satellite package.

After you’ve settled the cable question, it’s time to make a list of every streaming service you subscribe to. This might be as simple as scrolling through the apps on your TV, but be sure to also check your credit card bills.

To make it easier to keep track of all your streaming subscriptions, consider consolidating them on a single credit card. Another option is to subscribe to your streaming services through your Amazon, Apple TV, or Roku account, so billing is all in one place. Then, each month, review every service you’re paying for and determine whether you’re still using it enough to justify the cost. This can also help you catch any price hikes.

There are also apps, such as Bobby, Rocket Money, and Subby, that can help you track and manage your streaming subscriptions. Some will send reminders, alert you to price hikes, or even help cancel subscriptions.

Once you’ve made a comprehensive list of your streaming services, you might find it easy to eliminate some. For instance, if you subscribed last year to a niche service like BroadwayHD for $20 a month, just to watch “Anything Goes,” you can probably let that one go.

But what about the big services—like Apple TV, Max, and Hulu—which periodically introduce really great shows that people talk about for months? There’s a solution for that.

Many people sign up for a streaming service to watch a particular series and then continue to subscribe even after they’ve seen every episode. It just becomes part of their monthly expenses, like a utility bill. But that’s unnecessary.

Because these services don’t require contracts, you can join Disney+ to host a “Star Wars” binge party, then quit until the service starts showing 2026’s planned Mandalorian movie. That will save you $10 or more a month.

“Service hopping” isn’t a novel idea. More than 29 million Americans—about one-quarter of paying streaming subscribers—have canceled three or more services over the past two years, according to Antenna, a subscription research firm.

And don’t worry about missing out. Websites and apps like JustWatch and Reelgood let you keep track of when the shows you want to see become available, so you can sign up just as a new season begins.

Not long ago, streaming services each offered just one pricing option. Now, most companies offer cheaper, “ad-supported” plans, where the shows are accompanied by commercials. That’s a good way to save money, especially when streaming services raise their prices. In my household, we subscribe to the ad-supported versions of Hulu and Paramount+. You can now get lower-priced, ad-supported options from Disney ($12 a month, instead of $19), HBO Max ($11 per month, instead of $18.50), and Netflix ($8 a month, instead of $18).

But even these cheaper ad-supported services have become more expensive. Netflix raised prices earlier this year, and in July, Peacock increased prices on its plans by $3 per month. Disney hiked the prices of many of its plans (and bundles) in October, and Paramount says prices for both its ad-free and ad-supported services will be going up in January 2026.

Many great shows and movies, such as “Frasier” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” are available on free streaming services like Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi. These services now also offer some original content. In addition, most major TV brands now offer ad-supported streaming services as part of their smart TV platforms. In exchange for watching, though, you’ll have to tolerate some ads.

You might also be able to take advantage of free promotions on paid services. For example, T-Mobile customers with certain 5G plans can get Apple TV, Hulu or Nextflix for free. Verizon customers with 5G Get More or 5G Play More can continue to receive the Disney+ bundle for free; however, these plans are no longer being offered to new subscribers. Additionally, those with eligible Unlimited service can receive Disney+ Premium (No Ads) for six months. But Verizon has been shifting some subscribers to new plans that don’t include the Disney+ bundle.

Cable companies are also getting into the act. Charter’s Spectrum customers on higher-tier plans can now get the ad-supported versions of Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and HBO Max for free. This follows an earlier deal that saw Disney+ and ESPN+ added to some Spectrum TV packages at no additional charge.

Other options include getting either Paramount+ or Peacock with a Walmart+ membership, or receiving three months of Apple TV for free when you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac. Instacart+ members now get Peacock for free.

If you take advantage of promotions like these, be sure to enter the end date of the free period on your calendar in case you want to cancel before the charges begin.

Taking a page from the cable TV playbook, streaming services are turning to bundles to keep customers subscribed. Disney, for example, offers plans that combine Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+ (with ads) for $20 a month.

If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer, you can get a Netflix/Max package (with ads) for just $10 a month with certain Unlimited plans. A Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle is included free as part of its 5G Get More or 5G Play More plans, or for $10 a month with other cellular plans.

Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen some streaming services—usually competitors—joining together to offer bundles. In addition to the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle, the highest-profile one so far is from Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney, which have teamed up to launch a combined package that includes Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max for $20 a month (with ads), or $33 if you want to skip the ads. Apple TV and Peacock have recently teamed up to offer a $15-per-month bundle of those services with ads, or $20 without them.

We expect to see even more bundles emerge as media companies look to gain new customers and combat cancellations, which are on the rise. New data from the research firm Parks Associates indicate that households are now subscribing to fewer services than they did even a year ago, and spending has decreased by approximately 30 percent since 2021.

People have been sharing passwords ever since the first streaming services arrived, and many companies have actually encouraged it. But more companies, including Disney (and Hulu), Max, and Netflix, are now cracking down on the practice, limiting account sharing only to people within the same household.

Currently, Amazon allows up to six people to share an account. Apple lets you set up six separate accounts to share access to several of its services (including Apple TV) as part of its Apple Family Sharing feature. Other services let you create multiple profiles for family members.

Most services control account sharing to some degree by limiting the number of people who can access the service simultaneously. Amazon and Paramount+, for example, allow only three devices to stream at a time, while Hulu allows just two concurrent streams.

Several streaming services offer more expensive plans that allow multiple users to stream simultaneously. Netflix now lets you share your account with an additional member who gets their own profile and password for an additional $7 or $8 a month, depending on whether the plan includes ads or not.

Let’s say the network you watch most is NBC. These days, you can sign up for NBC’s streaming network, Peacock. The basic Select plan is $8 per month and allows you to watch shows a day after they air on live TV, but it does not include live sports. Peacock Premium costs $11 per month and includes all NBC and Bravo shows, Universal movies, Peacock original shows, and live sports. With the ad-free $17-a-month Peacock Premium Plus plan, you also get local news, weather, and NBC shows live.

CBS has its own version, the ad-supported Paramount+ Essential, at $8 a month, or a largely ad-free version called Paramount+ with Showtime ($13 a month) that provides live local TV.

In addition to the regular shows you’d find on those networks, you’ll get some streaming-only shows. For example, Paramount+ has several “Star Trek” series, plus “Landman,” from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan; “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone; and the reboot of “Frasier,” starring Kelsey Grammer. Peacock’s original shows include “The Traitors,” “Special Ops: Lioness,” also from Taylor Sheridan, and “Lockerbie: A Search for Truth.” It also has the Oscar-winning movie “Oppenheimer.”

And remember, you can jump into and out of these services, too. My wife and I recently signed up for one month of Peacock to binge-watch all five seasons of “Yellowstone.” We then dropped it and signed up with Apple TV ($13) to see the new seasons of “The Morning Show” and "Slow Horses" before we had to pay for an additional month.