Skip to main content

Ad-free HBO Max is about to get more expensive

Price increases aren’t exactly unheard of in the streaming space. But HBO Max has seen its monthly rates remain steady since it launched in May 2020. That’s finally going to change, though, with the ad-free tier increasing but $1 a month to $16 (plus tax), starting on or after February 11. Existing customers will see the price increase in the first billing cycle after that date — and new subscribers get to enjoy the new price now.

“This price increase of $1 will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users,” HBO Max said in an e-mailed statement.

Velma on HBO Max.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you opt to pay for a year all at once, it’ll cost you $150. The tier with advertising remains at $10 a month, or $100 a year.

The price increase comes at the beginning of what’s going to be an extremely tumultuous year for HBO Max and Warner Media, with the technical transition from being its own entity to falling under the new Warner Bros. Discovery company. HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into a single app later this year. There’s no word yet on whether the combined app will lead to other price changes, though it wouldn’t be surprising.

More on HBO Max

The chance also comes as HBO Max has been stripping various shows and series from the service. Some you’ve heard of. Some you haven’t.

And still not known is whether the HBO Max name will remain intact, or whether it’ll become a shortened “Max,” which has been rumored to be the frontrunner.

HBO Max and Discovery+ currently are available on every major streaming platform, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, on smart TV platforms, and in a web browser.

Editors' Recommendations

Phil Nickinson
Section Editor, Audio/Video
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
Max is now available to watch on YouTube Primetime Channels
Max on YouTube Primetime Channels as seen on an iPhone.

Max — the streaming service that houses all the shows and movies from the combined Warner Bros. Discovery universe — is now available to watch in full on YouTube. Or, rather, on YouTube Primetime Channels.

That's the somewhat clunky name for the scheme by which you can watch subscription services from within YouTube itself. It's exactly the same idea as what's going on with NFL Sunday Ticket. You subscribe and watch on YouTube and pay via your Google account. It's also pretty much the exact same thing as Max on Amazon Prime Channels. But unlike the Amazon options, only one flavor of Max is available on YouTube PrimeTime Channels. You'll get the full version, sans advertising, for $16 a month. (It rounds up to a little more than $18 a month after taxes.)

Read more
Got a PS5? Here’s how to get 6 free months of Apple Music
Apple Music on a PS5.

Apple is offering PlayStation 5 (PS5) owners six free months of its Apple Music streaming service.

In a deal with PlayStation maker Sony, Apple is letting PS5 owners enjoy all the benefits of the music streaming service, which offers around 100 million tracks for ad-free listening.

Read more
ESPN+: Live sports and more you can’t get anywhere else
ESPN+ app on a movile device.

ESPN is synonymous with sports on TV. It stands to reason, then, that ESPN+ gets you more sports. And it does, in that newfangled way that transcends sports on TV. ESPN+ is the future of ESPN in a streaming world. Probably. Eventually. Sort of.

It's a little complicated. It's perhaps better at the moment to consider ESPN+ the streaming service complementary to ESPN the cable network. You can get some of what's on ESPN on ESPN+. But at the same time, ESPN Plus has a lot that you can't get on the cable network.

Read more