The Complete History of Disney+ Price Hikes

Updated on July 17, 2025

Introduction

After the successful launch of ESPN+ and the ending of their Netflix distribution deal, Disney launched their own streaming service called Disney+. The idea made sense. Disney created an unparalleled catalog of childhood classics from their own studio, and also acquired major blockbuster franchises like Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm. They also have the libraries of 21st Century Fox and National Geographic. With the service offered at $6.99 per month, Disney+ was cheaper than other streaming platforms at the time.

However, Disney+ was not immune to price hikes. The streamer increased prices year by year, and now costs roughly the same as their competitors. Sure, the library still remains. However, if the price hikes continue, it would be hard to say that Disney+ would still be worth it. In this article, we explore Disney+ price hikes in order to see how the streamer would cost in the future.

Disney+ Price Hikes

March 2021. From $6.99 to $7.99 (Disney+ monthly plan)

Disney+ first raised prices in 2021, a little over a year after its launch. They increased their existing monthly plans by a dollar, while the annual base plan increased by $10. They also introduced a new bundle that combines Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu, the last streamer finally without ads.

Disney+ monthly: $7.99 (+$1)
Disney+ yearly: $79.99 (+$10)
Disney+, ESPN+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads): $13.99 (+$1)
Disney+, ESPN+ (with ads), Hulu (no ads): $18.99 (New plan)

It was a rough first year for Disney+. While the acquisition of baseball streamer BAMTech helped them prepare for the launch tech-wise, the sheer volume of sign-ups led to outages and hacked accounts. The increase could have been made to address this. Still, at $7.99, the price for Disney+ was still more budget-friendly compared to their competitors.

December 2022. From $7.99 to $10.99 (Disney+ Premium plan)

More than a year later, Disney+ increased prices across both its standalone subscriptions and bundle plans. However, they also introduced a new standalone ad-supported plan at $7.99. That meant subscribers to the previous standard plan could access Disney+ at their past rate, just with ads.

Disney+ Basic monthly: $7.99 (New plan with ads)
Disney+ Premium monthly: $10.99 (+$3 – Former base plan, still ad-free)
Disney+ Premium annual: $109.99 (+$30)

The introduction of Disney+ Basic also came with new bundles that combined Disney’s other streaming services with an ad-supported version of Disney+. They also stopped offering a specific bundle plan to new subscribers. This legacy plan still remains for grandfathered subscribers, and it offered both Hulu and ESPN+ with commercials, and Disney+ without ads.

Disney+ Basic, Hulu (with ads): $9.99 (New plan)
Disney+ Basic, Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $12.99 (New plan)
Disney+ Legacy, Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $14.99 (+$1)
Disney+ Premium, Hulu (no ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $19.99 (+$1)

October 2023. From $10.99 to $13.99 (Disney+ Premium plan)

Disney increased prices again for most of their Disney+ plans. Between the two standalone subscriptions, only the rate of Disney+ Basic remained unscathed.

Disney+ Basic monthly: $7.99 (No changes)
Disney+ Premium monthly: $13.99 (+$3)
Disney+ Premium annual: $139.99 (+$30)

Disney also introduced a new bundle that combined Disney+ Premium and Hulu without ads the previous September. A bundle with ads for both streamers continued to stay the same price.

Disney Duo Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads): $9.99 (No change)
Disney Duo Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads): $19.99 (New plan)

The biggest price hikes came for the Disney Trio bundles, with increases ranging from $2 to $5 dollars.

Disney Trio Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $14.99 (+$2)
Disney Trio Legacy: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $18.99 (+$4)
Disney Trio Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $24.99 (+$5)

The rise could have occurred due to the losses Disney has faced this year, with the Hollywood strikes having delayed their release schedules. Disney also hoped to increase profit by pulling some content from their library. This purge garnered some controversy, especially in the removal of the documentary Howard during Pride Month.

October 2024. From $13.99 to $15.99 (Disney+ Premium plan)

A year after, Disney increased prices on all Disney+ plans except for their dual ad-free Hulu and Disney+ bundle. Most plans rose by two dollars.

Disney+ Basic monthly: $9.99 (+$2)
Disney+ Premium monthly: $15.99 (+$2)
Disney+ Premium annual: $159.99 (+$20)

Disney Duo Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads): $10.99 (+$1)
Disney Duo Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads): $19.99 (No change)

Disney Trio Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $16.99 (+$2)
Disney Trio Legacy: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $21.99 (+$3)
Disney Trio Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN+ (with ads): $26.99 (+$2)

Additionally, Disney offered a new bundle with Max that July. The new bundle was made in hopes of keeping users subscribed to the service.

Disney+ Basic, Hulu (with ads), Max (with ads): $16.99 (New plan)
Disney+ Premium, Hulu (no ads), Max (no ads): $29.99 (New plan)

At this time, Disney+ also started to crack down on password sharing, offering an Extra Member add-on for users sharing accounts. Depending on the plan, each account would pay around $7-$15 to allow another person to stream outside one’s house.

October 21, 2025. From $15.99 to $18.99 (Disney+ Premium plan)

Disney+ continued to raise prices on all plans for October 2025. Most plans increased by $2-3, except for the premium Disney+ and Hulu bundle.

Disney+ Basic monthly: $11.99 (+$2)
Disney+ Premium monthly: $18.99 (+$3)
Disney+ Premium annual: $189.99 (+$30)

Disney Duo Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads): $12.99 (+$2)
Disney Duo Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads): $19.99 (No change)

While a price hike would be normal for the streamer, it comes at an awkward time. ABC, a Disney subsidiary, had temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off air due to the comedian’s remarks on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, so many subscribers cancelled their plans. With the price hike, they might not choose to resubscribe.

Max bundle plans were also not spared from this $3 price hike.

Disney+ Basic, Hulu (with ads), Max (with ads): $19.99 (+$3)
Disney+ Premium, Hulu (no ads), Max (no ads): $32.99 (+$3)

However, Max bundles now have a new ESPN add-on costing $29.99.

Speaking of ESPN, remember ESPN+? Disney’s sports subsidiary has launched a new streamer called ESPN Unlimited, which offers more content than ESPN+, now called ESPN Select. The previous ESPN+ bundles still exist, though sports fans can get more sports content with ESPN Unlimited bundles.

ESPN Select Trio Basic: Disney+ (with ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN Select (with ads): $19.99 (+$3)
ESPN Select Trio Legacy: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN Select (with ads): $24.99 (+$3)
ESPN Select Trio Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN Select (with ads): $29.99 (+$3)

ESPN Unlimited Trio Basic: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN Unlimited (with ads): $35.99 (New plan)
ESPN Unlimited Trio Premium: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN Unlimited (with ads): $44.99 (New plan)

Disney+ also teamed up with NFL+ to create new bundles just in time for football season.

ESPN Unlimited Trio Basic with NFL+ Bundle: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (with ads), ESPN Unlimited (with ads), NFL+ Premium: $45.99 (New plan)
ESPN Unlimited Trio Premium with NFL+ Bundle: Disney+ (no ads), Hulu (no ads), ESPN Unlimited (with ads), NFL+ Premium: $54.99 (New plan)

Disney+ Future Price Hikes

Will Disney+ increase prices again this year? As we predicted in July 2025, Disney just increased prices for all its plans by two to three dollars, so it’s likely that the next price hike would occur in 2026.

Why would we say that? Since its launch, Disney+ has increased prices every year. It might be delayed by a month or two, but the hikes have been consistent. If somehow, someone from Disney Streaming reads this and decides to change their ways, then great. We don’t think it’s likely, sorry to say.

That being said, Disney might pursue other strategies to increase profit without increasing their prices.

As we mentioned in July 2025, Disney+ has started teaming up with HBO Max, acquiring 70% of Fubo, and settling legal battles over Venu, the failed sports venture between Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and Fox Corporation. This seemed to hint at Disney’s next strategy focusing on strategic bundling.

As such, we predicted that one possible avenue is Disney consolidating some streaming platforms into one. It seems like this avenue is the path Disney chose to take. Disney announced in September 2025 that Hulu will be fully integrated into Disney+ by 2026. In theory, this should cut down operation costs for Disney’s streaming endeavors, so therefore, it might lower prices for both. As of writing, it’s still up in the air as to how they’ll integrate the services. It’s likely that rather than lowering costs for bundled users, the Hulu and Disney+ bundles would become Disney+’s core packages instead. Those subscribed to the Disney+ standalone plans might have to take on an additional cost in that case.

We’ve mentioned Venu previously, but it’s interesting to see that Disney+ continues to make strides in sports streaming with its bundles for ESPN and NFL+, and the acquisition of Fubo. It’s unclear as to whether these three platforms would also be integrated with Disney+, though it’s entirely possible, since Disney plans to combine operations for Hulu with Live TV and Fubo.

Whichever way they go, it’s likely that Disney+ will increase prices. It’s up in the air as to how Disney will make these hikes worth it, but in the meantime, we’ll keep you updated on their price hikes.