The headline says it all. Get ready for the cost of your Max subscription to rise, because the streamer is about to see another price increase. With one of the streamer’s biggest hits, House of the Dragon, set to air season two on June 16, we guess we might have expected this. But nonetheless, we can’t say we love news of a price increase, especially for the already expensive Max platform. (Although, these days, other previously less expensive streamers are quickly catching up.) While not all plans are seeing price increases, certain monthly and yearly subscription plans, namely those without ads, are raising their price, effective today, June 4. Here’s what’s happening.
Max’s Ad-Free Plans Are Seeing a Price Increase
In a release, Max revealed that certain Max monthly and yearly plans are increasing their prices. It turns out the plans with increased costs are the “Ad-Free” plans Max offers. You can check out the changes below.
- Ad-Free | The monthly Ad-Free plan will increase by $1 per month, making the new price $16.99/month. The yearly Ad-Free plan will increase by $20 per year, making it $169.99/year.
- Ultimate Ad-Free | The monthly Ultimate Ad-Free plan will increase $1 per month, making the new price $20.99/month. The yearly Ultimate Ad-Free plan will increase by $10 per year, making it $209.99/year.
As we often say, $1 a month and $20 a year seem like small amounts of money. But it also feels like these small increases are happening more and more often. On top of that, basically every streamer, not just Max, is increasing its prices. And that’s making the streaming model less and less sustainable.
When Will You See a Price Increase to Your Max Subscription?
The price increase on Max Ad-Free plans is effective immediately. That means any new subscribers to Max will see the increased cost reflected in their billing right away. However, “Existing subscribers will be notified 30 days in advance of their plan renewing and see price increases starting from their next billing cycle on or after Thursday, July 4, 2024. Current yearly subscribers will not see an increase until renewal.”
Max With Ads Plan Remains the Same Price
For now, the Max With Ads plan will not see a price increase and remains $9.99/month or $99.99/year.
Max’s Current Subscription Tiers
Currently, Max offers three pricing options. They are as follows:
- With Ads | Stream on 2 devices at once, Full HD video resolution
- Ad-Free | Stream on 2 devices at once, Full HD video resolution, 30 downloads to watch on the go
- Ultimate Ad-Free | Stream on 4 devices at once, 4K Ultra HD video quality as available, Dolby Atmos immersive audio as available, 100 downloads to watch on the go (limits apply)
A Free Trail for Max Is Available for a Limited Time
Breaking with their usual MO, Max is offering a free trial on the heels of this price increase. The free Max trial would only run for seven days, however. Additionally, only new customers are eligible for this free trial. And if you want it, don’t delay because the offer expires on June 23.
Here’s what Max specifically notes of the free trial, “New customers only. After free trial, converts to paid subscription and automatically renews until canceled. Offer ends 6/23/24.”
These pricing increases on Max seem to continue the current streaming trend of pushing users to select ad-based options. And so, we continue to head back to cable.
Originally published on June 4, 2024.