Max price: what plans can I sign up for, are there any current deals, and more questions answered

It might be one of the best streaming services around, but Max is always on the lookout for new subscribers.

As of May 2025, the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) owned platform is officially five years old and boasts millions of users. But, with the recent revelation that it'll be renamed HBO Max once again this summer, the interest in its forthcoming rebranding may attract new customers, including you.

So, if you were to sign up to Max now or once it's rechristened, how much will an account set you back? In this guide, I'll walk through Max's various subscription tiers, how much each one costs, what you'll get for your money, and much more. So, without further ado, here's everything you need to know about the price of Max.

Max subscription price and plans: your quick guide

As of May 2025, these are the options available to you:

• Basic with Ads plan – $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year
• Standard Ad-Free plan – $16.99 a month or $169.99 a year
• Premium Ad-Free plan – $20.99 a month or $209.99 a year

Each subscription grants you access to a seemingly infinite amount of WBD-owned content. Indeed, whether it's Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics' packed movie libraries, or TV offerings from Cartoon Network, HBO, and Max itself, there's plenty to enjoy no matter what plan you opt for.

On top of that, you can also watch Fixer Upper, 90-Day Finance, and other hit reality TV shows by way of Discovery+. A WBD-A24 deal, which was announced in December 2024, means any A24-developed movie will exclusively launch on Max before other streamers in the US, too. Lastly, a new in-app featured called 'Channels' allows subscribers to seamlessly watch a live feed of various HBO programs across numerous channels.

There are a couple of key differences between these three plans, though.

For one, those who sign up for the ad-supported tier can only watch Max on two concurrent devices at 1080p resolution and with 5.1 surround sound quality. Meanwhile, the Ad-Free plans allow up to four people to watch some of the best Max movies and best Max shows at the same time, and offers 4K resolution and Dolby Atmos sound quality.

On the downloadable content front, the ad-based tier doesn't let you download films and TV series to watch on the go. The Standard plan gifts you 30 offline downloads, while the Ultimate package allows you download up to 100 movies and shows for offline viewing.

Devices compatible with Max include Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, iPad, Android, and iPhones.

Max offers: are there any cheap HBO Max deals available right now?

Yes. We're still a few months away from Black Friday 2025, but there are a few Max-based deals that may appeal to you.

First, new or existing customers of Cricket Wireless can sign up to its Unlimited package and earn an ad-supported Max subscription at no extra cost.

Next, readers can get three of the world's most popular streamers for an unbeatable monthly price. Indeed, a Max, Disney+, and Hulu mega bundle is available for the surprisingly cost-effective price of $16.99 a month.

Anyone who signs up to Amazon Prime, which comes packaged with a Prime Video subscription of your choosing, can also add Max to their Prime Video plan, too. You'll need to pay an extra $15.99 per month for the privilege, though.

Perhaps the cheapest deal on offer is one that's available to anyone who doesn't live in the same household as you. With Max's password crackdown starting to roll out globally, people who live in a different place likely haven't been able to access your Max account recently. However, a new 'extra member' Max subscription option means they can now add themselves to your plan for $7.99 a month.

For those of you wondering whether a Max free trial is available to take advantage of, I've got bad news. A seven-day offer was discontinued in December 2020 and it hasn't been seen since. But, with HBO Max set to make a return in the near future, maybe it'll brought back for a limited time.

How does the price of Max compare to other streaming services?

To see how Max's various tiers stack up against some of its rivals, I've compiled a table comparing the biggest platforms' ad-free plans. Check it out below:

Based on the above table, only two of Max's rivals – Netflix and Hulu – ask you to pay more to sign up to its ad-free tiers. That means Max is one of the pricier streaming platforms to sign up to if you don't want to sit through the occasional ad break.

That said, Max's huge back catalog of movies and shows, plus the recent addition of a live 24-hour news channel, make it worth the money.

How does the cost of Max compare to Netflix?

Netflix has three plans to choose from:

• Standard with ads: $7.99 a month
• Standard: $17.99 a month
• Premium: $24.99 a month

Netflix’s Standard with ads plan lets you stream on two devices at the same time at up to 1080p, with no downloads. That makes its $2 cheaper than Max's ad-supported tier for the exact same benefits.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s Standard plan is similarly price to Max's Ad Free tier and you get the same benefits on both services. However, Netflix's Standard subscription allows you to download up to 100 shows and/or movies – Max's Ad Free tier is capped at 30.

When it comes to each platform's high-end plans, Max's Ultimate Ad Free plan ramps things up with 4K streaming quality, four concurrent streams, 100 downloads, and Dolby Atmos sound quality. It's also $4 cheaper than Netflix's most costly subscription, but the latter allows you to download onto up to six devices and comes packaged with Netflix Spatial Audio, so the extra cost might not seem so steep when you factor those in.

There’s not a lot between them in terms of price, then but their libraries are very different.

Indeed, Netflix certainly has the upper hand in terms of quantity, with its library boasting nearly three times as much content as Max (17,000 titles globally to Max’s 2,500-plus), meaning there are many more options to include in our best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies guides compared to Max's own library. Netflix also trounces Max regarding the number of titles available to stream in Ultra HD – over 500 whereas Max has somewhere around 40 available in 4K.

How does Max compare to Prime Video?

Like Netflix, there are a couple of Prime Video-related plans to select from:

• Amazon Prime (comes packaged with Prime Video): $14.99 a month (or $139 a year)
• Prime Video membership only: $8.99 a month

An Amazon Prime subscription lets you stream on three devices at once, and download films and TV shows, with video quality topping out at 4K.

Both plans are cheaper than Max's ad-free plan, which is limited to two concurrent streams at Full HD, and the Max Ultimate Ad-Free plan, which lets you stream in 4K on up to four devices at once.

However, each service caters to completely different needs. At best, Amazon’s enormous content library can be described as eclectic, with it catering to all kinds of genres with varying degrees of success. Indeed, the entries on our best Prime Video shows and best Prime Video movies lists won't appeal to everyone, with some people more likely to get much more entertainment out of Max’s ad-supported plan than they would from the entire Prime Video library.

However, the ace up Prime Video’s sleeve is the package of bonus extras that it offers.

A subscription comes with free delivery and free music streaming, while in NFL’s Thursday Night Football, Prime Video also has a major stake in live sport. The 30-day free trial for new users is very tempting, too, meaning you can consume as much content as you like and, if you're not fussed on what you've seen, you can cancel your subscription before any money leaves your bank account. Without a similar offer, Max simply can't compete with that.

How does Max's price compare to Disney+?

There are a wide variety of Disney+ subscriptions on offer:

• Disney+ Basic: $9.99 a month
• Disney+ Premium: $15.99 a month (or $159.99 a year)
• Disney Duo Basic (Disney+ & Hulu with ads): $9.99 a month
• Disney Duo Premium (Disney+ & Hulu without ads): $19.99 a month
• Disney Trio Basic (Disney+, Hulu, & ESPN Plus with ads): $17.99 a month
• Disney Trio Premium (Disney Plus, Hulu, & ESPN Plus without ads): $26.99 a month

Disney+ is one of the most popular streaming services with a beloved collection of lucrative brands, including Marvel, Star Wars, The Simpsons, and Pixar. If you don't mind ads, its $9.99 a month price point provides fairly strong value for money. The variety of bundles on offer, too, mean you'll save money if you don't sign up for individual accounts on all of the Disney-owned platforms (read more details on what you get with each one in our dedicated Disney+ price guide).

However, the now-annual price hikes means those not wanting adverts will have to pay around the same amount, if not more (depending on which plan you sign up for) as Max's ad-free tiers.

From a content perspective, the House of Mouse has a relatively slim bounty, with 500 films compared to over 2,000 on Max, and all available for not much more. Still, there are plenty of reasons to snag a Disney+ subscription, and our best Disney+ movies and best Disney+ shows articles are full of reasons why.

How does the cost of Max compare to Apple TV+?

Apple TV+ keeps things simple with a single subscription option:

• Apple TV+: $9.99 a month (or $99.99 a year)

At $9.99 per month, an Apple TV+ subscription costs less than half of Max's most expensive tier. One account can be shared between an additional five people, too, which is more than any other streamer listed here. Furthermore, new subscribers get a seven-day free trial as standard. You also also get either three, six, or 12 months for free if you buy any Apple-related product.

Apple TV+ has been a slow-burn VOD service, quietly accruing subscribers with its high-quality exclusive TV series and films including Ted Lasso, Severance, and surprise 2022 Best Picture Oscar winner CODA. You can see what other top-tier projects are on offer in our dedicated best Apple TV+ movies and best Apple TV+ shows guides.

However, given it’s mainly home to Apple Originals, its library of titles is incredibly lean, whereas Max is absolutely packed with options for all ages and genre aficionados. Still, Apple TV+ is available for a fraction of the cost, so it's certainly worth trialling if you're looking for films and TV series that are on a par (production quality-wise, at least) as HBO.

How does Max's price points compare to Hulu?

Hulu offers two primary plans:

• Hulu With Ads: $9.99 a month (or $99.99 a year)
• Hulu Ad-Free: $18.99 a month

Like Disney+, there are a number of Hulu bundles on offer to customers, including the same offerings I listed in the Disney+ comparison section of this article. For even more details on these, check out the official Hulu price page.

In terms of price, Hulu no longer undercuts Max from a cost perspective – its on-demand only plan costing $9.99 a month or $99.99 annually costing the same amount as its rival. However, with an impressive library of over 4,000 titles to stream, Disney+' sibling gives Max a run for its money in the content stakes. Read our best Hulu movies and best Hulu shows articles for more.

In order to provide a similar functionality to a fully-fledged Max subscription, though, you need to purchase a few add-ons that bump up the price. Want to forgo the annoying adverts? You’ll need to pick the No Ads option. Want to stream on more than two devices at once? Unlimited Screens costs another $9.99, which brings us to a monthly total of $28. Suddenly, Max's ad-free plans plan don’t seem so pricey.

There’s no question that Hulu still offers great value and flexibility. Its Basic plan, which is available to students, is still an unbelievable $1.99 per month, while those looking for a cable TV experience can upgrade to Hulu with Live TV for $76.99 a month. On top of a roster of more than 75 live channels and a vast VOD library, you'll get Disney+ and sports service ESPN Plus thrown in for good measure.

While Hulu beats Max in the price wars, few would disagree that, when it comes to sheer quality of content (apart from prestige dramas like Shogun), HBO takes the crown – and any naysayers can take their disputes to Tony Soprano.

For more streaming coverage, check out our guides on the best Paramount+ movies, best Paramount+ shows, how to watch the Marvel movies in order, and how to watch the DC movies in order.