How To Save Over $500 This Year on Your Streaming Services

New ad-supported plans on Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and more can help you save big while still watching all your favorite movies and shows

Thom Geier,

Updated April 16, 2025

AARP

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Published January 24, 2024

/ Updated April 16, 2025

Photo Illustration Paul Spella; (Source: Getty Images (3))

Streaming services used to seem like the promised land – virtually unlimited hours of movies and TV shows, on demand, often without all those pesky commercials. But as virtually every big media company has launched its own streaming service over the last few years, the costs and complications have skyrocketed.

Stalwarts like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video – which long resisted commercial interruptions of their programming – have added new ad-supported tiers at lower costs. This means savvy streamers can save up to $552 this year by switching to these lower-cost monthly plans. The downside? Unlike broadcast TV, which was designed around sponsored commercials, some of these streamers annoyingly drop ad blocks into shows at almost random intervals.

Why the push for ads? All that programming costs big bucks -- Netflix plans to spend $18 billion on original and acquired content in 2025, including big-bucks deals for rights to livestream NFL games and WWE matches. And subscriptions alone aren’t enough to pay for all of that programming. That’s especially true when there’s a glut of upstart streamers like Paramount+ and Peacock also vying for viewers.

As a result of this streaming overload, consumers are getting pickier. According to the research firm Antenna, roughly one quarter of all streaming subscribers have canceled three or more services in the last two years. And many of these are described as “serial churners” who regularly sign up and then quit services over the course of a year. That way, you can binge on recent movies and shows from one streamer, then drop the service to catch up with the fare on another streamer without having to pay for both at the same time.

Whether you’re looking for your favorite shows, or the biggest bargain, the streaming world has gotten very, very complicated. Do you want to pay extra for high-quality audio and video? Or the ability to watch (or download) shows on multiple devices, from your TV to your tablet to your smartphone? You can squeeze additional savings by bundling several services together – Disney offers special packages if you want Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (or some combination of the three). Interestingly, some competitors have started joining forces as well. Verizon customers can get Netflix and Max in a special discounted package ($10 per month with ads), while another bundle offers Disney+, Hulu, and Max for a combined $16.99 per month with ads (or $29.99 without commercials).. There can be extra savings if you sign up for an annual plan – all to prevent you from joining the growing throng as the world churns.

Here's a breakdown of how the major streamers stack up – and how much you can save if you switch from the standard ad-free plan to a cheaper tier supported by commercials.

Apple TV+

No ads yet, but if you’re buying a new iPad you can stream for free (for a while)

The deep-pocketed tech giant has had outsize success with a relatively slim programming slate, backing critical darlings like Severance, The Severance, The Morning Show and British director Steve McQueen’s acclaimed WWII drama Blitz. The service’s monthly price of $9.99 (with the first three months for $2.99 each) is less than many other ad-free services but pricey considering how thin Apple’s content library is. For now, this is the last major streamer without an ad-supported tier. It’s worth noting that many people get complimentary subscriptions, ranging from three months to a full year, when they buy new Apple hardware.

Disney+

Save $72 per year with ad-supported tier

The Magic Kingdom’s streamer -- home to thousands of movies and shows, from Disney classics to Pixar animated gems to Marvel/Star Wars blockbusters to National Geographic live-action fare -- is currently charging $15.99 monthly, with an ad-supported version going for $9.99. You can also bundle Disney+ and the more grown-up-oriented service Hulu for $10.99 per month (or $19.99 for an ad-free version). And if you’re a sports fan who craves ESPN+, you can get all three for $16.99 monthly (or $26.99 for a bundle without ads).

Hulu

Save $108 per year with ad-supported tier

Disney-owned Hulu has some of the buzziest shows on TV, from Only Murders in the Building to The Bear to Shogun. The service offers two tiers, a standard ad-free plan for $18.99 per month and an ad-supported option for $9.99; both come with an initial month free. You also have the option of bundling all three of Disney’s streaming services – including ESPN+ and the family-friendly Disney+, which boasts animated classics, Marvel fare and the Star Wars franchise. The bundle costs $26.99 monthly for ad-free streaming on all three platforms – or $16.99 for a more economical alternative, with ads.

Max

Save $84 per year with ad-supported tier

Warner Bros. Discovery has combined all its streamers into one platform – now dubbed Max – which hosts everything from Warner Bros. movies (Harry Potter, The Batman) to HBO hits (The White Lotus, Succession) to reality fare from Discovery (Deadliest Catch). The streamer costs as little as $9.99 per month for a plan with ads allowing streams on two devices at once, to $16.99 for an ad-free version, to $20.99 for a tier offering 4K ultra-HD resolution, immersive sound, simultaneous streaming on up to four devices and up to 100 downloads. (There’s additional savings, ranging from $20 to $42 annually, if you pay at an annual rate.) In addition, the company has teamed up with rival Disney for a discounted bundle combining Max, Disney+, and Hulu for $16.99 per month (with ads) or $29.99 (without ads).

Netflix

Save $120 per year with ad-supported tier

Netflix continues to crank out top original fare like Squid Game, Stranger Things and Oscar bait like Emilia Perez. But the granddaddy of streaming services has boosted revenues with a lower-price subscription option that includes commercial breaks in programming (the spots average about four minutes per hour, and can’t be skipped or fast-forwarded through). The service also just hiked its monthly fee to $7.99 -- which is still less than half the $17.99 you now pay for a standard ad-free subscription – but offers the same 1080p resolution and limits you to watching on two devices at the same time. You can also pay for a premium tier at $24.99 per month, which promises no ads as well as 4K ultra high-definition images and immersive sound on up to four devices per household at once. (There’s no free trial period.)

Paramount+

Save $60 per year with ad-supported tier

The latecomer to the streaming wars offers tens of thousands of movies and shows from Paramount, CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon – plus NFL football and UEFA Champions League soccer – for $7.99 per month. (The biggest streaming draws on the service may be the multiple Star Trek series and all those buzzy historical sagas from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan.) A premium version, which is mostly ad-free and includes some live TV and shows like Billions from the pay-TV cable station Showtime, costs $12.99. You can save $36 for an annualized subscription.

Peacock

Save $72 per year with ad-supported tier

NBCUniversal’s streamer also charges $7.99 per month for an ad-supported service that gets you access to 80,000-plus hours of TV, movies and sports from mainstays like Universal Pictures (Twisters, Conclave), NBC (Saturday Night Live) and Bravo (Real Housewives). A premium ad-free version, which includes access to your local NBC station and the ability to download shows to watch offline, costs $13.99. (You can save $16-$28 for annualized subscriptions.)

Prime Video

Save $36 per year with ad-based plan

Amazon’s streaming service can be hard to price out because so many people sign up for Prime subscriptions to get free two-day shipping on goods ordered through the online retailer and other perks like photo storage on the Amazon Cloud Drive and ad-free music streaming on Amazon Music. That catch-all subscription costs $14.99 per month; you can save a bit by paying a $139 annual fee. But if you only want Prime Video, without the free shipping and other goodies, you can pay $8.99 per month for original series like Reacher and Cross, as well as movies from the mammoth library of MGM, which Amazon acquired three years ago. You can also fork over an additional $2.99 per month for ad-free streaming. If you don’t sign up for that premium service, you automatically start seeing ads on all your Prime movies and shows.

Paramount+ provides a discount to AARP members and pays AARP a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

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Thom Geier is an AARP contributor and the award-winning former executive editor of TheWrap, senior editor at Entertainment Weekly, film reporter at The Hollywood Reporter and associate editor at U.S. News & World Report.