This is an opinion piece. The views are the author’s own.
Streaming was supposed to be the cheap alternative to cable. Add up the ad-free plans from the big names and it starts to look a lot like the old bill.
Using the prices in Tom’s Guide’s August 2026 roundup, ad-free Netflix Standard is $19.99 a month, the Disney+ and Hulu bundle is $19.99, and HBO Max is $18.49. Subscribe to all three and you pay $58.47 a month, or about $702 a year. Add Peacock Premium Plus at $16.99 and Apple TV at $12.99, and you are well past $88 a month.
You do not need all of them at once
Here is my modest proposal: treat streaming like a library, not a utility. Pick one service per month. Watch the show you wanted, then cancel and move on. Most services let you come back whenever you like, and the show will still be there.
Cheaper tiers help too. The same roundup lists ad-supported plans at $8.99 for Netflix and Paramount+, and $10.99 for HBO Max and Peacock Premium. If you can live with commercials, the savings are real.
The math is not subtle. If you keep one ad-free $19.99 service for four months a year instead of three services for twelve, you spend about $80 instead of roughly $702. That is more than $600 back in your pocket, for a few weeks of planning your watchlist. A calendar reminder to cancel on the last episode does most of the work.
The part that irritates me
Prices keep creeping up while what you get keeps shifting. Shows leave, bundles reshuffle, and “buying” a movie often means a revocable license. I made that case in Contoh’s piece on digital purchases, and it is part of why rotating beats committing.
Before you add anything new, check your local library. Many offer free streaming through apps, as this Contoh piece explains.
The companies will keep raising prices as long as we keep paying for everything, all the time. Cancel a few. The shows will wait.
More on Contoh
- If I “Buy” a Movie, I Should Get to Keep It
- Your Library Card Is the Best Subscription You’re Not Using