Disney Slashes Streaming Prices for Limited Time

Disney is trying to attract more subscribers in 2026, using a tried-and-true method: the discount. Account to Variety, between March 5 and March 24, an ad-supported Disney+/Hulu bundle will cost only $4.99/month. That’s $8 less than the normal price of $12.99/month. New and eligible customers in the U.S. can sign up at this link.

There are a few catches. As already mentioned, this is just for the ad-supported Disney+/Hulu bundle, not the ad-free one, which currently costs $19.99/month. Also, the lower price only lasts for three months; after that time passes, the bundle will auto-renew at whatever the normal price is at the time.

And it’s possible to imagine that the price will have increased by then. Towards the end of 2026, Disney hiked prices for Disney+ and Hulu for the third time in three years. And this is at a time when the company is making more money off its streaming services than ever before. In the final quarter of 2025, operating income for Disney+ and Hulu rose to $450 million, an uptick of 72%. The company’s operating income margin was at 8.4% for the period, and Disney expects it to hit 10% for the full fiscal year of 2026. All that money has to come from somewhere.

Hulu

It’s also a little strange for Disney to be selling a discounted Disney+/Hulu bundle at a time when it’s preparing to merge Hulu into Disney+. That means that Hulu will eventually shut down. That’s expected to happen sometime in 2026, although there isn’t yet a firm date set.

In the meantime, Disney is hoping that its strong content lineup will draw people in, whatever the catches. This month on Disney+, fans will get to watch the second season premiere of Daredevil: Born Again on March 24, not to mention the streaming debut of Zootopia 2, the biggest Hollywood movie of 2025, on March 11. On Hulu, people can watch the Oscars on March 15, as well as new episodes of the post-apocalyptic drama Paradise, which kicked off its second season in February, and enjoy shows like The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives when its fourth season starts on March 12.

As of the end of 2025, Disney+ had approximately 131.6 million paid subscribers worldwide while Hulu had 64.1 million. Disney has now stopped reporting subscriber numbers, but a discounted bundle can only help them go up, even if it only lasts for a limited time.