HBO Max prices increase by up to $20 today

HBO Max subscriptions are getting up to 10 percent more expensive, owner Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) revealed today.

HBO Max’s ad plan is going from $10 per month to $11/month. The ad-free plan is going from $17/month to $18.49/month. And the premium ad-free plan (which adds 4K support, Dolby Atmos, and the ability to download more content) is increasing from $21 to $23.

Meanwhile, prices for HBO Max’s annual plans are increasing from $100 to $110 with ads, $170 to $185 without ads, and $210 to $230 for the premium tier.

For current subscribers, the price hikes won’t take effect until November 20, Variety reported. People who try to subscribe to the streaming service from here on out will have to pay the new prices immediately.

Price hike hints

The price hikes follow comments from WBD CEO David Zaslav last month that WBD’s flagship streaming service was “way underpriced.” Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Cornucopia + Technology conference, Zaslav’s reasoning stemmed from the service’s “quality,” as well as people previously spending “on average, $55 for content 10 years ago.”

Another hint that HBO Max would be getting more expensive is its history of getting more expensive. The service most recently raised subscription fees in June 2024, when it made its ad-free plans more expensive. HBO Max’s first price hike was in January 2023. The service launched in May 2020.

HBO Max is getting more expensive as streaming companies grapple with the financial realities of making robust, diverse libraries of classic, new, and exclusive shows and movies available globally and on-demand. HBO Max rivals Disney+, Apple TV, and Peacock have all raised prices since the summer.

For years, WBD has been arguing that streaming services are too cheap. At a Citibank conference in 2023, WBD CFO Gunnar Weidenfels said that collapsing seven media distribution windows into one “and selling it at the lowest possible price doesn’t sound like a very smart strategy.