Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hinted at another HBO Max price hike. Declaring that the streaming service was “way underpriced,” he rang the alarm bell for all HBO Max subscribers to expect higher bills in the imminent future. Well, now, that price hike is officially here.
Today (Oct. 21), WBD announced that all HBO Max plans are increasing in price, effective immediately. Here’s the breakdown on the price hikes, so you can see just how much more you’ll need to pay when your next bill comes due:
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Monthly Plan |
Annual Plan |
|
HBO Max Basic With Ads |
was $9.99, now $10.99 ($1 increase) |
was $99.99, now $109.99 ($10 increase) |
|
HBO Max Standard |
was $16.99, now $18.49 ($1.50 increase) |
was $169.99, now $184.99 ($15 increase) |
|
HBO Max Premium |
was $20.99, now $22.99 ($2 increase) |
was $209.99, now $229.99 ($20 increase) |
So as you can see, nobody is safe from this new price hike. Every monthly plan is going up by at least a dollar a month, and for those who want to ditch ads, you’ll need to spend at least $1.50 more than usual. But it’s those who have opted to pay less and suffer through commercial breaks that might be most shocked by this latest price hike.
Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm has been with the Tom’s Guide streaming team since 2023, covering the latest industry news and more than a few streaming price hikes.
HBO Max raises prices for its ad-supported tier for the first time
When HBO Max’s ad-supported tier launched in 2021, it launched with a price point of $9.99. Despite prices for the ad-free tiers of HBO Max increasing in January 2023 and climbing again in June 2024, WBD kept the HBO Max Basic With Ads price at that same $9.99 a month.
Not this time, though. Today’s price hike marks the first time HBO Max Basic With Ads gets a price hike, and that’s bad news for those who thought going for the budget plan would keep price hikes at bay.
Even worse? HBO Max is starting to feel … well, less max. CNN Max, the 24/7 live stream of CNN, is going away on Nov. 17, 2025, as CNN tries once again to launch its own streaming service. HBO Max had already removed older seasons of Discovery content from networks such as Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC and ID.
With the company officially set to split in two next year (provided it’s not sold before then), it’s possible that more content could be leaving HBO Max in the future as well, even as the streaming service charges you more for less.
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