The Price of HBO Max Just Went Up

If all the overwhelmingly positive reviews of HBO’s new The Last Of Us TV series has you considering getting a subscription to HBO Max, take note: As of today, the price of a monthly subscription is going up.

Starting on January 12, the cost of HBO Max for the ad-free tier is now $15.99. That’s a $1 increase from the previous (and original) subscription price of $14.99 a month. According to a press release “existing subscribers who are currently paying $14.99/month will see their monthly rate increase to $15.99 effective their next billing cycle on or after Saturday, February 11, 2023.”

The same press release claims “this price increase of one dollar will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.” They also note that this is the first time HBO has raised its price since the service first launched in the spring of 2020.

With this price increase, HBO Max is now more expensive than the Standard Netflix subscription, which costs $15.49 a month. (Netflix also offers a Basic plan for $9.99 a month, and a Basic With Ads subscription for $6.99 a month; Netflix’s Premium membership costs $19.99 a month.) Disney+ is currently $7.99 a month with ads or $10.99 a month for an ad-free version. (You can also pay $79.99 for a full year of Disney’s streaming service.) HBO Max also still offers an ad-supported tier at $9.99 a month.

Every since Warner Bros. and Discovery merged, the combined company has been looking for ways to cut costs. That includes some layoffs, and the cancelations of some previously planned productions, like DC’s Batgirl movie that was intended for HBO Max. The movie was shot and then shelved and will likely never see the light of day. But HBO Max does still have a lot of new and upcoming programming, including The Last Of Us, which debuts this weekend. Which certainly makes the timing of this news interesting.

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