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Ads or no ads: what the ad-free plan costs
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Each service that sells a plan with ads and one without charges a different premium to drop them. This page sets them side by side, per month and per year.
What does going ad-free cost?
Netflix: Standard over Standard with ads
+$132 a year
| Standard with ads | $8.99 a month |
| Standard | $19.99 a month |
| Extra per month | $11 |
| Extra in share | 122% |
Prices read on Nov 1, 2026.
On the 6 services tracked here that sell a plan with ads and a plan without, the cheapest ad-free plan costs between $5 and $11 a month more than the cheapest ad plan. The smallest gap is at Paramount+, $60 a year; the largest at Netflix, $132 a year. The two plans are not always the same apart from the ads: at Netflix, the ad plan locks some titles and allows fewer downloads; at Paramount+, Premium also adds the Showtime catalog; at Peacock, Premium Plus adds downloads. And "no ads" has exceptions on several services, which keep ads on live programming and some sponsored content, as their own pages say. Prices compared are the cheapest plan of each kind on the service's US page, read on November 1, 2026, before sales tax.
What does an hour of viewing cost you?
Disney+ Disney+ (with ads) at 20 hours a month
$0.62 an hour
| Monthly price | $12.49 |
| Hours a year | 240 |
| Cost of a year | $149.88 |
Prices read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The ad-free premium, service by service
| Service | Cheapest with ads | Cheapest without ads | Extra a month | Extra a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Standard with ads, $8.99 | Standard, $19.99 | $11 | $132 |
| Disney+ | Disney+ (with ads), $12.49 | Disney+ Premium (no ads), $21.49 | $9 | $108 |
| Hulu | Disney+, Hulu Bundle (with ads), $12.99 | Disney+, Hulu Bundle Premium (no ads), $21.99 | $9 | $108 |
| HBO Max | Basic with Ads, $10.99 | Standard, $18.49 | $7.50 | $90 |
| Peacock | Premium (with ads), $12.99 | Premium Plus (no ads), $19.99 | $7 | $84 |
| Paramount+ | Essential (with ads), $8.99 | Premium (with Showtime, no ads except live TV), $13.99 | $5 | $60 |
What else changes between the two plans
The comparison above takes the cheapest plan of each kind, which is the choice most people face. On some services the two plans differ in more than ads. Netflix's ad plan lacks a few titles, which show a lock, and downloads on fewer devices. HBO Max's ad-free Standard plan adds downloads. On Paramount+, Premium also brings the Showtime catalog and live CBS. On Peacock, Premium Plus adds downloads and drops most ads; the cheaper Select plan, with ads and without sports or films, is left out of the table because its catalog differs.
A bundle changes the arithmetic again. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle costs $12.99 with ads and $21.99 without, a gap of $9 a month for two services. The bundles page lists each one.
When the ad plan makes sense
The ad-free premium is a fixed amount per month, whatever you watch. For someone who watches a few hours a month, it is a high price per hour of ads avoided; for someone who watches every evening, it is spread over many hours. The calculator below shows the cost per hour of any plan for your own viewing; set it once with the ad plan and once with the ad-free plan of the same service.
What does an hour of viewing cost you?
Disney+ Disney+ (with ads) at 20 hours a month
$0.62 an hour
| Monthly price | $12.49 |
| Hours a year | 240 |
| Cost of a year | $149.88 |
Ad plans have also risen in price. Netflix's ad plan launched at $6.99 in 2022 and costs $8.99; Disney+ with ads went from $7.99 to $12.49. The gap between the two kinds of plan has changed less than the prices themselves.