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One week left: Disney+ prices to rise in major shake-up – but you could save up to £52 a year if you act NOW

One week left: Disney+ prices to rise in major shake-up – but you could save up to £52 a year if you act NOW
Clare Casalis
Clare Casalis & Emily White
24 October 2023

Disney+ will soon raise the price of its existing plan by up to £36 a year. From Wednesday 1 November, the subscription service will also launch two cheaper plans – but they'll have fewer perks and you'll have to watch adverts on one of them. Here's what's changing, plus a trick to beat the hikes and save up to £52 a year.

The cost of streaming your favourite TV, movies and music is going up across the board: Netflix hiked prices by up to £24 a year for some earlier this month, while Spotify has increased subscription costs by £12 a year, and Paramount+ recently increased prices in the US. For tips to cut the cost of streaming, see our Watch movies & TV online guide.

Disney+ is hiking the price of its existing plan by up to £36 a year

If you pay Disney directly, the price for new subscribers will change as follows from Wednesday 1 November:

  • Monthly cost: Will rise from £7.99 a month (equivalent to £95.88 over 12 months) to £10.99 a month (equivalent to £131.88 over 12 months). That's a £3 a month (equivalent to a £36 a year) increase.

  • Annual cost: Will rise from £79.90 to £109.90 if you pay for the year upfront – a £30 a year rise.

Existing customers who pay Disney directly will also be hit by the same monthly and annual increases from their first billing date on or after 6 December 2023 – though there's a method that may allow you beat the hikes.

Those who subscribe to Disney+ through a third party will be told of any changes to these plans on Wednesday 1 November. Disney+ says users should reach out to their respective third-party providers for further information from this date.

Disney+ last increased prices in February 2021.

Two new cheaper plans will also be introduced – but these will have fewer perks

Disney+'s one existing plan detailed above will become known as the 'Premium' plan and – unless you downgrade your subscription – you'll have to pay the increased price if you want to keep your current service, which allows you to stream and download on up to four devices and watch content in the highest available quality (4K HDR).

Disney+ will also add two new plans from 1 November 2023: 'Standard with Ads' and 'Standard'. The content will be the same across all three plans, but the picture quality and the number of devices you can stream and download on to will differ.

As the name suggests, the 'Standard with Ads' plan will also feature adverts. Disney+ wouldn't tell us how often you can expect to see adverts and whether they will be targeted at users – it says this information won't be available until the plan's launch. But it said the addition of this plan would provide "greater choice" for subscribers. It follows a similar move by Netflix, which launched a cheaper ad-based plan in 2022.

How Disney+ plans will compare from 1 November

Plan

Standard with Ads

Standard

Premium (1)

Monthly cost

£4.99

£7.99

£10.99

Annual cost

Not available

£79.90

£109.90

Ad-free viewing?

No

Yes

Yes

Devices you can stream on at the same time

Two

Two

Four

Picture quality

Full high-definition (1080p)

Full high-definition (1080p)

Ultra-high definition (4K HDR)

Can you download content to watch offline?

No

Yes – on two devices

Yes – on four devices

(1) This is the plan existing subscribers will be automatically moved to from their next billing date on or from 6 December.

Existing Disney+ customer? Consider your options – you could save up to £52 a year if you act now

Currently got Disney+ and want to stick with it? Here are your options to save:

  • Pay for Disney+ on a monthly rolling basis? Sign up for an annual subscription before prices rise on Wednesday 1 November. If you do nothing, your monthly rolling price will rise from £7.99 a month to £10.99 a month on or from 6 December 2023. Stay on that monthly rolling price for the next year and you'll fork out £131.88 in total. Yet if you can afford to take out an upfront annual subscription by 11.59pm on Tuesday 31 October, you'll pay £79.90 – a £51.98 saving in comparison over the year.

  • Pay for an annual Disney+ subscription? Here, your options depend on when your current subscription ends...

    - Current annual subscription ending before 6 December 2023? You can renew for a year at current prices. This will save you £30 a year.

    - Current annual subscription ending on or after 6 December 2023? If you do nothing, you'll be moved on to the new, higher price from your next billing date (unless you've previously cancelled). One way to avoid this is simply to cancel your plan before then.

    Alternatively, from Wednesday 1 November, you'll also have the option to downgrade to one of the new, cheaper plans – this would save you between £30 and £50.02 a year. Just log in to your Disney+ account, go to your profile, and under 'Account' select 'Subscriptions' and choose 'Standard' or 'Standard with Ads'.

  • Don't pay for more than one Disney+ subscription in a single household (unless you really need to). Whether you have a monthly or annual subscription, all Disney+ plans allow you to view on two to four devices, so this may be enough for your household.

  • Before renewing directly with Disney+, make sure you check for discounts from third-party providers first.Current offers include three months of Disney+ for £12 with Tesco Clubcard vouchers, 12 months free with a Club Lloyds current account, and six months free for newbies on O2, plus £2 a month off afterwards. See our Disney+ deals round-up for more info.

Unhappy about the changes? You can cancel penalty-free. Select 'Cancel Subscription' under the 'Subscriptions' section of your account. If you cancel midway through your billing cycle, you'll be able to carry on using your account until the next billing date, but you won't get a refund on any portion unused.

New to Disney+? You can save by acting before prices rise on 1 November

If you're a Disney+ newbie, sign up for an upfront, annual subscription before prices rise on Wednesday 1 November. Join by 11.59pm on Tuesday 31 October and you'll pay the current price of £79.90. This will save you £30 based on the £109.90 cost of the same annual subscription from Wednesday 1 November.

If you're thinking of signing up, make sure you check for discounts elsewhere first though. See the current offers and our Disney+ deals round-up for more info.

How to save on streaming costs

You can read our TV MoneySaving tricks guide and our Netflix hacks for full info on how to stream as cheaply as possible, but below are a few of our top tips.

  • Check for cheaper alternatives. Other big streaming services offer cheaper monthly ad-free subscriptions. For example, an Amazon Prime Video-only subscription is £5.99 a month, while Apple TV+ and Paramount+ are £6.99 a month. See our top streaming services comparison.

  • Streaming newbie? Watch over two months of top shows and movies for free. Some streaming services give free trials, including 30 days of Amazon Prime Video and seven days of Apple TV+ and Paramount+ – but always remember to cancel before you're charged if you don't want to keep it. See free streaming trials.

  • Rotate between streaming services so you're not paying for more than one at a time. If you subscribe to Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Now Entertainment, it's at least £30 a month. Yet it's easy to pay £5 to £10 a month and still watch the top shows by paying for just one service, then when you've seen what you want, cancel it, move on to the next one, and do the same. We've tips on how best to jump between the streaming services.

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