What you need to know
- Max's Ad-Free tier pricing now starts at $16.99, and the 4K plan at $20.99 per month.
- The yearly plans of the same tier have also been increased, now costing $169.99 and $209.99 per year, respectively.
- New plans will apply to Max's subscribers starting July 4.
Max, formerly known as HBO Max, has released updated rates for its current ad-free plans. The rates show a $1 bump in the cost of the tier plans overall and the ad-free ones in particular.
According to Max's support page, the Ad-Free plan starts at $16.99 per month and $169.99 per year, a significant bump from the previous $15.99 per month and $149.99 per year, respectively. Similarly, the Ultimate plan, also known as the 4K plan, will now cost $20.99 per month, and the annual plan will see a $10 rise, making it $209.99 per year.
Users must bear in mind that these prices don't include applicable taxes. The plans with ads will remain the same, costing $9.99 per month and $99.99 per year. For people who opt for the streaming subscription directly through Max or from the app store, the new rates are applicable after July 4.
However, some carriers like Verizon also offer Max streaming subscriptions — they individually will let users know about the change in subscription prices whenever applicable.
To make up for its losses in 2022 and 2023, Max, like most other streaming providers, announced intentions to restrict password sharing for its users early this year.
Max believes that Netflix's password crackdown strategy has been successfully adopted, and Max also ought to make plans to crack password sharing later this year with a larger rollout scheduled for next year. Shoppable advertising will be among the "ad format enhancements" that users may see, as Max is also considering introducing them.
The hike in pricing has been a common trend across the streaming giants over the past year. More recently, Peacock has also announced a rise in subscription plans just in time for the Olympics, as users would have to shell out more starting from July 18 (for new consumers), which is applicable for existing consumers on August 17.
