The ad-supported version of Disney+ is finally here.
On Thursday, the Mickey Mouse company launched its new video streaming plan for US users, which costs $7.99 per month.
That’s not exactly a discount, considering the standard Disney+ plan used to be $7.99. But on the same day, Disney raised the price of the ad-free experience to $10.99 per month.
So if you’re looking to save money, the new Disney+ “Basic with Ads” is your best bet. It gives subscribers the same full catalog of TV shows and movies as the “Premium” ad-free Disney+ plan, but there are some restrictions.
“Disney+ Basic subscribers will not have access to Premium features like Downloads or GroupWatch and SharePlay, as well as Dolby Atmos at launch,” the company says.
Subscribers can expect four minutes of ads per hour, usually with 15- to 30-second commercial breaks, according to Variety. Disney has also partnered with more than 100 advertisers to support the ad-based streaming option.
The company launches the new streaming offering when Disney posted a $1.5 billion loss in Q3 related to its Disney+ business, which has to fund expensive production costs for its original content. The company is projecting Disney+ won’t achieve profitability until 2024, even though the streaming service currently has over 164 million subscribers.
The ad-based Disney+ also arrives a month after Netflix launched its own ad-supported tier for $6.99 per month. But while Disney’s ad-based tier costs a little more, subscribers can simultaneously stream on up to four different devices and enjoy video quality up to 4K. Netflix Basic with ads restricts streaming to one device at a time and limits the video quality to 720p.