HBO Max is joining the other streaming services in raising prices. Starting today, HBO Max is raising the price for the ad-free plan to $15.99 per month, an increase from $14.99.
“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 streaming provider said. "This is the first time HBO Max has increased the price of a monthly subscription since launching in May 2020."
In a bit of irony, HBO Max is justifying the price increase by saying it’ll “invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.” But it comes after HBO Max has been steadily removing the number of shows accessible on the service, sparking consumer complaints.
Just last month HBO Max removed Westworld, The Nevers, Raised by Wolves and several other TV series, explaining they’ll instead end up on free, ad-supported streaming services.
However, the price hike occurs as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to merge the HBO Max platform with Discovery+ sometime this spring. So the new HBO Max should receive an influx of new content from its counterpart later this year, perhaps making it more worthwhile. For those on a budget, HBO Max offers an ad-supported plan for $9.99 a month.
Other streaming providers including Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ have also instituted price increases in recent months. However, Netflix and Disney+ have tried to offset the price hikes by launching ad-supported tiers for their streaming services.