Disney+ price increases: how to beat the hike

All Disney+ plans will be going up, with the changes already in place for new customers

A few weeks ago, Disney announced that the monthly cost for its Standard with Ads package was going up. It’s now announced a raise to all of its plans, with those on the Standard plan paying £24 per year more.

Here’s what’s changing and how you can cut the cost of your Disney+ subscription going forward.

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What’s changing with Disney+ prices?

The announcements were made separately, so those with the Standard with Ads plans may already know about the changes, but now all of the plans are going up. Here’s what’s changed.

Standard with Ads – now £6.99 per month

The Standard with Ads 6-month saver became more expensive on 14 October, with customers now paying £5.99 a month instead of £4.99 a month, for six months.

And when the six months are up, the new monthly price of Standard with Ads has risen from £5.99 a month to £6.99 a month – a rise of around 17%.

So, that’s the price customers will pay when the 6-month saver ends. Or you can take out another 6-month saver.

Standard – now £11.99 per month

The Standard plan has risen by the most: £2 per month, taking it from £9.99 per month to £11.99 per month. You can now also get a six-month saver with this plan at the old price of £9.99 per month.

The annual plan for the standard plan is also going up to £119.90, a raise of £20 per year.

Premium – now £15.99 per month

The Premium plan has been raised by £1 per month. It’s also now got a six-month plan, which costs £11.99 per month. Again, you’re locked in for 6 months and afterwards will be moved to the rolling monthly price of £15.99 per month once it ends, unless you take out another 6-month plan.

The annual plan is up by £10 per year to £159.90.

How much does Disney+ cost?

Below is the current prices of how much you can expect to pay for the Disney+ packages.

	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium
New price	£6.99 a month	£11.99 per month or £119.90 per year	£15.99 per month or £159.90 per year
Previous price	£5.99 a month	£9.99 a month or £99.90 a year	£14.99 a month or £149.90 a year
Price change	+£1 per month	+£2 per month or + £20 per year	+£1 per month or £10 per year
6-month price	£5.99 per month	£9.99 per month	£11.99 per month

Is there a raise to extra member charges?

In 2024, Disney stopped the sharing of accounts across different households. Instead, it introduced an extra charge to let others use the customer’s password to stream in their home. There’s no change to the cost of extra members this time.

	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium
Extra member price	£4.99 per month	£5.99 per month	£5.99 per month

Can you beat the Disney+ price hike?

If you’re planning on subscribing anyway, you can take advantage of the current 6-month saver price that can lock you in at the old price for 6 months (and you save even more with the Premium plan). You’ll need to commit to six months, and remember, it’ll renew at the new prices unless you cancel.

There are also other ways to save on other Disney+ plans which should cut the cost over the course of a year. We’ve detailed them in our Disney+ deals page, but here are the highlights.

Get it for free (but with ads) from Lloyds Bank

Club Lloyds is offering one free year of Disney+ with ads as one of the Lifestyle Benefit freebies. You’ll need to deposit £2,000 into the account each month, but that’s easy to hack if you don’t have this as income.

Ask someone to add you as an Extra Member

At £5.99 a month, it’s cheaper than most monthly costs, but avoid a fallout and remember to send the cash to whoever adds you.

Save £2 a month via O2

O2 customers can save £2 off each month when they subscribe to Standard and Premium, so you’ll pay £8.99 for Standard or £13.99 a month, but there’s a six-month minimum term.

Cancel when you’re not watching

Another option is to be a bit more strategic and only pay for the months you want to watch something on Disney+.

This means you can dip in and out of a subscription and probably end up paying less overall. For example, paying £11.99 for just four months will cost £47.96.

You might also find that when you go to cancel you’re offered a cheaper deal to stick around.

Check out our rules to spend less on streaming guide for more.  

Earn cashback via your bank card

You can bring the price you pay down further by paying with one of the frequent 15% cashback offers from many bank cards, including Monzo and American Express. Check your accounts to see if you can access any – you’ll need to activate or opt in to trigger the savings.

Sign up as a new customer

I’m assuming you already have an account – but does everyone in your household? If not, they can take advantage of extra month back via cashback sites Quidco or Topcashback. You’ll be able to get around £10 or more back as an extra saving.

If you’re new to either cashback site there’s another £18 back on top as a welcome offer.

Disney+ tiers compared

Obviously, there are differences between each price option, and those features might dictate which one you go for.

You’ll avoid adverts on Standard and Premium, but have to sit through them on Standard with Ads. The latter is also the only one that doesn’t allow downloads for offline watching.

All plans will let you see at least full HD with 5:1 sound, though Premium increases that to 4K and Dolby Atmos (though not all shows are available in these formats, nor are all TVs).

Finally, you can watch on two devices at the same time with Standard with Ads and Standard. That increases for Premium. Of course, you can’t share it outside your home any more, but all allow you to add an Extra Member.

	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium
Ads	✓	✗	✗
Can add Extra Member	✓	✓	✓
Video quality	Up to Full HD 1080p	Up to Full HD 1080p	Up to 4K UHD & HDR
Concurrent streams	2	2	4
Downloads	✗	✓	✓
Audio	5.1 and Stereo	5.1 and Stereo	Dolby Atmos

Which Disney+ tier is best?

Personally I hate adverts so I’ll always avoid that, but for some that won’t be a bother, especially with the far lower price.

I also don’t see the need for the top level of Premium, especially since the end of wider sharing means our household won’t ever have more than two streams going at once. If I’m honest, I don’t think even big families need to bother either.

Things to consider

Ultimately, if you’re considering the best Disney+ plan for you though, the main things to consider are: 

1. How many people in your home are likely to be streaming at the same time?
2. Do you need to download shows? 
3. What is your tolerance for ads?
4. Do you need 4K picture quality?

With all this taken into account, I imagine most people will actually be fine with the middle Standard tier! Although it’s good to have the cheaper option available if you want to save a little more.

Your answers to these questions above will help guide which plan will suit you best. And once you have a tier in mind, be sure to check out our Disney+ deals and offers guide to find out how to save on your subscription.