Paramount Plus is getting a price hike in early 2026
Along with a $1 increase, Paramount Plus is also ‘retiring’ free trials.
Along with a $1 increase, Paramount Plus is also ‘retiring’ free trials.
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Paramount Plus is going up in price again. As part of its earnings report released on Monday, Paramount announced that it will raise prices for subscribers in the US on January 15th, 2026, bringing the ad-supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, while the ad-free Premium plan will go from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.
Paramount says the price increase will “fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of programming” going forward. Like many other streamers, Paramount has hiked the price of its streaming service on an almost yearly basis. Paramount Plus raised prices in 2023 before hiking them further last June. It also recently raised prices in Canada and Australia.
The price change comes just months after Paramount completed its deal to merge with Skydance, kicking off some big shifts at the company, including mass layoffs and the appointment of The Free Press founder Bari Weiss as the head of CBS News. Paramount has also announced that it will require employees to return to the office full-time, five days a week, starting in January.
During Skydance’s first few months of ownership, Paramount Plus added 1.4 million subscribers, bringing its total to 79.1 million. Paramount struck a $7.7 billion deal that will bring live UFC fights to its streaming service as well.
Along with price hikes, Paramount revealed that it’s “retiring” free trials for its streaming service and “reviewing discount practices.” The company also plans to update the technology stack behind Paramount Plus and its free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV to enhance their performance, and is looking into how it can use AI to offer better personalization and recommendations.
Update, November 10th: Added pricing information.
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