Whether you’re a true cord-cutter or you just want to watch the next season of Stranger Things when it drops, everyone’s on the lookout for streaming deals nowadays. Plenty have chosen VOD and live TV streaming services over traditional cable in recent years, but the savings that choice got you just a few years ago have somewhat evaporated now. Companies like Netflix, Disney, Max and others have been consistently raising prices to the point where you may question if streaming is even worth it anymore.
We at Engadget still think so, for many reasons, but you can (and should) be smart with your money at the same time. Streaming deals are an option, even if they don’t come around with the same regularity as discounts on AirPods do. If you’re looking to save money and still stream all of the content you want, Engadget can help by laying out the best streaming deals you can get right now, how you can save with bundles and everything you should know before paying for yet another streaming service.
Best streaming deals
True streaming deals can be hard to come by. Most often, they’ll pop up during the Black Friday shopping period. On occasion, we’ll see them sparingly throughout the year and they usually take the form of a discounted monthly or annual rate for a limited period of time. Also, true streaming deals are typically on the ad-supported versions of a service, but once in a while you’ll find a unicorn of a deal on a tier that has ad-free viewing.
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If you’re able to wait for a deal before subscribing to a streaming service, we recommend doing so. You’ll save money upfront and in the long run, and you also have the option to cancel your subscription before the price goes back up to the normal rate. Maybe you find you like the service so much that you’re fine paying full price for it — that’s the ideal situation. But if you’re not compelled to keep that app on rotation in your smart TV, most streaming services make it easy for you to cancel at any time. With that said, these are the best streaming deals you can snag right now.
ESPN ESPN Unlimited with Disney+ and Hulu bundle $30/month $36/month Save $6 Paid for by ESPN ESPN’s new streaming service is officially available now, and new subscribers can get Disney+ and Hulu included for one year when they sign up. The regular price of the new ESPN Unlimited plan is $30 per month, but this bundle offer throws in Disney+ and Hulu (with ads) for one year at no extra cost. If you want to break it down, you’re essentially getting each of the three services for $10 monthly with this offer. For the uninitiated, the new ESPN streaming service has two plans. The base level is ESPN Select, which is essentially just ESPN+ under a new name. It includes more than 32,000 live sports events, a library of studio shows, on-demand replays and more for $12 per month. The premium tier, ESPN Unlimited, ups the ante by providing access to all of ESPN’s linear networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes and others, plus programming on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+ and ACCNX. It includes 47,000 live sports events throughout the year, on-demand replays, original programming and more. You can think of it as everything you’d want from cable ESPN, just via streaming now. $30/month at ESPN
Starz (one year) for $24 (66 percent off): Pay upfront for one year and you can get 66 percent off a Stars annual subscription. There's a month-to-month option too, which costs $4 per month for the first three months. Either option gives you access to the entire Starz TV and movie library with offline viewing and no ads.
Spotify Premium Individual (1 month) for $0 ($12 off): This is our favorite music streaming service for podcasts and social features. Right now, users who have not signed up for Spotify's Premium service before are eligible to get one month for free. The Premium Individual plan lets you listen ad-free and skip songs at will. You can also organize your listening queue and download content for offline listening. Just be aware, your subscription will auto-renew at the end of the trial period. So if you don't want to be on the hook for the $12 monthly fee, set a reminder to cancel and go back to the free version.
YouTube TV (three months) for $150 ($99 off): You can get three months of our favorite live TV streaming service for $50 per month. That should give you a decent chunk of time to see if the service is right for you while saving some cash. The discount and trial are only open to new subscribers to YouTube TV’s base plan, which includes access to over 100 channels, unlimited DVR space and six household accounts with the ability to stream on three devices at once.
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