In 2010, Netflix was $8 per month and was the only major streaming service. In 2026, a household subscribed to Netflix, Max, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video is paying somewhere around $80 to $110 per month before any add-ons — more than the basic cable packages many of those services were supposed to replace. The accumulation happened gradually, one subscription at a time, and most households have not stopped to calculate the total.
Audit what you actually watch
Before deciding what to cut, log into each streaming service you pay for and check your watch history for the past 30 days. Most platforms show this clearly. What you will likely find is that one or two services get regular use and the others have been open a handful of times in the past month, or not at all. The services you have not watched in 30 days are strong candidates for cancellation. You can always resubscribe for a month when something specific you want to watch becomes available, which is a much more efficient way to access occasional content than maintaining the subscription year-round.
Switch to ad-supported tiers on services you keep
Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Max, Paramount+, and Disney+ all now offer ad-supported tiers at significantly lower prices than their ad-free equivalents. The trade-off is a limited number of ads per hour, typically four to five minutes. For viewers who fast-forward through ads on traditional TV or who watch shows in the background while doing something else, the difference is minimal. Switching all your services to ad-supported plans can reduce streaming costs by $20 to $30 per month without changing what you have access to.
Use a rotation strategy for content you binge
Rather than maintaining every subscription simultaneously, rotating services based on what has content you currently want to watch works well for people who can handle the administrative overhead. Subscribe to one or two services, binge what you want, cancel, and pick up something different the next month. Most services allow you to cancel and restart without losing your profile or watchlist. The only constraint is series that release episodes weekly, where a monthly subscription is more efficient than trying to time a binge.
Check whether any subscriptions come free with existing accounts
Several streaming services come bundled with other subscriptions that many people are already paying for. Amazon Prime includes Prime Video. Apple One bundles Apple TV+ with other Apple services. Some mobile carriers include streaming subscriptions as a benefit of premium plans. T-Mobile's Go5G plans include Netflix. Certain credit cards offer streaming credits as a monthly benefit. Before paying separately for a service, checking whether you already have access through something else you pay for can eliminate the charge entirely.
Free streaming services worth using
Pluto TV, Tubi, and Peacock's free tier each offer substantial libraries of movies and television at no cost, supported by ads. The Roku Channel is free with any Roku device. Many public libraries provide free access to Kanopy and Hoopla, which include films, documentaries, and television series. PBS Passport, available to anyone who donates even a small amount to their local PBS station, includes full access to PBS content including Frontline, American Masters, and international programming. A household that uses one or two paid services plus these free options typically has more content than it can reasonably watch.