Paramount Plus is hitting its US subscribers with another price hike, which is set to kick in early in 2026. This is the big news coming out of the company’s recent Q3 2025 earnings report, and if you’re not a subscriber, you’ll probably want to get in before prices rise.
Starting on January 15, 2026, the price for both tiers of the streaming service will increase by a dollar per month. The ad-supported Essential plan, which currently sits at $7.99 per month, will jump to $8.99 per month. If you prefer the ad-free experience, the Paramount Plus Premium plan will move from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.
That’s not the only change, though. If you’re someone who subscribes annually to save some cash, those plans are seeing some significant increases. The Essential annual plan is soaring to $89.99 per year, which is up from $59.99 annually. The Premium annual plan is going up to $139.99 per year, which is a hefty increase from the previous $119.99 annual price tag.
I would say the biggest problem with this hike isn’t the dollar increase itself, but the frequency. Like many other streaming giants, Paramount has been raising prices almost every year. They had a hike in 2023 and another one just last June, and they’ve also recently raised prices for customers in Canada and Australia. It feels like we’re constantly adjusting our budgets just to keep up with our streaming habits.
Paramount Skydance, the newly merged company, says these price changes are necessary to “fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience” and to offer an even stronger slate of programming. David Ellison, the Chairman and CEO, emphasized this point in his letter to shareholders. So we may get more things to watch if we stay subscribed.
This could also be because of the investment in UFC, but we’re also seeing more original content from the service. Dexter: Resurrection was renewed, and Ellison noted that South Park was actually the top subscriber-acquisition driver for Paramount Plus in Q3 2025. So maybe Paramount now realizes that the quality of the content matters more than the quantity of shows and movies.
If you’re still on the fence, there’s a new change that actually made me double-take. Paramount is officially “retiring” free trials for the streaming service. So, if you are waiting to try out the service for the first time, it’s time to stop waiting and start paying. There’s no definitive date on when the free trial will end, but it could be very soon.
So there are only two months before the new prices come up, and with the yearly subscriptions rising by 20 to 30 dollars, it seems like now is a good time to get Paramount Plus.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $8/month
- Simultaneous streams
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3
- Live TV
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Select live sports (NFL on CBS & UEFA Champions League)
- Price
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Starting at $8/month or $60/year
Source: Paramount via The Verge
