HBO Max is most likely to be worth it if you watch HBO series and Warner Bros. films as they arrive, or you want the live sports that come with the ad-free plans. Plans cost $10.99 to $22.99 a month in the US. If you only want one show, subscribing for the month it airs and then cancelling costs far less than a year, and if you already pay for Disney+ or Hulu, the bundle with them is worth pricing first.
What HBO Max costs
- Basic with Ads: $10.99 a month or $109.99 a year. Two streams at once, Full HD 1080p, no downloads.
- Standard: $18.49 a month or $184.99 a year. No ad breaks, two streams, Full HD 1080p and up to 30 downloads.
- Premium: $22.99 a month or $229.99 a year. No ad breaks, four streams (two for live sports), 4K UHD with HDR10 or Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on available titles, and up to 100 downloads.
HBO Max says most sign-up options don't come with a free trial. The service went back to the HBO Max name in 2025, after Warner Bros. Discovery announced on May 14, 2025 that Max would be renamed.
Ads, and what the plans really differ on
Basic with Ads plays about six minutes of ads an hour. Standard and Premium have no ad breaks in shows and movies, though skippable promos can appear, and live events carry ads on every plan.
Live sports are the biggest difference after ads. Standard and Premium include them at no extra charge, while Basic with Ads doesn't. HBO Max lists MLB, NHL, March Madness, Roland-Garros and U.S. Soccer among the sports it streams, at up to 1080p, and league blackouts can block some games.
Sharing outside your home
An HBO Max account is meant for you and the people you live with. To share with one person outside your home, the Extra Member Add-On costs $7.99 a month on top of your plan. That person, who must be 18 or older and in the same country, gets their own login and profile and can watch on one device at a time. The add-on is only for accounts billed directly by HBO Max, not through a bundle or an app store.
Bundles
The Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max bundle costs $21.99 a month with ads or $34.99 without ads. The ad-free bundle includes HBO Max Standard, not Premium, and it can't add the Extra Member Add-On. Each service keeps its own app.
The catches
- No live CNN: the CNN live news feed left HBO Max on November 17, 2025. Some CNN Originals remain.
- Downloads are capped: Standard allows up to 30 downloads and Premium up to 100, but either plan can hold at most 30 downloaded movies at once, and some series are limited to 25 episodes.
- 4K costs the most: only Premium has 4K on shows and movies. Standard gets Dolby Atmos and HDR only on select live sports.
Cancelling
If HBO Max bills you directly, sign in at hbomax.com/subscription, choose Cancel Your Subscription and confirm. You keep watching until the end of the period you paid for, and deleting the app doesn't cancel anything. If you pay through another company, cancel with them. For the full steps, see our guide on how to cancel HBO Max.
Who should skip it
If you don't follow HBO's current series or the sports it carries, you can wait until a show you want has finished its season and subscribe for a single month. If you share with someone outside your home and HBO Max bills you directly, the $7.99 add-on is part of the real monthly cost.
