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Is Hulu Worth It? 10 Things You Need to Know in 2021

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Is Hulu Worth it? This guide will help you decide if Hulu is worth paying for and which Hulu subscription is the best value for you. Now that we are all spending more time at home, it’s certainly easier to justify paying for Hulu, even if you’re already paying for another service or two.

The good news is you don’t have to decide if Hulu is worth it or not before you pay anything for it. That’s because you can sign up for a free 30-day Hulu trial to test the service out.  Hulu is a great option if you are stuck inside and running out of content to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or any other services you subscribe to.

Hulu is a great Netflix alternative if you like binging TV shows more than movies. Hulu+Live TV an excellent cable alternative that lets you choose if you want to see commercials while watching the latest TV shows. One thing that’s nice about Hulu is that you can upgrade or downgrade whenever you want, say for example during your favorite sport’s playoff season.

Is Hulu free? Not anymore like it was in the good old days. Below is everything you need to know about the Hulu free trial, Hulu deals, Hulu packages, and other things to consider before subscribing to Hulu for on-demand and for live TV.

Read: FuboTV vs Hulu+ Live TV

We’ve been using Hulu for years, and testing various plans and options to find out how to get more from the service, where to look for deals, and other tips. Before you pay Hulu any money after your trial, make sure you’re subscribed to the appropriate service as there are big price differences between the various Hulu services.

How Much is Hulu?

how much hulu costs $5.99 , $11.99 , $64.99 , $70.99

Hulu Costs $5.99 to $70.99 per Month

Hulu pricing can be confusing because there are four basic tiers and several add-ons to consider. The basic Hulu subscription costs just $5.99 per month. Hulu (No Ads)  costs $11.99 per month, which means you have to pay double the base price for the privilege of viewing your shows without commercial interruptions.  Hulu Live TV costs $64.99 per month or $70.99 per month with no ads.

If you are a college student, you can sign up for the basic Hulu plan for just $1.99 per month. The discounted Hulu student pricing is good for as long as you’re enrolled in college. The student discount is only available on the basic Hulu streaming plan and doesn’t carry over should you choose to upgrade to Hulu (No Ads) or either of Hulu+Live TV.

If you’re not looking for live TV service, you may get more value out of a bundle that combines Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $12.99 per month.

From there, you’ll find an array of add ons that we’ll cover more in-depth in the pricing and package section. There is no commitment, and you can cancel Hulu at any time without penalties, hassles, or even a phone call.

When Do New Episodes Go on Hulu?

When do new shows appear on Hulu?

When do new shows appear on Hulu?

We typically see new episodes of current shows go on Hulu the next day, early in the morning. This isn’t a hard and fast rule though. Sometimes shows arrive a day later or even five days later depending on the show and the contracts negotiated with Hulu and the various networks.

You can typically watch the current season and potentially part of an older season, but you won’t often find the full run of a show on Hulu if it is still in production. There are times when you will see all episodes of a newer show, but this is not typical.

If you miss the last few episodes of a series, it may not be there when the new season hits, so you need to plan accordingly. I had to buy a few episodes of the first season of A Million Little Things which I hadn’t caught up on when Season 2 dropped.

With some premium programming you will get a selection of older seasons, but not all of them. For example, Hulu offers five seasons of Homeland, while there are currently seven seasons.

Hulu Plans

There are two main Hulu plans to choose from. The first is per $5.99 per month plan that includes streaming shows and movies, but you will see ads interrupt your viewing experience. The second is an ad-free version for $11.99 per month and allows you to watch shows and movies without seeing any ads.

You can also choose if you want Live TV, which bumps the price of the cheapest plan up to $64.99 and the price of the no ads option to $70.99. You will still see ads during Live TV viewing. The No Ad option is for the part of the streaming that you can do on Hulu without Live TV.

You can also add Enhanced Cloud DVR to the Live TV plan for $9.99 per month and Unlimited Screens for $9.99 per month, or add both for $14.99 per month. Without this option, you can only watch live TV on a limited number of devices at the same time.

Hulu Deals

We used to see Hulu deals drop the price to $5.99 a month, but that is the standard pricing. You can score an epic Hulu deal if you are a student that also wants Spotify. You can subscribe to Spotify Premium and Hulu with ads for $4.99 per month. That is an epic deal and you can start the process on Spotify. You will need to cancel any subscription you have to Spotify or Hulu through a carrier or app store to use this deal.

If you pre-pay for Hulu with ads for a year, you can pay $59.99, compared to $71.88 a year if you pay monthly.

Are Hulu Add-Ons Worth It?

You can upgrade your Hulu plan with add-ons including HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz. You can add these to any of the Hulu plans, including the ad-supported ones or plans with Live TV. The pricing is the same as if you subscribed to these individually, but it may be cheaper than if you go with the plan through a cable company, so double-check that if you use Hulu in addition to paying for cable.

Some people will find paying Hulu directly for premium channels will be more convenient if you enjoy the Hulu app. That’s because you will be able to watch HBO, or any other premium channel, directly in the Hulu app rather than having to manage separate apps.

Hulu Show List

There's a range of shows on Hulu.

There’s a range of shows on Hulu.

You can check out the Hulu show list without subscribing to see if your favorite shows are on the service. This page includes a link to all the shows on Hulu and a list of the seasons and episode count. You can watch big hits like Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, This is Us, Rick and Morty, The Golden Girls, Bob’s Burgers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Futurama, and many others.

You can also filter to only see shows that are still on the air. This will help you decide if it is a good alternative to paying for cable. You will not find most CBS shows on Hulu since CBS would rather sell you CBS All Access plans.

Does Hulu Offer Movies?

While most of us think about Hulu for TV, the service also includes movies. There are documentaries like the Fyre Festival documentary Fire Fraud and other original content. It’s a mix of old and new movies, but the catalog is nowhere near as deep as Netflix. We’re seeing a lot of limited-run shows and more movies on Hulu lately. Amazon Prime also has a bigger movie catalog than Hulu TV.

You can check out the Hulu movie listings on this page.

What is included with Hulu + Live TV

When it comes to sports, you can pick your favorite teams.

When it comes to sports, you can pick your favorite teams.

The Hulu Live TV plan includes access to the standard Hulu streaming options as well as more than 60 Live and On-Demand TV channels. This includes sports, news, and entertainment. You can record up to 200 hours on a Cloud DVR if you pay $9.99 per month for the option.

With Hulu Live TV you get major networks including; ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and many other networks including channels like CW, Discovery, A&E, FX, and USA to name a few. You can check out the full listing and enter your zip code to see which local channels you get with Hulu.

Hulu Sports Stations and Local stations

Hulu Live sports and local channels in Northern California

From a sports standpoint, Hulu Live has Fox Sports 1, the Big Ten Network, ESPN, TNT, NBC Golf, CBS, NBCSN, Fox Sports 2, and others. You can watch a lot of sports on those channels alone, but in many locales, you will also get regional sports networks. For example, the image above shows all of the sports channels Hulu Live streams in part of Northern California.  The Hulu app can sense what part of the country you’re watching from, which means you’ll generally get a similar selection of local channels as you would from a cable or satellite provider in the same area.

It’s a good idea to use the free month alongside your current option to see if Hulu Live TV has enough channels that you like to make it worthwhile.

How Many People Can Use Hulu At Once?

With the Hulu and Hulu no ad plans you can only watch two streams at a time. You can install the app and sign in on as many of your devices as you want, but you can only use two at the same time.

With the Hulu Live TV plan, you can watch on two devices at the same time as well. If you need to add more streams you can upgrade to the unlimited Screens option for Live TV. This gives you unlimited streaming on your home network and three mobile devices outside of your home network. This is a $9.99 a month option.

What Devices Does Hulu Work On?

Hulu works on a wide range of browsers and devices. There are two versions of the Hulu app still ins use. You can use the current version on most modern devices and a classic Hulu app that doesn’t include Live TV access. You can use the latest Hulu app with Live TV on the following devices;

  • Most Android phones and tablets
  • Apple TV (4th generation or later)
  • Chromecast
  • Echo Show
  • Fire Tablets
  • Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
  • iPhones
  • iPads
  • LG TV (select models)
  • Nintendo Switch
  • Mac and PC browsers
  • PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Roku and Roku Stick (select models)
  • Samsung TV (select models)
  • Windows 10
  • Xbox 360
  • Xbox One
There are different experiences depending on your devices.

There are different experiences depending on your devices.

The classic app is available on older devices and on many Smart TVs. These include;

  • Android TV
  • Apple TV (2nd & 3rd generation)
  • LG TVs and Blu-ray players (select models)
  • Roku and Roku Stick (select models)
  • Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players (select models)
  • Sony TVs and Blu-ray players
  • TiVo
  • Wii U
  • VIZIO TVs

The odd devices out are the PS4 and PS3, which feature the latest Hulu app, but not Live TV. If you want to watch Live TV and use the latest features, you may want to buy the latest Apple TV or Fire TV Stick 4K.

Is Hulu Worth It?

Is Hulu worth subscribing to in 2021? With a price below one iTunes movie rental each month, it is a very tempting option for many users. I subscribe to Hulu alongside cable because it offers the best way to watch many of my favorite shows. I’m still considering switching to Hulu + Live TV and ditching cable, though with the DVR add on I’ll be spending a decent amount each month.

Paying for the ad-free version of Hulu is worth it since you’ll likely get sick of seeing the same ads over and over again. Being able to watch your favorite shows without worrying about DVR issues and clunky on-demand set-top boxes is worth the price.

One real value of Hulu many users appreciate is when it offers shows with all of its seasons on-demand. For example, Hulu offers seven seasons on demand of Homeland.  Binging for hours on a single show can make Hulu worth it rather than subscribing to Showtime or another premium channel just for that series.

Ultimately it will depend on how you watch and what you watch if Hulu is worth it, but if you get the value of one iTunes movie rental a month out of it, the version with ads is a very good value.

Considering how much time we are all spending in front of screens these days, Hulu is an affordable way to expand your digital library for about the price  of a fancy coffee each month.

Click here to subscribe to Hulu or Hulu Live TV.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. David

    03/07/2019 at 7:31 am

    Great article, thanks! I’m a dane living in USA and I have been using Hulu for the last six months. I really like it and I think I will be a subscriber for a long time if they keep up the good work. I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

    • TLee

      09/30/2020 at 9:12 am

      Hulu has a lot to offer, but watching “True Grit” last night, I stopped half way. Tried to restart the movie this morning and it won’t because there are “0 minutes left.” Not good. You can’t revisit something that you saw half of?!

  2. Dave

    03/20/2019 at 12:31 am

    Hulu is awesome if your primary goal is to watch television shows that are on or were on network tv. Documentary selection is bad. Movie selection isn’t the best but not bad. I have a short attention span and don’t watch too many movies so for me Hulu is perfect.

  3. norton.com/setup

    07/05/2019 at 9:38 pm

    Thank you for sharing excellent information.

  4. R

    02/12/2020 at 7:12 pm

    Hulu (which was started by comcast, by the way) is pushing more and more of their content to the live tv only, which means you can’t access it with the regular subscription. If you get the regular subscription, live tv and, of course, you’re already paying for internet access, you’ll well exceed the cost of a premium cable package. I subscribe to hulu and Netflix because I don’t want to pay those ridiculous cable rates for tv. I’m ready to dump hulu because they’re trying to push people into their live tv subscription by restricting content. If I wanted to pay that much, I’d just get cable again. The set top box is far more convenient and stable than streaming. But I won’t have to go back to cable or put up with hulu’s bs. There are hundreds of streaming services vying for market share. The more people who leave hulu and go to these smaller services, the better they’ll get and hopefully hulu will get the hint too.

  5. Jackie Kirkpatrick

    07/27/2020 at 6:58 pm

    Now have Hulu for the second time because You Tube TV raised their price 30%. Back again and now I remember why I got rid of it. I have constant problems with it almost every day now. Just tried to call Cust Serv and got a message that it will be over an hour to speak to a rep. GRRRR They need to get their act together if I am back again and they are still having troubles. You Tube TV and Play Station Vue were both fabulous. Never had any problems with either one but YTTv is too expensive and PSV is no longer doing live TV. Am thinking about Sling now. This streaming is getting to be aggravating.

  6. John A. Smith

    07/28/2020 at 10:34 pm

    Hulu have good content but the worst web designers. it’s a business so they hire the cheapest web designers, i get it. they have the worst interface of any streaming service. they promote shows/films that you are not paying for so you get the dreaded, you are not authorized with you current plan. and really, there’s not a lot of shows to watch of you’re into really past programming since there’s not a lot of content regularly updated. even before the Covid19, i used to pause my subscriptions in off seasons. the major irritation is how they remove the controls like fast foward and full screen so quickly after playing content. i usually have to restart browser to get the controls back. it’s been this way since they started, i’ve given feedback so many times that i just gave up. they occassionaly ask for feedback but do 0 about it so it’s just politics to make you think you contributed.

  7. cmm66

    07/29/2020 at 6:32 am

    So, Hulu is $2.99 a month now? Many movies on iTunes rent for $3.99, the cheapest Hulu Plan is $5.99 and is ad supported.

  8. Paula

    12/11/2020 at 8:36 am

    I am disappointed in Hulu.. You don’t get to watch the whole show of anything. They cut it out and sometimes what they cut out is the best part of the program your watching.. For instance PBR bull riding.. you can watch the whole show down to the last 2 or 3 rides, which are mist of the time are the most important rides and they cut it out , another game shows, Price is right they will go to commercial right in the middle of one of the contestants trying to win their prize and when it comes back to the show it’s on another contestant so you don’t get to see the outcome of that contestant. Very disappointed and it makes me wonder what else they cut out that we don’t get to see… very disappointed cause it happens almost on all shows I watch so I mostly watch Netflix . Definitely looking to replace Hulu

  9. Larry F Little

    01/10/2021 at 9:27 am

    I have Hulu and am satisfied with it’s function, however they no longer have FSregional sports. So, I’m actively looking for another service.

  10. Edward

    01/10/2021 at 9:34 am

    I want a service with OANN. Anyone know who has it?

  11. Kenneth Vradenburg

    02/01/2021 at 1:47 pm

    One thing they fail to mention is they also charge you for how many devices you have it downloaded to $117 for Hulu + 5 devices they need to put that in there

  12. beverly a guzman

    03/09/2021 at 9:00 am

    Thanks for the feedback. After reading all the comments I will skip Hulu and look for another service.

  13. Hulu Hater

    05/29/2021 at 10:19 pm

    Hulu is definitely not worth paying for. The program is crap and does not work well at all. You will experience constant freezes and getting kicked out of Hulu repeatedly. And every time you get kicked out of Hulu and restart the program you were watching, you have to watch ads first again…only to get kicked out of Hulu again….over and over. Crappy application. Do not pay for it.

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