Image: Michael Crider/Foundry
Why pay for Max, Hulu, Peacock, and other streaming services when you can give them a try for free?
Many of the big streaming services will let you sample their wares for a limited time—generally a week, or sometimes even a month—for the ultra-low price of zip.
These free streaming trials come and go, so you’ll want to grab them while they’re still available. Also, most free streaming trials are only for new customers, although some services do offer free trials to lapsed subscribers.
Read on for eight of the best free trials now available from the big streaming services, including some clever strategies for nabbing free trials that aren’t so obvious.
Hulu
Free trial: Yes
Length: 30 days
New and “eligible” returning customers can sign up for a whopping 30 days of free Hulu, including both Hulu with ads and the ad-free version of Hulu.
That should leave you plenty of time to sample such hit shows as Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Better Things, Fargo, Shogun, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Only Murders in the Building.
Amazon Prime Video
Free trial: Yes
Length: 30 days
You can snag a full month of free Amazon Prime Video simply by grabbing a free trial of Amazon Prime, which includes such benefits as free and fast shipping, unlimited photo storage, ad-free music streaming, games, free Kindle books, and more.
Among the top shows on Amazon Prime Video right now are Fallout, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jack Ryan, Reacher, Cross, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Wheel of Time, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Apple TV+
Free trial: Yes
Length: 7 day, or 30 days with Apple One trial
Apple offers a free 7-day trial for its Apple TV+ streaming service, but get this: You can actually get 30 free days of Apple TV+ if you sign up for the month-long free trial of Apple One, Apple’s bundle of online services. Even better, you can snag three months of free Apple TV+ with the purchase of a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac.
The only catch is that Apple only offers free trials for services that you’ve never subscribed to or otherwise “experienced”–meaning you can’t get a 30-day trial of Apple One with Apple TV+ and then turn around and get the 7-day Apple TV+ free trial.
Apple TV+ offers such shows as Severance, The Studio, Your Friends and Neighbors, Murderbot, Silo, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Slow Horses, Masters of the Air, Sugar, Palm Royale, Franklin, Dark Matter, Shrinking, For All Mankind, Foundation, Hijack, Trying, and more.
Free 7-day streaming trials
Paramount+
Free trial: Yes
Length: 1 week, or 30 days with code
Paramount+ generally has a 7-day free trial going for new subscribers. The streamer also used to be generous with coupon codes for offering a free month of access, but those codes have been tougher to come by lately.
If you can’t nab a code or you’ve burned through the standard 7-day trial for new Paramount+ subscribers, you can always get another week-long trial via Amazon Prime Video Channels, Apple TV Channels, and The Roku Channel.
Popular shows on Paramount+ include 1883, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, The Daily Show, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Picard, The Good Fight, Survivor, Halo, Yellowjackets, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown.
Peacock
Free trial: No (but yes, shhhh!)
Length: Varies
Peacock is one of the few streaming services that doesn’t offer a free trial on its home page, but we found a sneaky way to get a free Peacock trial.
Instead of going straight to Peacock for free streaming, try his: Head over to Instacart and check out Instacart+. You’ll notice that one of the key benefits of Instacart+ is free access to Peacock, and—you guessed it—you can sign up for a free Instacart+ trial.
Keep in mind that the length of the Instacart+ free trial varies; as of this writing, it’s two weeks.
Top shows on Peacock include Poker Face, Vanderpump Rules, The Office, Community, Saturday Night Live, The Traitors, 30 Rock, Girls5eva, Parks and Recreation, Mrs. Davis, and We Are Lady Parts.
AMC+
Free trial: Yes
Length: 7 days
The home of The Walking Dead and its many spinoffs still offers a 7-day free trial.
Like most of its competitors, AMC+ restricts its free trial to new subscribers, although you can extend your free streaming by signing up for additional trials through Amazon Prime, Apple TV Channels, and The Roku Channel.
Among AMC+ biggest shows are The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Hell on Wheels, Dark Winds, Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and The Walking Dead: Dead City.
Discovery+
Free trial: Yes
Length: 7 days
Yes, you can still subscribe to Discovery+ as a standalone service following its merger with Max (soon to be HBO Max once again); and yes, there is a 7-day free trial—although again, it’s only for new subscribers.
Shows on Discovery+ run the gamut from Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed and Love Off the Grid to Naked and Afraid of Love, Queen of Meth, The Haunted Museum, Selling the Hamptons, and Million Dollar Wheels.
Free 3-day streaming trial
Disney+ and ESPN+ with Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV
There’s no month-long or even 7-day free trial for Disney+ or ESPN+, but you can get a 3-day trial of both in a bundle with Hulu + Live TV. Three days is better than nothing, right?
Just be sure to cancel this 3-day trial for Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu + Live TV before your time is up; otherwise, you’ll be on the hook for a whopping $82.99 a month.
Disney+ is your hub for all things Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney, while ESPN+ serves up a menu of live and prerecorded sports programming (note that ESPN+ doesn’t offer a live simulcast of the ESPN cable network).
Does HBO Max offer a free trial?
Max—which, again, is soon to be re-rebranded as HBO Max—rarely offers free trials and isn’t doing so now, but it does offer a small selection of free episodes if you want a quick taste.
For example, you can stream the series premiere of The Last of Us for free, and you can also stream episodes of Euphoria, Succession, The Penguin, The Gilded Age, and 100 Foot Wave for free.
Does Netflix offer a free trial?
Nope, Netflix doesn’t hand out free trials at this time, but we’ll update this story if anything changes.
Don’t forget to cancel
Most streaming services will begin charging your credit card as soon as your free trial runs out, so be sure to cancel your trial before the first billing date.
While some free streaming trials will end immediately once they’re canceled, others will allow you to continue streaming for the remainder of the trial period.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, TechHive
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he has covered everything from smart speakers and soundbars to smart lights and security cameras. Ben’s articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men’s Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master’s degree in English literature.
