Hulu Free Trial (2026)

Every major question about the Hulu free trial and its alternatives — answered plainly, including the information most sites still have wrong.

• 1
  Does Hulu still offer a free trial? No — Hulu ended its 30-day free trial on June 15, 2026 · No new subscribers can access the trial · The trial ran for 16 years before being discontinued · Any site or ad still showing the trial is outdated — do not enter payment info based on those claims

  Hulu’s 30-day free trial — which it had offered continuously since the launch of Hulu Plus on June 29, 2010 — ended quietly on June 15, 2026. There was no announcement, no grace period, and no replacement program. New subscribers who sign up at hulu.com now see standard pricing immediately; there is no trial clock shown at checkout, no 30-day buffer, and charges process at sign-up. Dozens of websites — including major tech publications whose articles were written months before the change — still rank highly in search results showing the trial as active. Those articles have simply not been updated. The quickest way to verify: go to hulu.com, begin the sign-up flow without entering any payment information, and see what the checkout screen shows. If no free trial is displayed, none exists. Do not enter a credit card based on a third-party website’s claim that a trial is available.
• 2
  Why did Hulu end its free trial? Hulu gave no official reason · The timing aligns with Disney’s plan to merge Hulu into the Disney+ app by end of 2026 · Disney+ has not offered a free trial since 2020 · Once Hulu becomes a feature inside Disney+, its trial structure would likely follow Disney+’s model — which is no trial

  Hulu confirmed the end of the trial to The Streamable but provided no official explanation. The context that makes the most sense: Disney, which owns Hulu outright, is in the process of absorbing the standalone Hulu app into the Disney+ platform, with a unified app experience expected by the end of 2026. Disney+ has not offered any free trial since it discontinued its 7-day trial in 2020. Once Hulu content lives entirely within the Disney+ app — available as a tile or subscription option inside that platform — it would be awkward for Hulu to maintain a trial structure that Disney+ doesn’t offer. The end of the free trial is widely seen as one more concrete step toward the full merger. It is also worth noting that the streaming industry broadly has moved away from free trials: Netflix ended its trial in 2019, Max has never offered a standard one, and Peacock removed its trial in 2021. Hulu was one of the last holdouts, and now that holdout status is gone.
• 3
  What is the cheapest way to get Hulu right now without a free trial? Students: $1.99/month (Hulu With Ads, through hulu.com/student) · T-Mobile unlimited plan holders: Hulu With Ads potentially free as a carrier perk · Black Friday/Cyber Monday: historically $0.99–$1.99/month for the first year · Standard with-ads plan: $11.99/month · Standard no-ads: $18.99/month

  With the free trial gone, the lowest-cost entry points depend on your personal situation. The best deal currently available: if you are enrolled in college and can verify student status, Hulu With Ads is $1.99 per month through hulu.com/student — an 83% discount off the standard price, active through December 31 of this year per current terms. If you have T-Mobile wireless service on a premium unlimited plan (Go5G Next or Experience Beyond), Hulu With Ads may be included as a carrier perk at no additional monthly charge — check t-mobile.com/benefits or call T-Mobile to confirm whether your specific plan tier includes it. Verizon customers on select unlimited plans can access the Disney+ and Hulu bundle for a discounted $10/month (standard bundle price is $14.99/month). If none of these apply to you, and you want to try Hulu at the lowest possible price, the annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion — which has run historically for several years — drops the with-ads plan to $0.99 to $1.99 per month for the first year. That sale typically activates in late November and lasts a few days. Signing up at that time has long been the recommended entry point for price-conscious subscribers, and it remains so now that the trial is gone.
• 4
  Is the Hulu + Live TV 3-day free trial also gone? The status of the Live TV 3-day trial is unclear — some sources report it ended along with the on-demand trial, others indicate it may still be available in limited form · Verify at hulu.com directly before signing up · Live TV is $89.99/month — do not sign up based on a trial that may no longer exist

  The reporting around Hulu’s trial termination primarily focused on the 30-day on-demand trial, with less clarity about the Live TV 3-day trial. Given that Hulu ended the trial universally and the timing aligns with the Disney+ merger, it is safest to assume the Live TV trial is also no longer available unless hulu.com explicitly confirms it during your sign-up process. This matters especially because Hulu + Live TV is $89.99 per month — a significant charge if you sign up expecting a trial and discover there isn’t one. The process to check: start the Live TV sign-up flow on hulu.com without entering payment information, and look for any trial offer displayed at checkout. If no trial appears, none exists. Do not proceed based on information from any third-party website claiming a Live TV trial is available.
• 5
  What is happening to the Hulu app — is it going away? Yes — the standalone Hulu app is being phased into Disney+ by the end of 2026 · The Nintendo Switch Hulu app shut down February 5, 2026 · Your content and watchlist will carry over — it will simply live inside Disney+ instead of the Hulu app · Hulu will still be available as a subscription option, just accessed through Disney+

  Disney confirmed in 2025 that the standalone Hulu app would be fully integrated into Disney+ — meaning the Hulu brand and content will continue to exist, but the container changes. Rather than opening a separate Hulu app, subscribers will access Hulu’s entire library through the Disney+ application, where Hulu content will appear as a dedicated section or tile. The Nintendo Switch was the first platform where the Hulu app shut down, on February 5, 2026. Other platforms — Smart TVs, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, phones — are expected to follow throughout the year, though no specific shutdown dates have been announced for any of them. Subscribers do not need to do anything to preserve their accounts, watchlists, or viewing history. Disney has stated that customers will continue to be able to pay for Hulu content as a standalone subscription, just through the Disney+ platform rather than through a separate Hulu app. The same content, the same shows — just a different app icon you open to get there.
• 6
  Is there still a way to get Hulu for free — permanently? T-Mobile Go5G Next / Experience Beyond unlimited plans include Hulu With Ads free as a carrier perk · No permanently free ad-supported tier exists for general subscribers · Verizon select unlimited plans: Disney Bundle (includes Hulu) discounted but not free · Any ad promising “free Hulu forever” without a carrier qualification is misleading

  The only current path to Hulu at no additional cost is through T-Mobile’s premium unlimited wireless plans. Go5G Next and Experience Beyond plan holders are eligible to receive Hulu With Ads as a bundled perk included in their monthly wireless service — no separate Hulu bill. If you already pay for T-Mobile service on one of these tiers, Hulu may be covered with nothing extra to pay. Check your T-Mobile account online or call 1-800-T-MOBILE to confirm which streaming perks are active on your specific plan. Verizon customers on qualifying unlimited plans can add the Disney Bundle — which includes Hulu With Ads plus Disney+ — for a discounted $10 per month, versus the standard bundle price of $14.99 per month. Neither offer is “free Hulu forever” in the absolute sense, but for existing T-Mobile customers on premium plans, the monthly Hulu bill effectively goes away. Anyone without a qualifying carrier perk who is not a student will be paying at least $11.99 per month for Hulu With Ads, the standard plan price — unless a Black Friday sale is actively running.
• 7
  Is Hulu free with Amazon Prime? No — Hulu and Amazon Prime are completely separate services with no shared deal · This was a brief promotional partnership that ended years ago · Amazon Prime ($14.99/month) includes only Amazon Prime Video · You cannot access Hulu through Amazon without a separate Hulu subscription

  This remains one of the most persistent pieces of outdated information circulating online, driven by old web articles and forum posts referencing a promotional partnership that has long since ended. Amazon Prime and Hulu are direct competitors with no active shared deal, no shared content, and no combined pricing. An Amazon Prime membership gives you access to Amazon Prime Video, free shipping, and other Prime benefits — none of which include any Hulu access, any Hulu discount, or any Hulu content. They are separate products from separate companies that you would pay for separately. The only Amazon connection that still exists is a billing one: if you originally subscribed to Hulu through an Amazon Fire TV device by clicking “Subscribe” inside the Amazon app store, Amazon handles your billing — meaning if you need to cancel, you’d do it through Amazon’s subscription management page, not through hulu.com. That is a payment processing relationship, not any kind of content sharing.
• 8
  What are the best streaming services that still offer a free trial? Amazon Prime Video: 30 days free (as part of Prime trial) · Paramount+: 7-day free trial · Apple TV+: 7-day free trial · BritBox: 7-day free trial · Philo (live TV, no sports): 7-day free trial · Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Peacock: no free trials currently

  With Hulu’s trial gone, the streaming trial landscape looks very different from what it was even a few months ago. Amazon Prime’s 30-day free trial remains the most generous — it includes full access to Prime Video in addition to all other Prime benefits, making it a good option for someone who primarily wants streaming access and might also use other Prime perks during the trial. Paramount+ offers a 7-day free trial with full access to its library including CBS content, Paramount movies, and sports. Apple TV+ also offers a 7-day trial, though its library is smaller and limited to original programming only. For live TV specifically, Philo — a budget-focused live TV service focused on entertainment channels without sports — offers a 7-day free trial at $28 per month with no credit card required to start. For seniors who specifically wanted the Hulu trial to test whether they can navigate streaming on their television, the Paramount+ or Amazon Prime trial at similar 7-day or 30-day lengths would achieve the same evaluation purpose.

The trial is gone but affordable Hulu still exists — these are the current options, in order from cheapest to standard price.

With the Hulu trial gone, here is the current state of free trials across all major U.S. streaming services.

Whether you recently signed up and want out, or have been a subscriber for years, canceling Hulu takes under two minutes with no phone call required — if you cancel through the right platform.

Use these buttons to find T-Mobile and Verizon stores to check whether Hulu is already included in your wireless plan, streaming device stores, or local tech assistance for TV setup.