Paramount+ quietly removed its standard 7-day trial when prices went up in January of this year. But free access didn’t disappear — it just moved. Walmart+, T-Mobile, Amazon Prime Video Channels, and four discount programs that most subscribers never hear about all still exist. This guide explains exactly what each one gives you, who qualifies, and what the catch is before you enter a card number anywhere.
These are the questions people search when they land on the signup page and find no trial button. Answered plainly, without filler.
Not at paramountplus.com. The standard 7-day free trial that had been the entry point for new subscribers was removed the same week the January price increases took effect. If you go to the signup page today, you are asked to choose a plan and enter a payment method immediately — there is no trial period visible. However, a 7-day trial for Paramount+ can still appear through Amazon Prime Video Channels for eligible Prime members — this is a separate arrangement from Paramount’s own website. Whether it shows for you depends on your specific Amazon account and region. Check your Amazon Prime Video account directly under Channels to see if the offer is live for you. Walmart+ new members can also get a 30-day free trial of Walmart+ itself, which includes Paramount+ Essential as part of the membership.
Two plans: Essential at $8.99 per month or $89.99 per year (ad-supported, all UFC, NFL on CBS, UEFA Champions League, 40,000+ titles, no live local CBS). Premium at $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year (ad-free on-demand, everything in Essential plus full SHOWTIME library, live local CBS stream, downloads for offline viewing, select 4K/HDR content). Annual billing saves roughly $17–$28 per year compared to month-to-month, but the full amount is charged upfront. Both plans allow streaming on up to three devices simultaneously. These prices were confirmed as of August 2026 and reflect the January price increase.
The content case for Paramount+ shifted significantly in early 2026 when it became the exclusive home of all UFC events in the United States under a 7-year, $7.7 billion deal with TKO. Every numbered UFC event and every Fight Night streams live — no pay-per-view surcharge. That alone has driven substantial subscriber growth. Beyond UFC: every NFL game that airs on CBS, UEFA Champions League matches, live CBS News 24/7, original series including 1923, Landman, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, South Park’s entire back catalog, SpongeBob, and Nickelodeon programming. The Premium tier adds the complete SHOWTIME library — Yellowjackets, Dexter, Billions, and ongoing originals. The Essential plan covers everything except SHOWTIME content and live local CBS.
Yes, through three legitimate ongoing routes: Walmart+ includes Paramount+ Essential at no additional charge as long as your Walmart+ membership is active — Walmart+ costs $98 per year or $12.95 per month, so it’s not free on its own, but if you use Walmart+ for other reasons the Paramount+ access costs nothing extra. T-Mobile includes Paramount+ Essential for eligible customers on qualifying plans such as Magenta MAX — check your T-Mobile account perks section. DIRECTV packages that include Paramount+ with SHOWTIME give you the Premium-level access at no separate charge. These are ongoing, not time-limited, as long as the underlying service stays active.
Essential is the right starting point for most people. It includes all UFC, all NFL on CBS, UEFA Champions League, the core Paramount+ library, and CBS-branded originals for $8.99 per month. The five things Premium adds: (1) ad-free on-demand viewing (live sports still have commercials on both plans), (2) live stream of your local CBS station, (3) the complete SHOWTIME catalog, (4) offline downloads, and (5) select content in 4K/HDR where available. Premium makes sense if you watch Showtime originals regularly, need to stream your local CBS live without cable, or use downloads for travel. It does not increase the simultaneous stream limit — both plans cap at three devices at once.
Military members (active duty, veterans, reservists, National Guard, dependents): 50% off any plan, verified through SheerID, valid for the life of the subscription as long as you re-verify annually. Teachers: 50% off any plan, also through SheerID with annual re-verification. Students: 50% off any plan for 12 months, re-verify to continue. AARP members: 10% off any plan for as long as the membership is active. All discounts expire December 31, 2026 and require re-enrollment — they do not auto-apply to renewals after that date without re-verification. Military members get the deepest discount at $4.49/month for Essential or $6.99/month for Premium — less than virtually any streaming service currently available.
You cancel where you signed up — and this is one of the most common billing traps in streaming. If you activated Paramount+ through Amazon Prime Video Channels, you cancel through Amazon — not through Paramount’s website. If access came through Walmart+, you cancel through your Walmart+ account settings. T-Mobile access is managed in your T-Mobile account under Add-ons. DIRECTV access ties to your DIRECTV package. Only subscribers who signed up directly at paramountplus.com cancel through the Paramount+ account settings. Canceling at the wrong place — for example, trying to cancel your Amazon channel subscription through Paramount’s website — will fail, and billing continues. Confirm which platform you used to subscribe before looking for the cancel button.
Both plans were updated in January of this year with new prices and a simplified name structure. The old “Paramount+ with Showtime” branding is now just “Premium.” Here is every feature side by side.
| Feature | Essential | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $8.99/mo | $13.99/mo |
| Annual price | $89.99/yr | $139.99/yr |
| Ads during on-demand | Yes — with ads | Ad-free |
| Ads during live sports | Yes | Yes (live always has ads) |
| All UFC events live | ✔ Included | ✔ Included |
| NFL on CBS | ✔ Included | ✔ Included |
| UEFA Champions League | ✔ Included | ✔ Included |
| Full SHOWTIME catalog | ✘ Not included | ✔ Full library |
| Live local CBS stream | ✘ Not included | ✔ Included |
| Offline downloads | ✘ Not included | ✔ Included |
| Select 4K/HDR content | ✘ Not included | ✔ Available |
| Simultaneous streams | 3 devices | 3 devices |
| Profiles | Multiple | Multiple |
| Military discount price | ~$4.49/mo | ~$6.99/mo |
| Student/teacher price | ~$4.49/mo | ~$6.99/mo |
| AARP member price | ~$8.09/mo | ~$12.59/mo |
Annual Essential saves about $17.89 compared to paying month-to-month for a full year ($89.99 vs. $107.88). Annual Premium saves about $27.89 per year ($139.99 vs. $167.88). The trade-off: the full annual amount is charged on day one, not spread out. If you watch Paramount+ heavily during certain seasons — football season, a specific show run — monthly billing lets you subscribe and cancel without paying for months you don’t use. Annual billing only makes financial sense if you expect to keep the subscription for at least 11 months.
Five routes still work. Each has a different mechanism, a different cost structure, and a different catch. Read the catch before entering any payment information.
Amazon periodically offers a 7-day free trial of Paramount+ — either Essential or Premium — as a Prime Video Channel add-on. This trial is completely separate from anything at paramountplus.com, which means you may qualify for this Amazon trial even if you previously had a direct Paramount+ account. The catch: availability is account-specific. Amazon determines which Prime members see the trial offer based on factors including account age, prior channel subscriptions, and regional availability. There is no guaranteed way to know you qualify until you open the Paramount+ page inside Prime Video and look. If you see “Try 7 days free,” you qualify. If you see the paid subscription price only, you do not. Critically: if you subscribe through Amazon, you must cancel through Amazon’s Prime Video channel settings — canceling at Paramount’s website will not stop the Amazon charge.
New Walmart+ members receive a 30-day free trial of the Walmart+ membership. Walmart+ includes Paramount+ Essential (the ad-supported tier) at no additional charge as a streaming benefit — members choose between Paramount+ Essential and Peacock Premium, but only one can be active at a time, and you can switch once every 90 days. The Walmart+ trial costs nothing for the first 30 days. After that, Walmart+ is $12.95 per month or $98 per year. If you already use Walmart for groceries, pharmacy, or free shipping, the Walmart+ cost effectively becomes a wash — you’d pay for those Walmart benefits anyway, and the Paramount+ Essential access comes bundled at no additional cost. If you want Paramount+ Premium features (SHOWTIME, live CBS, no ads), Walmart+ includes Essential only — you’d need to subscribe to Premium separately or upgrade from your Walmart+ account. Cancel through your Walmart account settings to stop the membership and the Paramount+ access with it.
T-Mobile includes Paramount+ Essential as an ongoing perk for eligible customers on qualifying plans — typically Magenta, Magenta MAX, and certain T-Mobile Home Internet plans. This is not a trial — it’s a continuous benefit that exists as long as your qualifying T-Mobile plan is active. Availability is limited to one claim per eligible line and two claims per account. Check whether you already qualify before paying for anything: open the T-Mobile Tuesdays app or log in to your T-Mobile account online and look for Paramount+ under your included benefits or Add-ons. If it’s there, activate it through the link provided — do not sign up separately at Paramount’s website, as that would create a duplicate paid subscription. If you cancel the qualifying T-Mobile plan or remove the benefit, Paramount+ access ends — it does not convert to an independent subscription.
DIRECTV customers whose current package includes Paramount+ with SHOWTIME (now called Paramount+ Premium) can activate streaming access at no additional charge. This is a notable advantage over the Walmart+ and T-Mobile routes: DIRECTV bundles access to the Premium tier — which includes SHOWTIME, live CBS, and ad-free on-demand — rather than the ad-supported Essential plan. To activate, go to paramountplus.com/link, select DIRECTV as your provider, and follow the steps to link your account. Eligibility depends on your specific DIRECTV package — not every DIRECTV customer qualifies. Check your DIRECTV account or call DIRECTV to confirm whether your current package includes Paramount+ before attempting to link. Spectrum customers with qualifying packages can access Paramount+ through a similar process.
Paramount+ makes a limited selection of episodes and film premieres available for free streaming without any account or payment method — no sign-in required. This content rotates and is intentionally limited: it typically includes premiere episodes of ongoing series, classic library content, and occasionally full-season first-episode access during promotional windows. It is not a substitute for a full subscription and does not include live sports, new releases, or SHOWTIME content. The practical use case: sampling a specific show before deciding whether to subscribe. Visit paramountplus.com and look for content labeled “Free” or “Watch Free” in the main navigation or browse section. No email, no card number, no commitment of any kind.
Paramount+ maintains four verified discount programs that the signup page doesn’t prominently advertise. All are confirmed active through December 31 of this year. Re-verification is required annually to maintain each discount beyond that date.
Eligible military members — active duty, retirees, reservists, National Guard, veterans, dependents, and spouses — can get 50% off any Paramount+ plan. At current rates, that brings Essential down to approximately $4.49 per month and Premium to approximately $6.99 per month. Verification is handled through SheerID, an independent identity verification service — you provide documentation of your service status through SheerID’s secure portal, and once approved, you receive a unique promo code to apply at checkout. You do not hand your military records to Paramount directly. Re-verification is required annually — your subscription will renew at the full price if you do not re-verify before the discount expires. Visit paramountplus.com and search for the military discount page, or go through SheerID directly. The offer is confirmed active through the end of this year.
Enrolled students at accredited colleges and universities can get 50% off either Paramount+ plan for 12 consecutive months. Verification is through SheerID — a .edu email is typically sufficient. After 12 months, your subscription automatically renews at the full current rate unless you re-verify your student status and apply a new promo code before the discount period ends. Mark your calendar 11 months after you activate the discount — the renewal to full price happens automatically and silently. At the discounted rate, Essential runs approximately $4.49 per month and Premium approximately $6.99 per month. Notably, this discount applies to any plan — both Essential and Premium qualify, so students who want SHOWTIME and ad-free viewing can get the Premium tier for what the regular Essential tier costs.
Licensed and employed teachers at K–12 and higher education institutions qualify for the same 50% discount available to students and military. Verification is through SheerID using school employment documentation. The discount brings Essential to approximately $4.49 per month and Premium to approximately $6.99 per month. Paraeducators, administrators, and school support staff may not qualify — the discount is specifically for instructional staff. Re-verification is required annually to maintain the discount. Confirm your specific employment category qualifies before completing the SheerID verification process. The teacher discount is available on both monthly and annual billing cycles — annual billing at 50% off delivers the largest absolute savings.
Active AARP members can take 10% off either Paramount+ plan — Essential drops to approximately $8.09 per month and Premium to approximately $12.59 per month. This is not as dramatic as the military or student discounts, but it is ongoing and doesn’t require annual re-verification the way SheerID-based discounts do — it remains active as long as your AARP membership is current. The AARP discount stacks on top of annual billing, which already saves money relative to monthly — combining both reduces the effective monthly cost further. Visit paramountplus.com and look for the AARP member benefit, or check AARP’s member benefits page at aarp.org for the current activation link. Offer confirmed through December 31 of this year.
The single most important thing to know: cancel where you subscribed, not at Paramount’s website, unless you signed up directly at paramountplus.com. Canceling at the wrong place looks successful but the charges continue.
Paramount+ is available through at least eight different platforms — Paramount’s own website, Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Roku, Walmart+, T-Mobile, DIRECTV, and Spectrum. Each platform manages its own billing independently. If you subscribed through one platform and try to cancel through a different one, the cancellation will appear to work but billing will continue from the original platform. Before you look for a cancel button anywhere, open your email and find the original Paramount+ confirmation or billing email — it tells you which platform billed you. That is where you cancel.
Cancellation stops the next billing charge, not the current period. If you paid for a month that hasn’t ended yet, your access continues until the end of that period. For annual subscribers, most platforms do not offer prorated refunds for the unused portion of the year — you keep access through the renewal date but lose the remaining balance. Always screenshot or save the cancellation confirmation page or email. Paramount+ and partner platforms do not send proactive reminders before a trial ends — set your own calendar reminder for the day before the trial period closes if you do not intend to pay.
Paramount+ is now the only legal streaming destination for live UFC events in the United States — every numbered card and every Fight Night is included in a standard subscription at no additional charge. This is the result of a 7-year, $7.7 billion exclusive rights deal between Paramount and TKO that began this year. Both Essential and Premium include all UFC live events. The cheapest path to every UFC event: Essential plan at $8.99 per month — that covers all 12 numbered events and all 30 Fight Nights per year, or roughly $0.75 per event for the main cards alone. If you are a military member or teacher, the same access drops to approximately $4.49 per month. Compare that to what individual UFC pay-per-view events used to cost: $79.99 per card. For sports fans, this is one of the more significant value shifts in streaming in years.
Paramount+ Premium at $13.99 per month includes the complete SHOWTIME catalog — every season of Yellowjackets, Dexter, Billions, The Chi, Halo, and every SHOWTIME original and film. That is dramatically less than standalone Showtime has historically cost through cable providers. If you are a military member, teacher, or student, Premium drops to approximately $6.99 per month — making it one of the cheapest ways to access a premium cable network’s full library. DIRECTV customers whose existing package includes Paramount+ Premium can activate SHOWTIME access without paying separately at all. If your only reason to subscribe is a specific SHOWTIME series, use monthly billing: subscribe when the season airs, cancel when it ends, and re-subscribe for the next season. Annual billing only wins if you watch year-round.
Only if you’ve activated it. Walmart+ includes Paramount+ Essential as a streaming choice benefit, but it doesn’t turn on automatically — you have to activate it through your Walmart+ account. Log in to walmart.com → Account → Walmart+ → look for the streaming benefit and choose Paramount+ Essential. Note that you can only have one streaming benefit active at a time (Paramount+ or Peacock), and you can switch once every 90 days. If you haven’t activated it yet, you have been leaving a free streaming benefit unclaimed. The Essential plan through Walmart+ is identical to what you’d pay $8.99 per month for as a standalone subscriber — same content, same device limit, same ad-supported experience. The only thing you cannot access through this route is Premium features (SHOWTIME, live CBS, no ads, downloads).
The lowest confirmed legal price for ongoing access is approximately $4.49 per month — available through the military discount (50% off Essential) for qualifying veterans, retirees, reservists, National Guard, and their spouses and dependents. AARP members who do not qualify for the military discount can get Essential at approximately $8.09 per month with the 10% AARP discount. Walmart+ members who use Paramount+ as their included streaming benefit pay nothing extra for Essential access — the entire Paramount+ cost is absorbed by the Walmart+ membership, which may already be worth it for shipping and pharmacy savings. There is no senior-specific discount beyond the AARP 10% offer. If you have an AARP membership or military status, those are the two routes that bring costs down the most. If you don’t use Paramount+ regularly, monthly billing at the discounted rate — subscribe for a month, watch, cancel — is cheaper than paying annually for a service you use intermittently.
Go to paramountplus.com and look for the student or educator discount page — Paramount keeps these in the plans or discounts section of the site. You will be redirected to SheerID’s verification portal, where you confirm your enrollment or employment status. For students, a .edu email address from an accredited institution is typically sufficient. For teachers, school employment documentation is required. Once SheerID approves your status, you receive a unique promo code to enter at checkout. The discount takes effect immediately on a new subscription and applies to either the Essential or Premium plan on monthly or annual billing. After 12 months, re-verify before your discount period ends — Paramount does not send a reminder, and the subscription renews at the full rate without re-verification. Annual billing at the student rate brings Premium to approximately $69.99 per year — less than the monthly Essential plan would cost over the same period without a discount.
Open your email inbox and search for “Paramount” or “paramount.com” — look for the original subscription confirmation or any billing receipt. That email will identify the platform that billed you: Paramount (direct), Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Roku, or a TV provider. If you find an Apple billing receipt, cancel through iPhone Settings. Amazon receipt — cancel through Amazon. No email or can’t find it: check your bank or credit card statement and note the exact merchant name on the Paramount+ charge. “Amazon” means Amazon; “Apple” means App Store; “Google” means Google Play; “Paramount” or “CBS” means you subscribed directly. If you still can’t determine the source, log in at paramountplus.com and go to Account → Subscription & Billing — if it shows your subscription details there, you’re a direct subscriber; if it says to manage your subscription through a third party, follow that link to the right platform.
This guide is for general informational purposes only. Paramount+ plan prices, trial availability, discount programs, and eligibility requirements can change at any time — verify all details directly at paramountplus.com before entering payment information. Discounts described require identity verification and may change after December 31 of this year. Third-party bundle pricing reflects the underlying service’s current cost — Walmart+, T-Mobile, and DIRECTV prices are independently set and subject to change. Cancellation terms and refund policies vary by platform. This content is entirely original and has not been paid for or sponsored by Paramount, CBS, Walmart, T-Mobile, or any related entity.