2026 Subscription Price Hike Tracker: Every Service That Raised Prices This Year

I woke up last month to a notification that made my stomach drop: "Your Netflix subscription will increase to $24.99 starting February 2026." It wasn't the first price hike email I'd received that week—and it definitely won't be the last.

After tracking my own subscriptions obsessively for years (it's literally my job as the founder of SubBuddy), I realized there was no single, comprehensive resource showing every major subscription price increase in 2026. So I built one.

This is that resource. Bookmark this page. I'll update it throughout 2026 as new price hikes are announced.

Last Updated: February 4, 2026. This tracker is updated weekly. Have a price change to report? Let us know on Twitter/X @subbuddy.

2026 Price Hike Summary: The Damage So Far

Before diving into the details, here's the brutal summary of what's happened to your wallet in 2026:

• Total services tracked: 47 major subscriptions
• Services with price increases in 2025-2026: 18 (many implemented in late 2025)
• Average price increase: 15.2%
• Largest percentage increase: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (50% on Ultimate tier)
• Largest dollar increase: Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan (+$10/month)
• Combined annual impact: If you had all these services, you'd pay $650+ more than in 2024

Let me be clear: subscription inflation continues to outpace regular inflation. While overall consumer prices rose about 3.2% year-over-year, many subscription services increased by 15-50%. Companies have discovered that once you're hooked, you'll pay almost anything to avoid the hassle of canceling.

Streaming Services Price Changes

The streaming wars have officially become the streaming tax. Here's every price change in 2026:

Netflix

• Standard with Ads: $6.99/month → Now: $7.99/month (+14%)
• Standard (no ads): $15.49/month → Now: $17.99/month (+16%)
• Premium: $22.99/month → Now: $24.99/month (+9%)
• Extra Member Add-on: $7.99/month → Now: $8.99/month (+13%)
• Effective Date: January 2025 (immediately for new subscribers, next billing cycle for existing)
• Annual Impact: +$12 to +$24 per year depending on plan

Netflix's justification? "Continued investment in programming"—specifically live sports (NFL, boxing) and hit content like Squid Game season 2. This was Netflix's first major price hike since October 2023. The increases also rolled out in Canada, Argentina, and Portugal.

Disney+ / Hulu / ESPN+ Bundle

• Disney+ Basic (with ads): $9.99 → $11.99/month (+20%)
• Disney+ Premium (no ads): $15.99 → $18.99/month (+19%)
• Hulu (with ads): $9.99 → $11.99/month (+20%)
• Hulu (no ads): $17.99 → $18.99/month (+6%)
• Disney Bundle Duo (with ads): $10.99 → $12.99/month (+18%)
• Disney Bundle Trio (with ads): $16.99 → $19.99/month (+18%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

Disney's aggressive pricing reflects their pivot to profitability over subscriber growth. The ad-supported tiers got hit hardest—ironic since you're literally watching ads AND paying more.

Max (formerly HBO Max)

• With Ads: $9.99 → $10.99/month (+10%)
• Standard (Ad-Free): $15.99 → $18.49/month (+16%)
• Premium: $19.99 → $22.99/month (+15%)
• Effective Date: Late 2025

Warner Bros. Discovery continues its quest to squeeze every dollar from subscribers while simultaneously removing content from the platform. Classic move.

Paramount+

• Essential (with ads): $7.99 → $8.99/month (+13%)
• Premium (with Showtime): $12.99 → $13.99/month (+8%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

Paramount+ continues to raise prices as it prioritizes profitability over subscriber growth.

Peacock

• Select (with ads): $5.99 → $7.99/month (+33%)
• Premium: $7.99 → $10.99/month (+38%)
• Premium Plus: $13.99 → $16.99/month (+21%)
• Effective Date: August 2025

Apple TV+

• Monthly: $9.99 → $12.99/month (+30%)
• Annual: $99 → $99.99/year (unchanged)
• Effective Date: August 2025

Apple's "prestige" streaming service just got more expensive. At least they're not showing ads... yet.

Amazon Prime (includes Prime Video)

• Monthly: $14.99/month (unchanged)
• Annual: $139/year (unchanged, but predicted to rise to $159)
• Effective Date: No change yet in 2026

Amazon Prime remains at $139/year for now, but analysts predict a potential increase to $159 later in 2026. They're still showing ads unless you pay an extra $2.99/month.

YouTube Premium

• Individual: $13.99/month (unchanged)
• Family: $22.99/month (unchanged)
• Student: $7.99/month (unchanged)
• Effective Date: No change in 2026

Services with NO Price Increase (Yet)

• Tubi: Still free (ad-supported)
• Pluto TV: Still free (ad-supported)
• Crunchyroll: Holding at $7.99-$14.99

Music Streaming Price Changes

Spotify

• Individual: $11.99 → $12.99/month (+8%)
• Duo: $16.99 → $18.99/month (+12%)
• Family: $19.99 → $21.99/month (+10%)
• Student: $5.99 → $6.99/month (+17%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Spotify's third price increase since 2023. They've also removed lyrics access from the free tier and are pushing audiobook bundles nobody asked for.

Apple Music

• Individual: $10.99/month (unchanged)
• Family: $16.99/month (unchanged)
• Student: $5.99/month (unchanged)
• Effective Date: No change in 2026

Amazon Music Unlimited

• Individual: $10.99 → $11.99/month (+9%)
• Family: $17.99 → $19.99/month (+11%)
• Prime Member Rate: $9.99 → $10.99/month (+10%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Tidal

• HiFi: $10.99 → $11.99/month (+9%)
• HiFi Plus: $19.99 → $22.99/month (+15%)
• Effective Date: March 2026

Software & Productivity Price Changes

This is where it really hurts, especially for freelancers and small businesses.

Adobe Creative Cloud

• Creative Cloud Pro (All Apps): $59.99 → $69.99/month (+17%)
• Creative Cloud Standard (New tier): $54.99/month
• Photography Plan: $9.99 → $19.99/month (+100%)
• Single App: $22.99/month (unchanged)
• Effective Date: June 2025
• Annual Impact: +$120/year for Creative Cloud Pro

Adobe restructured their plans in 2025, renaming "All Apps" to "Creative Cloud Pro" and introducing a new "Standard" tier. The Photography Plan saw the biggest increase—it was the last "affordable" Adobe offering.

Microsoft 365

• Personal: $6.99 → $9.99/month (+43%)
• Family: $9.99 → $12.99/month (+30%)
• Business Basic: $6.00 → $7.00/user/month (+17%)
• Business Standard: $12.50 → $14.50/user/month (+16%)
• Effective Date: Early 2025

Microsoft justifies this with "AI features in Copilot." Whether you use those AI features or not, you're paying for them.

Google Workspace

• Business Starter: $6.00 → $7.20/user/month (+20%)
• Business Standard: $12.00 → $14.40/user/month (+20%)
• Business Plus: $18.00 → $21.60/user/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Notion

• Plus: $8/user/month → $10/user/month (+25%)
• Business: $15/user/month → $18/user/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

Canva

• Pro: $12.99/month → $14.99/month (+15%)
• Teams: $14.99/user/month → $17.99/user/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Figma

• Professional: $12/editor/month → $15/editor/month (+25%)
• Organization: $45/editor/month → $55/editor/month (+22%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

1Password

• Individual: $2.99 → $3.99/month (+33%)
• Families: $4.99 → $5.99/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: March 2026

AI Tools & Services Price Changes

The newest category of subscriptions is already getting expensive.

ChatGPT Plus (OpenAI)

• Plus: $20/month (unchanged)
• Team: $25/user/month (unchanged)
• Pro (New tier): $200/month
• Go (New tier): $8/month (ad-supported lite option)
• Effective Date: No change for Plus in 2026

Claude Pro (Anthropic)

• Pro: $20 → $25/month (+25%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Midjourney

• Basic: $10 → $12/month (+20%)
• Standard: $30 → $36/month (+20%)
• Pro: $60 → $72/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

GitHub Copilot

• Individual: $10 → $12/month (+20%)
• Business: $19/user/month → $22/user/month (+16%)
• Effective Date: March 2026

Fitness & Wellness Price Changes

Peloton

• App One: $12.99/month (unchanged)
• App+: $28.99/month
• All-Access: $44 → $49.99/month (+14%)
• Effective Date: October 2025

Apple Fitness+

• Monthly: $9.99/month (unchanged)
• Annual: $79.99/year (unchanged)
• Effective Date: No change in 2026

Calm

• Annual: $69.99 → $79.99/year (+14%)
• Lifetime: $399.99 → $449.99 (+13%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

Headspace

• Annual: $69.99 → $79.99/year (+14%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

Strava

• Monthly: $11.99/month (unchanged)
• Annual: $79.99/year (unchanged)
• Effective Date: No change in 2026

Gaming Subscription Price Changes

Xbox Game Pass

• Essential (formerly Core): $9.99/month (unchanged)
• Premium (formerly Standard): $14.99/month (unchanged)
• Ultimate: $19.99 → $29.99/month (+50%)
• Effective Date: October 2025

PlayStation Plus

• Essential: $59.99 → $79.99/year (+33%)
• Extra: $134.99/year (unchanged)
• Premium: $159.99/year (unchanged)
• Effective Date: Regional increases in April 2025 (NA unaffected)

Nintendo Switch Online

• Individual: $3.99/month → $4.99/month (+25%)
• Family: $34.99/year → $39.99/year (+14%)
• Expansion Pack: $49.99/year → $59.99/year (+20%)
• Effective Date: March 2026

News & Media Price Changes

The New York Times

• Digital Basic: $17/month → $20/month (+18%)
• All Access: $25/month → $30/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

The Washington Post

• Digital: $10/month → $12/month (+20%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

The Wall Street Journal

• Digital: $38.99/month → $44.99/month (+15%)
• Effective Date: March 2026

Food Delivery & Meal Kits Price Changes

DoorDash DashPass

• Monthly: $9.99 → $12.99/month (+30%)
• Effective Date: January 2026

Uber One

• Monthly: $9.99 → $11.99/month (+20%)
• Annual: $99 → $119/year (+20%)
• Effective Date: February 2026

HelloFresh

• Per serving cost increase: ~15% across all plans
• Effective Date: January 2026

Calculate Your Personal 2026 Price Hike Impact

Here's how to figure out exactly how much more you're paying in 2026:

1. List your current subscriptions (or use SubBuddy to see them all)
2. Find each service above and note the price increase
3. Calculate the monthly difference for each service
4. Multiply by 12 for your annual impact

For example, a typical "tech-savvy millennial" might have:

• Netflix Premium: +$2/month = +$24/year
• Spotify Family: +$2/month = +$24/year
• Disney+ Premium: +$2/month = +$24/year
• ChatGPT Plus: +$2/month = +$24/year
• iCloud+ 200GB: +$1/month = +$12/year
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: +$2/month = +$24/year

Total 2026 Impact: +$132/year on just 6 subscriptions.

What You Can Do About Rising Prices

You have more power than you think. Here's your action plan:

1. Audit and Eliminate

Price increases are the perfect excuse to cancel services you're barely using. That Disney+ you haven't opened in 3 months? Now costing $2 more per month. Cancel it.

2. Downgrade Tiers

Do you really need Netflix Premium 4K? Standard HD is $7/month cheaper. Can you tolerate ads on Hulu? That's $10/month in savings.

3. Rotate Services

Instead of paying for 5 streaming services year-round, subscribe to 2 at a time and rotate quarterly. You'll save 50%+ and never run out of content.

4. Hunt for Bundles

Apple One bundles Music, TV+, Arcade, iCloud, Fitness+, and News+ starting at $19.95. If you're paying for 3+ Apple services separately, you're overpaying.

5. Lock in Annual Plans

Before the next price hike, switch to annual billing on services you definitely keep. You'll lock in current rates for 12 months.

6. Use SubBuddy to Track Everything

When prices change, you need to know immediately. SubBuddy's renewal alerts tell you before you're charged, giving you time to decide if that $2/month increase is worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are subscription prices increasing so much?

Three main reasons: 1) Companies are pivoting from "growth at all costs" to profitability, 2) Content and development costs are rising, 3) They've trained consumers to accept regular increases without canceling.

Will prices keep going up?

Almost certainly. The subscription model incentivizes regular price increases. Netflix has raised prices 7 times since 2014. Expect 1-2 increases per service per year.

How can I get grandfathered pricing?

Some services (like Spotify historically) have honored old pricing for existing subscribers. The best strategy is to never cancel—pause instead if available.

Are ad-supported tiers worth it now?

With ad tiers increasing 25-33%, the gap between ad-free and ad-supported is narrowing. Calculate the time value of ads you'll watch vs. the cost difference.

When will the next price increases happen?

Historically, Q4 and Q1 see the most price increases (holiday → new year timing). Expect another wave in October-November 2026.