Key takeaways
- Apple TV Plus costs $14.99/month or $149.99/year in 2026; the annual plan saves $29.89 over twelve months but offers no refunds if you cancel early.
- Apple One Individual bundle ($19.95/month) includes TV Plus, Apple Music, Arcade, and 50GB iCloud—a better deal than standalone TV Plus if you use at least two services.
- Apple raised TV Plus prices 200% since launch (from $4.99 to $14.99 monthly), the steepest increase among major streaming services despite a much smaller content library.
- No student discount exists for Apple TV Plus, unlike competitors such as Spotify, Hulu, and YouTube Premium that offer $5–$7 student rates.
- The service includes 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos, six simultaneous streams, and Family Sharing at the base price—no extra tiers to unlock quality or remove ads.
Apple TV Plus costs $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year in the United States as of 2026. The annual plan saves you $29.89 compared to paying monthly for twelve months. If you already subscribe to other Apple services, the Apple One Individual bundle ($19.95/month) includes TV Plus alongside 50GB iCloud storage and Apple Music, making it the better deal for most households.
Monthly vs Yearly: Price Comparison
| Feature | Monthly Plan | Annual Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99/month | $149.99/year ($12.50/month) |
| 12-month cost | $179.88 | $149.99 |
| Savings | — | $29.89 over twelve months |
| Billing frequency | Charged monthly | Charged once per year |
| Cancel flexibility | Cancel anytime, lose access at period end | Cancel anytime, but no refund for unused months |
| Free trial | 7 days for new subscribers | 7 days for new subscribers |
| Simultaneous streams | 6 devices | 6 devices |
| 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos | Included at no extra cost | Included at no extra cost |
Pick the Monthly Plan If…
You are sampling Apple TV Plus to watch one or two specific shows. The monthly plan lets you subscribe for Severance season two, cancel when you finish, and return later without eating a sunk cost. This matters because Apple’s library is small—according to the company’s own catalogue page, the service focuses on exclusive originals rather than licensed back-catalogue, meaning you can exhaust the shows you care about faster than on Netflix or Hulu.
You already know you will cancel before a full year. If you subscribe in March to watch Major League Baseball (Apple holds exclusive Friday Night Baseball rights through 2026 according to its MLB partnership announcement) and plan to cancel in October when the season ends, you pay $105 instead of locking in $149.99 up front.
You want to test whether you actually use the service. Seven days is not enough time to gauge whether Apple’s release cadence—typically one episode per week for new series—fits your viewing habits. A couple of monthly cycles tells you if you are opening the app or ignoring it.
Pick the Annual Plan If…
You have already used Apple TV Plus for three consecutive months and keep finding things to watch. At that point you have validated the fit, and the annual plan saves you $29.89 over the next twelve months. The break-even happens at month ten, so if you make it past nine months on monthly billing, you have lost money.
You want to lock in the current rate against future price increases. Apple raised the monthly price from $9.99 to $14.99 between late 2023 and late 2025—a 50% jump in two years according to the company’s press releases. Annual subscribers who prepaid before each increase held the old rate through their renewal date. That hedge is worth something if you expect the pattern to continue.
You subscribe through Family Sharing and split the cost. An annual plan divided six ways costs $25 per person per year. At that effective price, even casual viewers get value from the occasional documentary or kids’ show.
What Each Option Gets Wrong
Monthly billing costs you an extra $2.49 every single month compared to the annual rate—$29.89 wasted per year if you never cancel. That is nearly two months of free access you are giving up. Worse, Apple does not prorate refunds, so if you forget to cancel on day 29, you pay for another full month even if you only streamed one episode.
Annual billing traps your money with zero flexibility. Cancel in month two because you have watched everything you wanted? You have paid for ten months you will not use, and Apple keeps the entire $149.99. The company does not offer partial refunds for unused time. This is a worse deal than any competitor: Netflix and Disney Plus both allow monthly cancellation with no long-term commitment, and Hulu refunds unused portions of prepaid annual plans if you cancel early.
Neither plan includes a student discount. Spotify, YouTube Premium, Apple Music, and even Paramount Plus offer student rates between $4.99 and $5.99 per month. Apple TV Plus charges full price to everyone, making it one of the worst values for college subscribers on a budget.
Apple One Bundles: The Better Deal for Multi-Service Households
If you already pay for iCloud storage or Apple Music, an Apple One bundle costs less than subscribing to services separately. Here is the 2026 pricing:
- Apple One Individual ($19.95/month): Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, 50GB iCloud storage. Effective cost per service: $4.99 if you use all four.
- Apple One Family ($25.95/month): Same four services, 200GB iCloud, shareable with five people. TV Plus effective cost: roughly $5.19 per service.
- Apple One Premier ($37.95/month): Adds News Plus and Fitness Plus, 2TB iCloud, family sharing. TV Plus effective cost: about $6.33 per service.
The Individual bundle makes sense if you pay for Apple Music ($10.99/month standalone) and need any iCloud storage. You get TV Plus and Arcade for an extra $9, which is $5 cheaper than buying TV Plus alone. The math breaks at Premier—you are paying $37.95 for services you may not want just to get TV Plus included, and at that point you should subscribe to TV Plus separately and skip the bundle.
Apple TV Plus Price History: 200% Increase Since Launch
Apple TV Plus launched in November 2019 at $4.99 per month according to the company’s original announcement, the lowest price of any major streaming service at the time. That rate held for nearly four years. In October 2023, Apple raised the monthly price to $9.99 and the annual plan to $99 in a press release citing increased content investment. Then in October 2025, the company pushed monthly to $14.99 and annual to $149.99 in a second announcement—a cumulative 200% increase from launch to 2026.
Here is the timeline from Apple’s pricing announcements:
- November 2019: Launch at $4.99/month, $49.99/year
- October 2023: Increase to $9.99/month, $99/year
- October 2025: Increase to $14.99/month, $149.99/year
For context, Netflix Standard (1080p, two streams) went from $13.99 in 2019 to $15.49 in 2026 according to the company’s plan page—a roughly $1.50 increase. Disney Plus went from $6.99 at launch to $9.99 (with ads) or $15.99 (ad-free) per its current pricing. Apple’s 200% cumulative increase since launch is the steepest in the industry, even though its content library remains a fraction of Netflix’s or Disney’s catalogue size.
October 2026: When to Expect the Next Price Change
Apple typically announces price changes in October, timed to the new iPhone launch cycle. The company raised prices in October 2023 and October 2025 according to its press releases. If the pattern holds, expect the next increase in October 2026. The company has not signaled a ceiling, and at $14.99, Apple TV Plus now costs the same as Netflix Standard and $1 more than Disney Plus ad-free—despite offering a smaller library focused exclusively on originals.
Watch for bundling pressure. Apple is pushing Apple One hard in iOS settings and during device setup. If standalone TV Plus subscriptions decline, the company may raise the standalone price further to make bundles look like the only rational choice. That would mirror Amazon’s strategy with Prime Video, where the standalone option ($8.99/month per Amazon’s site) is deliberately uncompetitive to drive Prime memberships.
Library growth is the wildcard. Apple’s content release schedule—visible on its Coming Soon page—shows a steady stream of new originals, but the service still lacks the deep back-catalogue of licensed movies and shows that Netflix and Hulu carry. Ted Lasso, Severance, and The Morning Show are the breakout successes so far. Most subscribers still treat Apple TV Plus as a “subscribe for one show, then cancel” service rather than a year-round utility.
Monthly Plan: When $14.99 Makes Sense
How much does Apple TV Plus cost per month in 2026?
Apple TV Plus costs $14.99 per month in the United States as of 2026. That price applies whether you subscribe through the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV hardware, or smart TVs and streaming devices from Samsung, LG, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. The subscription includes 4K HDR, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos at no additional cost, and allows up to six simultaneous streams and download access on supported devices.
Is Apple TV Plus cheaper if you pay yearly?
Yes. The annual plan costs $149.99 per year, which works out to $12.50 per month—$2.49 less than the monthly rate. Over twelve months, you save $29.89 by paying annually. However, Apple does not refund unused months if you cancel early, so the annual plan only makes sense if you are confident you will use the service for the full year. Monthly billing offers more flexibility to cancel without losing prepaid money.
Does Apple TV Plus have a student discount?
No. Apple TV Plus does not offer a student discount as of 2026. This is unusual among streaming services—Spotify, YouTube Premium, Apple Music, Hulu, and Paramount Plus all have student plans priced between $4.99 and $6.99 per month according to their respective student program pages. Students pay the full $14.99 monthly rate or $149.99 annual rate for Apple TV Plus. The Apple Music Student plan ($5.99/month) no longer includes free TV Plus as it did before 2026.
What is included in the Apple TV Plus subscription price?
An Apple TV Plus subscription includes unlimited access to all Apple Original movies, series, and documentaries. You also get Major League Baseball Friday Night Baseball games and MLS Season Pass soccer matches that Apple holds exclusive rights to through 2026. The price includes 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos audio on all compatible content, up to six simultaneous streams, Family Sharing for up to five additional people, and offline downloads on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It does not include iTunes movie rentals or third-party licensed content.
How does Apple TV Plus cost compare to other streaming services?
At $14.99 per month, Apple TV Plus costs the same as Netflix Standard with ads ($15.49 per Netflix’s plan page) and $1 less than Disney Plus ad-free ($15.99 per Disney’s site). It is more expensive than Hulu with ads ($9.99), Paramount Plus with Showtime ($12.99), and Peacock Premium ($7.99). However, Apple TV Plus includes 4K and no ads at the base price, while Netflix charges $22.99 for 4K and Disney charges $15.99 to remove ads. The trade-off is library size: Apple focuses on exclusive originals rather than thousands of licensed titles.
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