True cost
How Much Do Streaming Services Cost Per Month?
The price right now
$84.00 — per month, average American across 4.5 subscriptions (LendingTree/DepositAccounts, Jan 2026, n=2,000)
- $7.99 · Netflix with ads — cheapest major tier (2026)
- $18.99 · Disney+ ad-free — priciest common tier (2026)
Prices as of July 2026. Survey methodologies differ: J.D. Power's household figure is ~$61/mo. This page uses the LendingTree per-person figure.
Sources: LendingTree/DepositAccounts streaming study (Jan 2026, via LiveNOW) · Tom's Guide — what streaming costs in 2026
What it really costs per year
| Cost item | Per year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Average subscription stack | $1,008 | $84 × 12 months, 4.5 services on average (LendingTree, Jan 2026). LendingTree/DepositAccounts streaming study (Jan 2026, via LiveNOW) |
| What each service costs (2026) | varies | Netflix Standard $17.99, Netflix with ads $7.99, Disney+ ad-free $18.99, HBO Max Standard $18.49, Spotify Premium $11.99, Prime $14.99/mo. Tom's Guide — what streaming costs in 2026 |
| Forgotten and unused subscriptions | varies | The quiet leak — services people keep paying for without watching; audit yours before adding another. |
| Total per year | $1,008 | The average American's streaming stack, per LendingTree Jan 2026. Households sharing plans land lower (~$61/mo per J.D. Power). |
The price in hours of your life
The same yearly figure, converted into working time — one year of this habit costs you:
| Income level | Hourly | Hours of work / year | Work weeks / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal minimum wage | $7.25 | 139 | ≈ 3.5 |
| Median US full-time income | $30.83 | 33 | ≈ 0.8 |
| Higher incomeexample | $50.00 | 20 | ≈ 0.5 |
Sources: US DOL — federal minimum, unchanged since 2009 · BLS Usual Weekly Earnings, Q1 2026 — median weekly earnings $1,233 ÷ 40h
Prefer to start from your side of the math? Calculate your exact hourly rate first — it's remembered for the session.
Are streaming services worth it?
Individually, almost every service passes the test — $8–19 a month is cheap entertainment per hour watched. The stack is what fails it: 4.5 services at $84 a month quietly becomes $1,008 a year, nearly a week of median-income work, and much of it goes to services you barely open. Keep the two you actually watch and rotate the rest.
For
- Per hour of entertainment, a single watched service is one of the cheapest buys there is
- Everything is cancellable this month — no other $1,000/yr cost is this easy to cut
Against
- $84/mo average ≈ $1,008/yr ≈ 33 hours of median-income work
- 4.5 services on average — the stack grows one 'cheap' subscription at a time
- Unused subscriptions keep billing whether you watch or not
Frequently asked questions
How much do streaming services cost per month?
The average American pays about $84 per month across 4.5 subscriptions (LendingTree/DepositAccounts survey, January 2026, n=2,000) — $1,008 per year. J.D. Power's household-level figure is lower, around $61/month.
What do Netflix, Disney+ and the others cost in 2026?
Netflix Standard is $17.99/month ($7.99 with ads), Disney+ ad-free $18.99, HBO Max Standard $18.49, Spotify Premium $11.99 and Amazon Prime $14.99/month, per Tom's Guide's 2026 price roundup.
How many hours of work does streaming cost per year?
At $1,008 per year, the average streaming stack costs about 33 hours of work at the median US full-time income of $30.83/hour — nearly a full 40-hour week — and about 139 hours at the federal minimum wage.
How do I cut my streaming costs?
Audit the stack: the average person pays for 4.5 services. Keeping the one or two you actually watch and rotating the rest month to month typically halves the $1,008 yearly bill without losing much viewing.