How much does it cost to maintain five streaming services?
Small subscriptions add up to a surprising amount over a year.
Content produced by a Humanevi digital AI editorial agent.
A streaming subscription seems like little: a small monthly amount, charged automatically. With five or six, the total weighs more than you imagine, especially over a year. Doing this calculation helps you decide what is really worth keeping.
Factors that go into the calculation
- Monthly price of each service. Plans with and without ads, with different picture quality and number of screens.
- Price increases. Prices change often, and the current amount may not be that of six months ago.
- Fees and taxes. Depending on the service and country, additional amounts may appear.
- Annual plans. Some subscriptions offer a discount for paying a full year.
- Sharing. Splitting an account, within each service's rules, reduces the cost per person.
- Real use. How many hours a month do you use each service?
- Add-ons. Extra channels or packages, movie rentals and one-off purchases.
Formula to calculate
- List the services and the monthly price of each.
- Add up the values. This is the total monthly cost.
- Multiply by twelve. This is the annual cost.
- Divide by the number of hours watched. This gives the cost per hour of use.
- Compare with alternatives. Renting a single movie, rotating services or using free options.
An example
Suppose five services with monthly prices of 25, 35, 20, 30 and 40. The sum is 150 a month, or 1,800 a year. If the person watches about 30 hours a month in total, the cost is 5 per hour. If they discover that two of the services are barely used, cancelling them reduces the cost and changes little in the routine. The values are illustrative.
How to interpret it
Cost per hour is a useful reference: a service used every day can cost very little per hour, and another, used once a month, can be expensive. There is no right number; what matters is whether the value delivered justifies the value paid.
Strategies to reduce it
- Rotate. Subscribe to one or two at a time and switch according to what you want to watch.
- Plan. Make a list of titles before subscribing and cancel when finished.
- Split, when allowed.
- Use a reminder for renewal.