Whether you’re a sports fan or just like watching TV live, you may want to know if Hulu+ Live TV has a free trial and why the service is better (and cheaper) than other live TV services out there.
Hulu+ Live TV is Hulu’s live television service with access to more than 75 channels, including ABC, NBC, ESPN, FX, CNN, MTV, E!, Bravo and more. As of July 2022, Hulu has more than 46.2 million subscribers. The name Hulu comes from two Mandarian words, húlu (calabash) and hùlù (interactive recording). When the service launched, Hulu’s CEO at the time, Jason Kilar, explained that the name came from a Chinese proverb: “Hulu is Mandarin for gourd. And so when we were launching Hulu, we thought, ‘what a great name that is.’ And it had this great sort of symbolism of the holder of precious things, which is the holder of premium content. So that’s why we named it Hulu,” he said at the time.
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According to a report by NScreenMEedia in 2021, the number of people who have cut the cord on their cable subscriptions has more than tripled since 2014, going from 15.6 million people to 50.4 million people in 2021. Since the decline of cable TV, many viewers have turned to streaming alternatives like Hulu+ Live TV as way to watch their favorite shows like but without the commitment of a traditional cable plan, which are more expensive, require a physical cable installation and often come with a contract. (Hulu+ Live TV, on the other hand, can be cancelled at anytime, so users can test out the service without having to commit to a longer plan.) So…does Hulu+ Live TV have a free trial? Read on for Hulu+ Live TV’s current deals and why it’s cheaper than most other live TV services.
How much is Hulu+ Live TV?
Hulu+ With live TV costs $69.99 per month for its ad-supported plan and $82.99 per month for its no-ads plan. Hulu+ With Live TV’s ad-supported plan comes with free ad-supported plans of Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, while Hulu+ With Live TV’s no-ads plan comes with free no-ads plans of Hulu and Disney Plus and an ad-supported plan of ESPN Plus. Hulu+ With Live TV’s ad-supported plan saves users $25.97 per month from subscribing to Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus individually, while Hulu+ With Live TV’s no-ads plan saves users $35.97 per month.
Hulu without live TV’s cost starts at $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year (which saves users about $16) for its ad-supported plan. Hulu’s no-ads plan costs $14.99 per month. Hulu also offers a student discount for $1.99 per month fo its ad-supported plan (which saves users $6 per month or $72 per year.)
Hulu is also included in The Disney Bundle, which offers three plans: Duo Basic for $9.99 per month (which includes ad-supported plans of Hulu and Disney Plus; Trio Basic for $12.99 per month (which includes ad-supported plans of Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus); and Trio Premium for $19.99 per month (which includes ad-free plans for Hulu, and Disney Plus and an ad-supported plan of ESPN Plus). The Duo Basic saves subscribers $5.98 per month from subscribing to Hulu and Disney Plus’ ad-supported plans individually; Trio Basic saves subscribers $12.99 per month from subscribing to Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus’ ad-supported plans individually; and Trio Premium saves subscribers $15.98 per month from subscribing to Hulu and Disney Plus’ no-ads plans and ESPN Plus’ ad-supported plan individually.
Along with their Hulu subscription, users can also add on premium subscriptions to HBO Max ($14.99 per month), Cinemax ($9.99 per month), Showtime ($10.99 per month) and Starz ($8.99 per month.)
Does Hulu+ Live TV have a free trial?
Does Hulu+ Live TV have a free trial? No, Hulu+ Live TV does not offer a free trial. However, Hulu without live TV offers a 30-day free trial for its ad-supported and ad-free plans. Read on for how else to get a free Hulu subscription.
- Visit Hulu.com.
- Click “Start Your Free Trial.”
- Select your plan: Hulu’s ad-supported plan or Hulu’s no-ads plan.
- Enter your information and payment method.
- Start watching with Hulu’s free trial!
If you’re a Verizon customer (or know someone who is), Verizon offers free Disney Plus subscription with its Unlimited plans (a.k.a. Get More Unlimited, Play More Unlimited, Verizon Plan Unlimited, Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited.) If you have one of these plans, you can sign-up for a free six-month Disney Plus subscription (which saves you about $42.) Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its free Disney Plus subscription.
Verizon customers with Get More Unlimited and Play More Unlimited plans are also eligible for their Disney Bundle, which offers not only a free Disney Plus subscription for as long as you have your Verizon plan, but also free Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions too, which saves viewers about $12.99 per month. Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its Disney Bundle. So there you have it—a way to watch Disney Plus for free.
Emerson Miller / ©Paramount Network / Courtesy: Everett Collection.
What channels are on Hulu+ Live TV?
What channels are on Hulu+ Live TV? Hulu+ Live TV offers more than 75 live channels. See below for a list of channels on Hulu+ Live TV.
- ABC
- ABC News
- CBS
- CBS News
- FOXX
- NBC
- ACC Network
- Adult Swim
- A&E
- Animal Planet
- BET
- BTS
- Bloomberg Television
- Boomerang
- Bravo
- Cartoon Network
- CBS Spotrs Network
- Cheddar News
- CMT
- CNBC
- CNN
- CNN International
- Comedy Central
- Cozi TV
- Crime + Investigation
- The CW
- DABL
- Discovery Channel
- Disney Channel
- Disney Junior
- Disney XD
- E!
- ESPN
- ESPN 2
- ESPNews
- ESPNU
- ESPN College Extra
- Food Network
- FOX Business
- FOX News Channel
- FS1
- FS2
- Freeform
- FX
- FXM
- FXX
- FYI
- Golf Channel
- HGTV
- History
- HLN
- ID
- Lifetime
- Localish
- Lifetime Movies
- Military History
- MSNBC
- Motor Trend
- MTV
- Nasa
- National Geographic
- Nat Geo Wild
- LX
- NBC News Now
- News Nation
- NFL Network
- Nickelodeon
- Nick Jr.
- Olympic Channel
- Oxygen
- OWN
- Paramount Network
- Pop
- QVC
- SEC Network
- Smithsonian Channel
- Start TV
- SYFY
- TBS
- Turner Classic Movies
- Telemundo
- TLC
- TNT
- Travel Channel
- Tru TV
- TV Land
- Universal Kids
- USA
- VICE
- VH1
What’s included with Hulu+ Live TV?
What’s included with Hulu+ Live TV? Along with access to more than 75 live channels, Hulu+ Live TV also includes access to Hulu’s streaming library; the ability to watch on two screens at the same time; an unlimited DVR service that stores live TV recordings for up to nine months and has the ability to fast-forward through content; and free subscriptions to Disney Plus and ESPN Plus.
Hulu an Hulu+ Live TV is also compatible with iOS and Android Devices, as well as Roku, Fire TV and Firestick, AppleTV, Chromecast, Xbox One and Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Samsung, LG and Nintendo Switch.
What are Hulu+ Live TV’s add-ons?
What are Hulu+ Live TV’s add-ons? Hulu and Hulu+ Live TV also offer four add-on packages for an additional price. See Hulu’s list of add-ons below.
How to sign up for Hulu+ Live TV?
Read on for step-by-step instructions on how to sign up for Hulu+ Live TV.
- Visit Hulu.com/live-tv
- Click “Get This Deal“
- Enter your information and payment method
- Start watching Hulu+Live TV!
Image: Nicole Weingart/Bravo.
Is Hulu+ Live TV worth it?
Is Hulu+ Live TV worth it? Hulu+ Live TV is comparable to other live TV services, such as Fubo TV, which costs the same price of $69.99 per month. What makes Hulu+ Live TV better is its included access to Hulu’s streaming library (a value of at least $6.99 per month) and free subscriptions to Disney Plus (a value of $7.99 per month) and ESPN Plus (a value of $9.99 per month.) Hulu+ Live TV as a whole saves users around $25 per month if they signed up for another live TV service and had to subscribe to Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus individually.
In an interview with CNBC in 2017, Hulu’s CEO at the time, Mike Hopkins, explained what he thinks sets Hulu apart from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. “We are committed to the subscription on-demand space,” he said at the time. “It is really the lifeblood of our company, but we’re also really excited to enter this new, emerging over-the-top paid TV space as well.” Hopkins also cited Hulu+ With Live TV as a way Hulu is different for viewers who still want to stream but also want access to new and live TV. “As people’s taste change, as people want these different experiences we need to capture them as they are coming out,” he said. “I think we can actually get people who opted out of the system back in through a service like Hulu live TV.”
Hulu’s new CEO, Randy Freer, also told Variety in 2018 that Hulu’s decision to offer plans with ads and no ads was also a “strategic advantage” for the service at the time. “I think where we’re really focused now is around our growth, and how we scale in this marketplace. I saw after six months coming in that we really needed to align our efforts, and we’re aligning around four basic areas: technology and products — previously they were separate organizations; subscriber journey…” he said. “Making sure we can engage and we can retain and we can delight our customers from the first time they touch us right on through their lifespan with us. The third part is content… the fourth area is around advertising revenue, and really flipping the model there — we believe that advertising, rather than being commercial interruption, can be a strategic advantage for us. We offer consumers choice. They can have ads or not have ads.”
Freer also discussed how Hulu’s content library, which includes original content, licensed content and a live TV services, also makes a difference for its subscribers. “When we talk about content, we provide it in three ways. Obviously we acquire it through library content and license it; we acquire it live for our live service in the way of networks; and we make it,” he said. “So I think what we’re doing is every day, we’ll evaluate what’s the best way to allocate our resources. It’s our largest investment by far in the business, and sometimes it’s going to make more sense to make originals, sometimes it’s going to make sense to acquire more library content, and sometimes it will make sense to add networks to our live product.”
Freer also seemed to shade services like Netflix in claiming that Hulu is much more selective about the original shows it greenlights. “Originals for us is something that we have to get much more targeted around. We’re not going to make 800 shows. I mean, next year, we’ll probably make 20 or 25 shows,” he said at the time. “So we have to be very specific with what we want those shows to do, how we want to invest in them. Obviously we’re coming off the second season of Handmaid’s Tale. We’ll roll into Castle Rock July 25 which is [from] J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, which we think is gonna be awesome. We want to make sure that we have a combination of original content that’s gonna be impactful, that’s gonna be familiar to people, and hopefully is going to give them another reason to subscribe and be part of the relevant cultural conversation by being a Hulu subscriber.”
He also responded to customer complaints at the time that Netflix was overpriced for what it provides. “Look, I think Netflix looks at their economics and decides what they can pay or what they want to pay. Content is something like talent, right? You can’t overestimate the value of talent when it works,” he said. “You’re never overpaying for those things that are a hit. We could sit here today and say, ‘Handmaid’s Tale was incredibly expensive,’ but certainly worth it for our audiences and for our business. The challenge in content is not the successes. The challenge are the things that don’t become relevant in the cultural conversation.”
He also explained why The Handmaid’s Tale, which premiered in 2017, was such a hit for Hulu and helped put the service on the map. “Look, Game of Thrones is an awesome show as well. But look, Handmaid’s Tale has been an incredible experience for Hulu,” he said. “I think the second season is even better than the first. It’s accessible, it’s big, it’s bold, and it still keeps that conversation going. They actually opened the writers’ room to the third season if you can believe it a couple weeks ago… The creative process will determine, is it a fourth season, is it five seasons?” He continued, “And I think that’s one of the benefits for creators in the streaming world — shows can take a natural progression, they can live for as long as they should live or they can end. I think it’s unfair sometimes in the characterization of broadcast television that we talk about a show’s been canceled after four years or seven years, whatever it is… Look, I hope, as success goes, there’s 10 seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale.”
That said, Freer also explained how streaming isn’t the same as live TV when it comes to data about viewers. “Oh, there are so many differences, across the board,” he said. “But certainly, the access and the ability to have a direct consumer relationship and know what those consumers like and don’t like, and when they come in and leave your platform for a variety of reasons…. It’s still to me mind-boggling that an industry as large as television is wholly economically regulated by a third-party measurement service that does the best job they can but still has challenges.”
Freer also told CNN in 2019 that he’s proud of how Hulu offers a “variety” of content for consumers. “We need programming for a variety of customers. That customer that loves anime needs the best anime. That customer that loves adult animation needs the best adult animation,” Freer said. He also noted the technical differences between running a streaming service and a network. “We look at things about how quickly people get to video, how many people come and don’t get to video,” he said. “So there’s a tremendous amount of information and data that will help us really design the next version of Hulu as these things become more navigable, easier to use, and more intuitive.”
Subscribe to Hulu+ Live TV on Hulu.com.
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