Remember back in 2020 when Peacock cost just $5 per month? Those days are long gone.
With a new round of price hikes, Peacock Premium now costs $13 per month or $130 per year, up from $11 or $110 per year previously. The Premium Plus now costs $20 per month or $200 per year, up from $17 per month or $170 per year. Peacock’s “Select” tier, which excludes live sports, movies, and Peacock originals, now costs $9 per month or $90 per year, up from $8 per month or $80 per year.
But just because NBCUniversal wants more money for Peacock doesn’t mean you have to pay it. A spokesperson confirmed that while Peacock’s standalone prices are going up, you can still bundle it with other services for less. Several of these combos are less expensive than paying for Peacock by itself.
Here’s how to get a deal on Peacock even after the latest price hikes, and possibly even pay less than you were before:
Walmart+ costs $98 pear year and includes your choice of either Peacock Premium or Paramount+ Essential, with the option to switch between them every three months. That’s $32 less per year than an annual Peacock subscription by itself. You can upgrade to Peacock’s ad-free tier for an extra $6 per month or $72 per year, which still saves you $30.
There are ways to defray the cost of Walmart+ as well. Students and government aid recipients get half-off, and AARP members get $40 off per year. If you’re new to Walmart+, you might also wait until Black Friday, when memberships are typically half-off the first year.
The other benefits of Walmart+ include free shipping with no order minimums, same-day delivery on orders of $35 or more, and a free Whopper every three months, among other things. It could be a replacement for Amazon Prime, provided you’d rather have Peacock than Amazon’s streaming offerings.
An NBCU spokesperson confirmed that Peacock’s price hike doesn’t affect the Walmart+ bundle at this time.
Instacart+ costs $99 per year and includes Peacock Premium at no extra charge, saving $31 per year over a standalone Peacock subscription.
An NBCU spokesperson confirmed that Peacock’s price hike doesn’t affect the Instacart+ bundle at this time.
If you’re going to pay for a monthly Peacock subscription, consider getting Apple TV along with it. Bundling the two services together costs $15 per month with ads, which is $2 more than the standalone cost of either service. Opting for Peacock’s ad-free tier brings the price to $20 per month, which is exactly what Peacock Premium Plus costs by itself.
I’ll be surprised if the bundle prices don’t eventually increase, but for now an NBC spokesperson says there are no changes to share.
For Xfinity customers, Comcast offers a bunch of discounted streaming bundles with Peacock included:
You can also upgrade to the ad-free tiers of any service by paying the difference in price. Log into Comcast’s StreamSaver website or use one of Comcast’s TV boxes to sign up. An NBCU spokesperson said there are no changes to Comcast’s bundle pricing at this time.
It’s unclear whether the price will increase by the time Peacock arrives. YouTube also isn’t saying whether it’ll launch a cheaper tier without Peacock (but with the benefits that are missing from YouTube Premium Lite, such as YouTube Music Premium.) Still, the option to bundle YouTube Premium with Peacock is worth keeping an eye out for in the months ahead.
