Every service Hulu offers begins with a free trial - here's what you need to know to get started

Jen Gushue

Sep 21, 2019, 02:31 IST

Every service Hulu offers begins with a free trial - here's what you need to know to get started

Hulu/Facebook

Every service Hulu offers begins with a free trial, so you can see if it's right for you before you commit to the monthly spend.
Hulu's basic subscription ($5.99 a month) and its ad-free service ($11.99 a month) come with a 30-day free trial.
You'll get a week of Hulu + Live TV for free before you start getting billed for it.
Their premium channel add-ons like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz each come with a week-long free trial.

With an ever-growing list of streaming services on the market, it can be tough to know which ones are worth it.

If you're looking to add Hulu to your repertoire, but you're not sure it's worth the commitment, Hulu's here for you. Both their ad-supported service ($5.99 a month) and their ad-free option ($11.99 a month) - which we recommend - begin with a generous 30-day free trial period. You gain unfettered access to their entire streaming catalogue including all their TV shows, movies, and Hulu Originals just like a paying customer, so you'll really be able to fully test the service and learn if it's right for you.

Hulu

Watch the Handmaid's Tale for free with Hulu's 7-day trial.

How do you get Hulu for free?

To access the free trial, you'll have to sign up using a valid credit card. Hulu will begin charging you once your 30 days is up, but Hulu is wonderfully transparent about when it will charge you each month, so there's no guessing or trying to remember how many days you have left before you'll be billed. On your "Manage Account" page, your next billing date will be clearly displayed right above the cost of your service. So if you plan to cancel, set a reminder for yourself one day before you're set to be charged, so you won't be billed accidentally.

In addition to its basic subscription services, Hulu also offers shorter free trials for its premium add-ons.

I used their seven-day free trial of Hulu + Live TV (starting at $44.99 a month) to watch Shark Week once I discovered my cable subscription didn't come with the Discovery Channel. If you're already a Hulu + Live TV subscriber and are finding that the default 50 hours of DVR storage isn't enough, their 200-hour upgrade ($4.99 a month) comes with a one-month free trial. If you have a large family who wants to stream on many devices at once, you can also try out their unlimited screens add-on ($4.99 a month) for a month free before you commit.

HBO

Watch HBO original programming with Hulu add-ons.

They also offer a seven-day free trial of their $14.99 a month HBO add-on, which is enough time to stream all eight seasons of Game of Thrones - if you dedicate 10-12 hours a day to it.

Their Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz add-ons also begin with seven-day free trials, so I'd suggest toggling through them week after week to see what content each unlocks, then decide which ones you want to tack onto your regular subscription. We think the HBO add-on is the premium channel most worth the cost. It gives you access to HBO's entire catalogue of original shows, past and present, as well as a vast collection of new releases and classic blockbuster films.

Hulu offers a lot of services, so if this feels overwhelming, check out this complete price breakdown where you can see everything Hulu offers and what it costs, side by side. And it couldn't be easier to start and stop these services in your Hulu account. Everything is laid out on the "Manage Plan" page, and you can change any of your services at any time.