Hulu free trial explained 2026: here's what you get on each tier for free

(Image credit: Hulu)

Amidst all of the increased competition and price increases happening across the streaming industry, a Hulu free trial is a brilliant way to try out one of the best streamers. And it actually exists! Unlike many of its competitors that have done away with free trials, we're happy to report that Hulu does have a free trial in 2026.

The world of the best streaming services is certainly getting busier in the US right now, so sampling a Hulu free trial before deciding if you want to add another, admittedly small, monthly spend to your bills is a savvy streaming shopper move. It's also quite handy for adding further streaming services to your package for less.

Hulu free trial: try it now at Hulu.com

What Hulu free trials are available?

There are two Hulu free trials available today. It's important to remember, that whichever one you try, there's no long-term commitment involved. So you're free to cancel at any time before the trial period ends. Furthermore, if you decide to keep Hulu and become a paying customer, you can still leave whenever you want as these are only one-month rolling contracts. This sort of financial freedom is why the cord-cutting community is ditching traditional cable in droves.

Again, it's only a one-month rolling contract, so you can always drop it and just subscribe to the ones you like. You can also upgrade to it at a later date if you join Hulu via one of the free trials below first.

Hulu with ads: This Hulu free trial is tempting if you know once the trial ends you'd rather be paying the cheapest price straight away and you want to get a feel for how many ads you're going to have to wait through. The trial lasts for 7 days, which is plenty of time to make up your mind to see if you want to keep Hulu. Once the trial ends, it's $11.99 a month to continue (though there's also a student plan for $1.99). If you're coming in from the ad-free bliss of Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max this can be quite jarring. You are free to upgrade to the ad-free plan at any point though once you become a paying member.

Hulu+ Live TV: The Hulu+ free trial only runs for three days, and will then set you back $89.99 a month. This is a fully live service with channels ranging from ABC to ESPN, Disney to TLC.

If you know you'll end up flicking through channels more than actually watching live TV, we'd stick with one of the first tier. That way you can put the money towards others streaming services with quality content ready to watch whenever you like.

We'd check out the latest HBO Max prices, and Disney Plus bundles first as they're some of the best apps around. If you're looking for sports, then we've got you covered with guides to the latest ESPN Plus costs and Fubo TV costs and packages.

Peacock TV costs and Paramount Plus prices are other budget options gaining traction, with the former even having a completely free tier (supplemented by ads of course).

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Brendan is GamesRadar's former Managing Editor of the Hardware & eCommerce team. He also spent time as the Deals Editor at our sister site, TechRadar. He's obsessed with finding the best tech, games, gadgets, and hardware at the lowest price. He also spends way too much of his free time trying to decide what new things to watch on Netflix, then just rewatches It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia instead. Nowadays you'll find him as the eCommerce Content Director for Future's mobile tech sites, Android Central, iMore, and Windows Central.

With contributions from

Matt PoskittDeals Editor

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