If you've been following the sea change in streaming services over the last few years, you'll be surprised to learn that a Hulu free trial still exists. It lets you test out one of the best streaming services, few-questions-asked, for 30 days.
Nowadays, very few streamers offer a way to sign up without paying for it. We haven't seen a Disney Plus free trial in over half a decade, and the HBO Max free trial went the way of the dodo too. But not here: you can test out Hulu free, so the savvy shopper can see if the platform is worth paying monthly for.
What's more, you can enjoy a free trial to Hulu's ad-free plan, so you can get through as many of the streamer's shows as possible in your limited-time run. Here's all you need to know about it...
- 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 30 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).
Hulu free trial FAQs
Will the Hulu free trial stick around forever?
Hulu has remained one of the few straggler streaming services still offering a free trial, but that doesn't mean it will forever.
There's no word on if or when the free trial will come to an end, but given how many other platforms have ditched one, it stands to reason that Hulu could at some point. So if you're on the fence about checking it out, it's probably worth jumping in now. The only exception is if an upcoming show, with a confirmed release date, is something you're waiting for.
Which Hulu free trial should I choose?
The two different Hulu free trials are for very different versions of the streaming service.
Hulu + Live TV, which offers a 3-day trial, is a live TV streaming service. That means it's a platform for watching cable channels over the internet, and it starts at $81.99 per month, a roughly average price for this kind of service. Just note, most tiers of its subscription do include a Hulu subscription.
Then the 'standard' version of Hulu, with a 30-day subscription, is the video-on-demand platform with movies and TV shows. If you don't want live TV streaming, it's the one to pick.
Should you wait for Hulu Black Friday deals?
If you're reading this article in the two or three months before Black Friday, it's probably worth waiting for a deal (if you're within a month of the late-November date, there's a good chance it's already live).
Hulu Black Friday deals historically have saved a good amount of money — more than a free trial would. For example in 2025, the Hulu Black Friday deal saw its bundle with Disney Plus go down to just $4.99 per month for an entire year. That was a saving of $8 per month or $96 for the entire year, from their usual combo price.
The benefit, or drawback depending on how you look at it, is time. With a deal, you might be locked into an ongoing subscription. It's also not totally 'free' per se.
How to watch Hulu from anywhere
Hulu only exists in the US, so if you're travelling, you'll have a hard time tuning in to see the latest episode of your show. To do so, you'll have to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). These tools let you change your IP address so you can log into your home streaming service when abroad.
Our go-to is NordVPN and we've tested many of the best VPNs for gaming.
We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
