Binge is getting more expensive – but the perks might be worth it

What a year it has been for Streamotion’s Binge – the Aussie-grown streaming service had a massive start to 2023, delivering The Last of Us to the homes of Aussies who don’t want to mess with a VPN and continuing its ongoing success with massive shows directly from the US streaming giant HBO.

While the platform continues to grow and celebrate success – including a trifecta of Logie Awards for the Binge/Foxtel original show Colin from Accounts – audiences are getting more value with their subscription in October, including live news channels such as CNN International, MSNBC and Bloomberg from October 5, plus 4K streaming finally coming to the service later in the month.

4K streaming is long overdue – while Binge is one of the best streaming services in Australia, 4K streaming has been noticeably absent from the platform, and its addition brings the service in line with some of the other streaming giants available Down Under like Netflix, Stan, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video who have all offered 4K streaming options for years.

But 4K comes at a cost, and from October 24, 2023, subscribers both old and new will have to fork out more for the Aussie home of HBO shows, and it’s quite a steep hike depending on the plan you’re on.

Standard subscriptions will jump in price by AU$2, while the Premium plan gets a nasty AU$4 increase, bumping them up to AU$18 per month and AU$22 per month respectively. This pricing structure will affect everyone, regardless of whether your TV supports 4K streaming or not. 

However, the AU$10 per month ad-supported plan that was added back in March remains unchanged, and will continue to only offer HD streams at this cost.

There’s no real way to truly beat the upcoming price hike – Binge doesn’t offer yearly subscriptions like Disney Plus does – but you still have time to sneak in a 7-day free trial and your first month at the current price before this next rise takes effect.

Binge | 7-day free trial, then from AU$16p/m (ad-free)

To avoid the price hike for a little longer, you can sign up by 11:59pm AEDT on Monday, October 16. You'll get a 7-day free trial, plus the first month at the current prices of AU$16p/m for the Standard Plan or AU$18p/m for the Premium Plan.

We recommend October 16 as the last date to sign up as the price hike comes into effect immediately after your free trial ends. The new pricing scheme of AU$18p/m for the Standard Plan and AU$22p/m for Premium comes into effect on Tuesday, October 24, so if you want to test out Binge's new 4K streaming and live news channels at the current cost, you need to hurry and get a subscription soon.

If you’ve previously used a free trial, you can subscribe up until Monday, October 23 to get the lower fee for one month, with any consecutive months following the new pricing structure.

You can cancel at any time during your free trial to avoid any costs or cancel within your first month to only pay the AU$16/AU$18 for your one month subscription as well. You won’t lose access to any shows or movies until your free trial or paid for month is up.

Is Binge worth it?

While it can be a little hard to justify the price rise if neither the live news channels or 4K streaming options appeal to you, Binge has continued to expand its library since its launch way back in May 2020, so it’s not completely unreasonable to expect the price to rise every so often as more shows and movies are added to the catalogue. Binge is also hardly the only platform to increase prices, as we saw Disney Plus prices rise in December 2022, and Prime Video (as part of Amazon Prime) increased by AU$2 a month only back in May of this year.

Where Binge stands apart from the other streaming services is its rights to stream HBO shows, only shared with its sister platform Foxtel Now here in Australia. This means fans of Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, Doom Patrol, The Last of Us, Succession and other HBO properties are only available through Binge or Foxtel in Australia, unless you happen to use a VPN to stream directly from Max.

Binge is also starting to kick off with its support for locally created shows. Colin from Accounts landed on Binge back in December 2022, filmed in the inner west of Sydney with Aussie talent such as Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall. Additionally, The Real Housewives of Sydney also finds its home on Binge, with new episodes streaming every Tuesday from 12pm AEDT for anyone looking to scratch their reality TV show itch.

Alongside TV shows, Binge offers access to hundreds of movies, including massive films like Everything Everywhere all at Once and Interstellar, plus recently released films such as M3GAN, Cocaine Bear and 65, offering a large variety of movies covering practically every genre. 

It’s definitely worth checking out Binge, at least during the free trial, and it’s even better if you do so with minimal costs – so we recommend jumping on board before this next price increase comes into effect on October 24, 2023.

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