Max (formerly HBO Max) and Hulu are two of the best streaming services in the US, but if like us you can't justify subscribing to every service then it's important to know which service delivers the most entertainment bang for your streaming bucks.
That's why we've written this guide. We've compared the prices, plans, features, app experiences and content of each below, and of course we've compared what there is to watch too.
Both Max and Hulu are US services, and while Max is currently launching in some additional countries neither service is currently available in Australia or the UK – although in the case of Max, there are some options for would-be viewers in the UK.
Max was launched as HBO Max in 2020 to replace two streamers: HBO Now and HBO Go. It's owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and features entertainment from studios including Warners, Discovery, HBO, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Animal Planet and sporting channels too.
Hulu is owned by another entertainment giant: Disney. It began in 2007 as a joint venture featuring News Corp (now 21st Century Fox) and NBC Universal, launched a streaming service in 2010 and became a wholly Disney property in 2023. Although it makes its own shows, most of its catalog comes from Hollywood studios and TV networks.
So which is the better buy, Max or Hulu? Let's find out.
Max vs Hulu: Price and plans
As of December 2024, these are the three plans that Max offers:
- Ad-Lite plan – $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year
- Ad Free plan – $16.99 a month or $169.99 a year
- Ultimate Ad Free plan – $20.99 a month or $209.99 a year
There are some important differences between these plans. Ad-Lite viewers are limited to two devices at 1080p resolution and 5.1 surround sound. The most premium plan, Ultimate Ad Free, gives you four simultaneous streams, 4K and Dolby Atmos where available.
Hulu is slightly more complex because it has two different services, Hulu and Live TV. As you'd expect, that latter option adds live TV channels to your streaming service.
Hulu with ads is $9.99 a month/$99.99 a year, and if you want to go ad-free it's $18.99 a month.
Hulu + Live TV with ads is $82.99 a month. The ad-free option takes the price to $95.99 a month.
All prices here are the standard prices; they are sometimes discounted, and you should see the best deal prices on this page.
Max vs Hulu: What can you watch?
For details of what's worth watching on Hulu right now, check out our guide to the best Hulu films to stream this month and the best Hulu shows.
Hulu is home to a dizzying range of shows and movies, with highlights including Sons of Anarchy, Justified, The Old Man, Rick and Morty, Extraordinary, The Bear, What We Do In The Shadows, Schitt's Creek, Atlanta, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Only Murders In The Building, Shōgun and classics such as Frasier. It's a really huge catalog and it's particularly strong for what's sometimes called "comfort watching" – the kind of viewing where you settle in for a cosy viewing of your favorite comedy.
That's not to say it doesn't hit hard. The Old Man is very adult, as is the astonishing Shōgun, and there's tons of gripping drama too.
Movies-wise, there's a good choice ranging from Alien: Romulus to Poor Things, Thelma, Late Night With The Devil, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and older classics such as The Sixth Sense. It's a decent selection but it's with TV shows that Hulu really shines.
If you go for the Hulu+ Live TV package you also get access to over 95 live TV channels including ABC and ESPN, FX and PBS, Nickelodeon and Vevo. And you can also bundle Hulu with Disney+ and ESPN+.
Check out our guides to the best shows on Max and the best Max movies too.
Max has its fair share of big hitters too, including The Last of Us, Hacks, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Friends, Flight of the Conchords, I May Destroy You, The White Lotus, Boardwalk Empire, The Penguin and HBO classics such as The Sopranos, True Detective, The Wire and Six Feet Under.
HBO has a reputation for making quality drama of the box-set variety and that reputation is well-deserved; if you haven't seen the likes of The Wire or Six Feet Under they more than justify the subscription price, and The Penguin shows that HBO is still making great TV.
Max's movie catalog goes back a long way, and that means there's everything from today's blockbusters to The Wizard of Oz here. The Christopher Nolan Batman movies are here, as is Mad Max: Fury Road; you can stream Barbie, Priscilla, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Spirited Away too. That huge and historic catalog makes Max a really good choice for movie fans.
Both streamers are also constantly adding new content. Max front-loads its new releases at the beginning of the month and then adds a few new things over the rest of the month; Hulu adds lots of content throughout the entire month.
How often do Max and Hulu refresh content?
Max
Max vs Hulu: features
| With ads | Ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution, and no downloads. |
| Ad-free | No ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution, and 30 downloads to devices. |
| Unlimited ad-free | No ads, 4 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution, 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and 100 downloads to devices. |
Max streams in 1080p unless you take out the Ultimate Ad-Free plan. That gives you 4K, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10, and it also enables you to download up to 100 titles for offline watching.
Hulu's video quality is show-dependent rather than subscription-dependent; it streams live TV at up to 1080p, and TV and movies at up to 4K with HDR.
As of December 2024 Hulu limited account sharing to people living under the same roof while Max had no such restriction. But that's going to change in 2025 as Max begins to roll out its own limits. We don't yet know what the limits will be or when they take effect but "much like other streamers" and "early 2025" look like pretty safe bets.
| With ads: | Ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution with some content available in Ultra HD (no downloading). |
| No ads: | No ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution with some content available in Ultra HD and downloads to 6 mobile devices. |
Max vs Hulu: Design
Both Max and Hulu follow the same design approaches as their rival streamers, but there are still some key differences.
Hulu lets you stream to two devices simultaneously and download up to 25 titles on up to five mobile devices. There's also an Unlimited Screens add-on if you're a subscriber to its Live TV service.
With Max, the Ad-Lite plan doesn't let you download films and TV series to watch on the go. With the Ad Free tier you get 30 offline downloads, while the Ultimate package allows you download up to 100 movies and shows for offline viewing.
Hulu's most interesting feature is its cloud-based digital video recorder, which gives live TV subscribers unlimited online storage for their recorded shows. They'll remain available for up to nine months from recording provided you keep subscribing.
Max vs Hulu: Verdict
If you're in the US and want a huge amount of choice in movies and shows, both Max and Hulu deliver – although it's worth noting that neither service quite made the cut for our picks of the best streaming services.
We'd argue that Max is the better option for most people thanks to its excellent movie library, its catalog of prestige TV drama and its investment in spellbinding new shows such as The Penguin. That's not to say Hulu is a bad streaming service; far from it. But it feels like it's more a service for cable TV cord cutters than an exciting destination in its own right.
Ready to switch streaming services? Here's everything you need to know about Max, and here's everything you need to know about Hulu.
You might also like
