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6.2

Overall Score

Author: Kalicia Bateman

LAST UPDATED: March 28th, 2022

Hulu (aka Hulu Plus) is a leading streaming TV service that offers live TV, live sports, Hulu original shows and movies, as well as classic and new offerings from top cable TV and premium channels. The company provides both ad-free and ad-supported subscription plans, a free 30-day trial for all packages, and the opportunity to bundle its streaming services with other streaming providers.

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The Good

  • Expansive Library of Movie Options and TV Shows
  • Ad-Free and Live TV Options Available
  • Bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ for $12.99 per Month
  • Premium Channels Available as Add-Ons
  • Student Discount for $1.99 per Month

Expansive Library of Movie Options and TV Shows

In addition to its growing library of Hulu original movies and TV shows, Hulu offers subscribers a formidable catalog from some of the biggest names in television, including 21st Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, CBS Corporation, The CW, Turner Networks, A+E Networks and Discovery Networks, and the following channel lineup:

  • ABC
  • Adult Swim
  • AMC
  • Animal Planet
  • BBC America
  • Bravo
  • CINEMAX (add-on)
  • CMT
  • Comedy Central
  • Cooking Channel
  • E! Entertainment
  • Epix Originals
  • Food Network
  • Freeform
  • Fuse
  • FX and FXX
  • HBO Max (add-on)
  • HereTV
  • HGTV
  • History Channel
  • Investigation Discovery
  • Lifetime
  • MTV
  • National Geographic
  • Science
  • SHOWTIME (add-on)
  • STARZ (add-on)
  • SYFY
  • TBS
  • Telemundo
  • TLC
  • TNT
  • Travel Channel
  • USA
  • VH1
  • WGN America

In most cases, subscribers can gain access to newly aired episodes of their favorite shows the day after they air. All streaming content is available through the Hulu app, available via mobile device, computer, or smart TV.

Ad-Free and Live TV Options Available

Each of Hulu's subscription plans offer the first month free. After that, subscribers could pay anywhere between $5.99 to $64.99 per month, depending on their subscription plan:

  • Hulu ($5.99 per month) — full access to streaming library via TV, laptop, phone, or tablet; supports up to six user profiles and simultaneous streams on two devices.
  • Hulu (No Ads; $11.99 per month) — all the features of the standard Hulu plan, plus no ads or commercials, as well as the ability to download and watch content for offline viewing.
  • Hulu + Live TV Plan ($64.99 per month) — no cable required to access more than 65 live channels as well as a live TV guide; record live TV with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage.

Bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ for $12.99 per Month

Hulu customers have the option to bundle Hulu's streaming services with Disney+ and ESPN+ for only $12.99 per month (still cheaper than Netflix and as expensive as Amazon Prime). This streaming bundle gives users access to Disney's complete library, including the Marvel and Star Wars franchises, as well as ESPN's full 30 for 30 series, along with live sports channels.

Premium Channels Available as Add-Ons

For an additional fee, Hulu subscribers can add premium channels like HBO Max, SHOWTIME, CINEMAX, and STARZ for hit movies, series, and documentaries. For Hulu + Live TV subscribers, add-ons come with unlimited screens, enhanced DVR storage, entertainment add-ons, and Español add-ons.

Student Discount for $1.99 per Month

Active college students qualify for Hulu's student discount, which reduces the cost of the ad-supported plan ($5.99 per month) down to $1.99 per month. Students should note, however, that Hulu does not provide a free trial on its student discount option.

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The Bad

  • Ads and Commercials

Ads and Commercials

The only drawback to Hulu's basic plan is the presence of commercials. These usually only play at the beginning of episodes or movies; however, for newly aired episodes, short ads will play periodically throughout the show. If customers wish to enjoy their viewing experience without ads, they can opt for the ad-free version which is comparable to other ad-free streaming services like Netflix in price.

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The Bottom Line

With Hulu, a subscriber can gain access for original content, a live TV streaming service, and thousands of viewing options for as little as $5.99 per month. Users should be prepared to pay more for an ad-free viewing experience, and about about much as they would for any other live streaming service. The ability to bundle with other streaming platform services like Disney+ and ESPN+ offers customers a unique viewing library, and the free trial, cancel anytime policy allows users to try Hulu risk-free.

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Star Rating

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4.3

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520 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

52%

4 grade

32%

3 grade

11%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

3%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Trustworthiness

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Verified Customer

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Review Source

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Darren Cardwell

Hulu offers many shows that I have watched. I've been pleased with the offerings. I've been happy with my Hulu subscription. Only wish they offered more to view at the same time.

6 years ago

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KimDugan Kailua, HI

Hulu Plus is probably just a half-pace behind Amazon Prime and here is why: - No rental options - It's a rather bewildering freemium model with a little less "free" all the time. This comes with the territory, but is worthy of mention nonetheless. Hulu Plus is developing its own set of originals and adding collections of off-network television shows that keeps me coming back. I have Hulu Plus but not the premium-premium account, so I still have to watch commercials and I don't have access to all of the content. As a member of whatever this tier of membership is called, I keep coming back because they have "30 Rock", "Modern Family" and, most importantly, "Malcolm in the Middle." If it weren't for these off-network shows and their original, "PEN15", it might have been a goner for me. I use Hulu Plus to fill the gap of the shows that have been pulled from Netflix and ultimately, I am doing the same "stream chasing" that everyone else is doing. It is of some benefit that Hulu is bundled with Disney+ or I might never have jumped over to that one. Lastly, the interface is a little frustrating. It is much more cumbersome to navigate than Netflix and details are harder to see than on Amazon Prime. Use this service if you want to keep your viewing options of older off-network shows that aren't available on other platforms.

5 years ago

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Mario Martin Montgomery, TX

After using mainstream cable and sat. services, I was encouraged by my daughter's to make the switch to Hulu plus. Initially I was hesitant because I didn't know much about Hulu plus and was reluctant to losing some of my viewing choices. Fortunately, not only was I able to reduce my cable and sat. rates considerably, I was able to retain my favorite channels and expand my viewing choices with quality programming...did I mention for less than I had been paying monthly for years!?

4 years ago

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Nichole Davidson Sandy, UT

I use Hulu more for TV shows and they often have shows the day after they air on TV so you don't have to wait for the entire season to be released. Not all network shows are on Hulu, but there's still a good selection. I haven't had great luck with movies on Hulu as I do with Netflix. I also was frustrated that the lowest paid service still had commercials. Boo.

8 years ago

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Jonny Hancock Draper, UT

I have the commercial-free Hulu package and it's definitely worth it. I really like that I can keep up with current shows as they come on each week instead of having to wait until the entire season is uploaded. However, shows are frequently removed after a certain amount of time, which makes it difficult to go back and watch previous seasons or episodes.

9 years ago

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Nance Nicholls

I chose Hulu as having the best selection ofprograms for my viewing including sports and live tv. Price was also very reasonable.

6 years ago

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Rebecca D

Hulu plus is also a great streaming site. When you don’t have the ads to get into to the way of your programming it makes for a nice evening of movie watching. I feel the shows they have come out with are really awesome and you’re highly addictive lol

4 years ago

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Mandi Colorado Springs, CO

Hulu has a great variety of shows and movies available for streaming. The online and smart tv apps are very intuitive and easy to navigate. Although you have many good options to watch with a basic paid account, you can add on sports or Disney channels to make your tv watching more diverse.

4 years ago

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alexisblige Tallahassee, FL

I have both Hulu and Netflix and personally I prefer Hulu’s entertainment selection. However, I dislike the fact that I still get ads unless I purchase Hulu’s most expensive package. I should be able to watch all shows as long as I’ve purchased some sort of membership.

4 years ago

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Chris Bright Tempe, AZ

I love this service, but I hate the price. $72 a month is a bit steep, but I pay it any way. Just with that price included Disney Discovery and ESPN or was at least a little cheaper. I think $45 would be fair. We really enjoy all the original content as well

5 years ago Edited April 6, 2022

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Jane M Phoenix, AZ

Would give it 5 stars if you could "always" choose your ad, and/or "skip" the ad after viewing once or twice! I get the same ads over and over, can't skip! Stopped working on most browsers, so that is a minus. On the plus side, price is very affordable! Good Content for me! Like the site!

6 years ago

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Kamal Knight

Mostly good. Having Hulu content mixed with TV content can be confusing some times. I enjoy the wide variety of sports that they have, that was the main reason I got it. Checking in with my home network is very annoying. YoutubeTV gave me 3 months in between check ins. I also wish they HuluTV added ABC as a live option, like Youtube does

8 years ago

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Kathleen Watts

I ejoy the opportunity to stream instead of a Comcast contract. I would; however, appreciate a larger type for those programs that require subtitles. They are difficult to read the majority of the time. Overall the experience is a positive one, and the variety of shows is good .

8 years ago

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Kristen Westover Spanish Fork, UT

I've used Hulu for years and love it. I'm not a huge fan of the new update though. It's harder to find shows that I watch and specific episode information. I wish it was more user-friendly. But the price is great and I love using it.

8 years ago

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Tiffany American Fork, UT

I love being able to watch all of my favorite shows on Hulu Plus. It's affordable and has what I want to watch. My only complaint is I do not like the new interface. I find it hard to navigate and find what I really want to watch. There are several categories and I don't feel like it really highlights what I want to watch.

8 years ago

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Kyler Ashby

Hulu is great to have if you want to watch the most recent shows as they premiere. Their up to date content is incredibly nice and they also have a variety of other shows and films not offered by other providers. I would definitely recommend Hulu

9 years ago

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Quen Wilson Ogden, UT

I really love Hulu for the access to free tv series and how they would always be current, but then Hulu Plus came out and they were charging an unreasonable rate. They have now come down to a reasonable rate that is competitive with Netflix and Amazon Prime.

9 years ago

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Kenneth Okerlund

I started using Hulu about 4 months ago and have loved it, they have so many shows that I can't find anywhere else, one of which would cost me over 900 dollars to buy all the episodes. I love being able to see episodes the day of release as well. Not perfect, but no major complaints at all!

9 years ago

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Adrianne murray Brigham City, UT

I would say I definitely like Hulu Plus because of all those shows that come out Day after the show on a regular network. I do think the price is a little high considering I haven’t seen many kids shows. I did cancel my service recently because in choosing between this and Netflix the kids won out. Now that we have the newest and greatest subscription maybe I will cancel the other one and go back so I can watch all my favorite shows. It’s probably not that expensive if you do the commercial one but who really wants to watch commercials? How do you think the network is good

6 years ago

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Kylie Howes Provo, UT

Hulu has access to a lot of great shows that you can't find anywhere else, but you have to be willing to put up with ads every now and then. That's the most annoying part of this service, because they usually repeat the same handful of ads, and the most popular shows also have the most ads on them too. Overall, the service is good and the selection is good, but the ads definitely detract from Hulu's benefits. If you're going to get Hulu, I'd recommend doing it through a package deal like Spotify or Disney+ offer.

6 years ago

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Tony Gibson American Fork, UT

We love Hulu Plus. We cut the cord and got away from cable and satellite quite a while ago and Hulu is part of the reason we felt like we could. We can still catch current shows right away and not have to wait for them to get onto another service at the end of the season. I do wish they would keep shows a little bit longer (and not just 5 episodes in many cases), but it has been great.

7 years ago

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Anne Sainsbury Payson, UT

I have really enjoyed using Hulu Plus. My friends started using it a couple years back and I eventually got an account. I think that it is definitely worth the money. Something that I don't love is the selection. There are a lot of movies that I would love to watch that never end up on Hulu Plus. If you are looking for video entertainment but are not too specific about what you want to watch then this is a great product for you!

7 years ago

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Dee Farquharson Washington, DC

Hulu has a regular version and a commercial free version. I have the commercial free version but I felt that including it for extra money was kinda of weird move, since NEtflux never has commercials and is cheaper (at the time). However, titles are available sooner on Hulu plus and a lot of the titles are ones that are easily recognizable. They're adding more and more great titles all the time, it seems. And the titles seem to stay longer ( and are more consistent) than Netlfix and its titles.

7 years ago

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Starski Cene Vienna, VA

Promising product for those who want a "different" tv experience Pros: - Catalog of shows - Good value w/ or w/o Live TV option - Cloud-based DVR - Did not experience outages like I did with another service Cons: - The menu looks completely different than your "traditional" cable menu, which could be a turn off for some people because you don't know if you're watching live tv or on-demand content. - Did not have all the local channels in my area (Washington, DC)

7 years ago

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Derek G Pleasant Grove, UT

Hulu Plus is a darn good streaming service that updates daily with t.v shows that premiere the night before. I've had more than one occasion where the t.v show didn't show up the day after the show premiered with no explanation for why it hasn't showed. But it is very nice to have a reliable service that will have the t.v shows that you missed the night before

7 years ago

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Amy Leifi Orem, UT

Hulu is my one place to go to be able to watch television shows as they are happening. Long ago I quit cable, but still want to watch my favorite shows and can do that with Hulu. At first I found it quite annoying to be paying for a service that still has commercials, but when I thought about how much I paid for cable and how much longer their commercial breaks were, I was ok. The value I am getting for what I'm paying is great.

8 years ago

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Andrea Wheaton, IL

Great streaming service and easy to use. When setting up the account, they ask you what your viewing interests are so you don't have to scroll through what you don't like to get to the good stuff. Very smart!

5 years ago

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Christopher Whiting Los Angeles, CA

I like Hulu but I do find it harder to navigate than some of my other streaming services. We keep it because it has different shows that we like watching.. but if I had to get rid of one it would be the first to go.

6 years ago

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Nicholas Genes Los Angeles, CA

Use this service in the winter so my wife can watch most if not all the football games. Most other services make you pay extra just for football and give you terrible channels, Hulu isn’t bad with this.

6 years ago

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Jane Collins Long Beach, MS

Hulu Plus has a ton of content. You can definitely consider “cutting the cord” with this streaming option. You must have a strong internet connection, though, or buffering may get tiresome for you.

6 years ago

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Hannah Giles Pleasant Grove, UT

We have used Hulu Plus for a couple of years and have been happy with it and the variety of shows that are on it. It does seem to have more TV shows that Netflix, but less movies, when I am searching for something.

7 years ago

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Pete Centerville, UT

The best thing about Hulu is all the new episodes are on there usually the day after they air on tv. That's a huge plus because you don't have to months for them to be there like some other streaming services.

8 years ago

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Doyal Stewart Salt Lake City, UT

Hulu has been a great way to supplement our cable needs. My daughter started when Hulu first started and was completely free and got me onto it. I didn't mind paying when it came time for it because the service was so great.

9 years ago

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Julie Firkins Orem, UT

this has been the best $8.00 per month i have spent for entertainment! totally enjoy the programs. i can catch up on local shows i've missed during the week or catch a movie. there is some ads but very short and doable,

9 years ago

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Tyler Jenkins Hattiesburg, MS

Hulu is great because I love the collection that they have. Hulu seems to have a more diverse collection than other streaming services. They don’t seem to adhere to modern fads in the television industry. Which is why I like them.

6 years ago

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Ellen Morris Potomac, MD

Hulu is great because its easy to use and keeps me updated through the dashboard on which shows I regularly watch have new episodes - this keep its organized and I love that! I also appreciate that they have been very consistent at keeping certain shows on their platform.

7 years ago

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Miles Strother American Fork, UT

Hulu is a good streaming service with several TV shows that are difficult to find on other streaming services, like Brooklyn 99, although it's overall selection is just okay. It also provides access to ESPN, which is a great deal, especially considering you can get Hulu from using Spotify.

7 years ago

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Breanne Stanko Logan, UT

I love how Hulu has new tv series on and the new episodes come out really fast. The only thin I’m disappointed in is that the fact that if I wanted to start a season very often then not they don’t even have the first couples seasons available. It’s makes it super hard to watch anything new.

7 years ago

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Sherry Walbrecht Provo, UT

Sometimes I think this is a little too overpriced for how many commercials you get if you don’t pay for the premium. Overall, there’s a wide selection of shows and if you watch things that air on TV, it uploads that episode the next day!

7 years ago

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Amy Farmer Provo, UT

Hulu is awesome! They have great shows that Netflix doesn’t have. But they have ads which I don’t love. Which is crazy that now that bugs me since like 10 years ago we had to watch ads throughout every tv show we watched haha.

7 years ago

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Erika American Fork, UT

I had a great experience with HULU. The only reason I cancelled was because I decided I didn't want to be paying for both Netflix and Hulu and I liked a few more of the netflix shows better. I still really enjoyed Hulu. They have a good variety of shows.

7 years ago

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Miguel Figueroa Provo, UT

Great uptodate content and easy to use app make Hulu Plus a top contender when it comes to streaming services. The only reason I’m not giving them the five stars is that the stuff that’s playing on tv now is not super high on the priority list for me, so I find myself using Netflix a little more.

7 years ago

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Gianna Valente Gilbert, AZ

I really enjoy the wide variety of shows and movies Hulu has but, the amount of commercials and ads chopped into a viewing has made watching some of my favorite shows unbearable. It used to be a tolerable amount of ads that disrupted whatever I was watching, but now it shows 4 commercials every five minutes.

7 years ago

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Rischelle Mikkelson American Fork, UT

I really like being able to stream the TV shows and movies I want to watch when I want to watch them. Hulu is the best when it comes to TV shows because you don’t have to wait an entire season for them to be available. They are usually available a week after thei aire.

7 years ago

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Ali Davidson Mesa, AZ

I enjoy watching Hulu and being able to have such access to so many shows however sometimes I wish they had more movies to select from. It gets hard to find a really good movie on Hulu but if you do get Hulu I recommend Hulu plus as you won’t have ads!

7 years ago

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Samantha Avondale, AZ

I love that they have the latest episodes of current tv shows but it doesn’t make sense that you’d have to pay an additional fee for third party subscribers. I get that it provides all tv shows under one platform but, gee willikers, that’s a lot of money you could just be spending on cable itself.

7 years ago

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Nana Asiata Herriman, UT

Hulu plus is a great place to catch up on your tv series. I use it because i work swing shift and all the shows come on while I'm at work. They also have movies that you can watch if your done watching your tv series. Its great to have hulu plus.

8 years ago Edited September 14, 2021

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Noureddine Lalami Brentwood, CA

Hulu offers a wide selection of TV shows and movies from a variety of network. However, there are extra costs for accessing some content, streaming live and downloading.

4 years ago

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Leann Smit

For purposes of this survey, I am limiting my review to content. I prefer Hulu over the others for Saturday Night Live, Handmaids Tale and Castlerock.

8 years ago

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Rocio Diaz Tallahassee, FL

Hulu has a great selection of films and TV shows, however, it is not a very user-friendly experience. Hulu originals like The Handmaid's Tale are award-winning and great as well.

6 years ago