Disney+ UK raises annual price by £10 as subscribers vow to cancel

Disney+ has quietly increased the price of its UK Standard annual plan by £10, effective Sept. 30, 2025, bringing the yearly rate to £99.90. The adjustment marks the latest in a series of price moves by major streaming platforms as the market contends with shifting consumer habits and rising content costs. Disney+ continues to offer three monthly plans in the United Kingdom: Standard with Ads at £4.99 per month, Standard at £8.99 per month, and Premium at £12.99 per month. Annual options for Standard and Premium are still available, priced at £89.90 and £129.90, respectively, prior to the change. The updated annual price for Standard is now £99.90, while Premium remains at £129.90 a year.

The price hike is visible in Disney+’s homepage, where the small print at the bottom confirms the new annual rate. A banner at the top still promotes a temporary “save 10%” deal, offering 12 months of Disney+ Standard for £89.90 if purchased before Sept. 29. When comparing billing methods, the math is stark: monthly billing equates to £107.88 per year for Standard and £155.88 for Premium, making annual plans appear cheaper overall. However, with the Standard annual price rising to £99.90, the fixed savings of annual billing shrink to £7.98 over a year, prompting some subscribers to question whether committing to yearly payments remains worthwhile.

Retail prices aside, Disney+ has faced broader scrutiny from subscribers in recent months. On X (formerly Twitter), posts from users complaining about the price hike reflect a broader tension with streaming-service costs. One user quipped they might return to DVDs; another urged followers to cancel Disney+ and ABC subscriptions if prices keep rising. The backlash comes amid a separate controversy over the company’s handling of the Jimmy Kimmel suspension following comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder, illustrating the multifaceted pressures on the platform as it seeks to diversify its offerings.

Disney+ has been leaning into additional content and sports programming as a core strategy to anchor value for subscribers. The streamer recently expanded Saturdays with La Liga football matches featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, and other clubs, and acquired exclusive rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League for five seasons. Industry observers say such sports investments are part of Disney’s approach to become “essential viewing” for households, making price-sensitive cancellations less tenable for some subscribers. Still, market watchers note that these moves come amid a wider trend of price increases across streaming services.

Consumer expert Goren at Cord Busters described the price change as occurring at a particularly challenging time for UK households. “Disney+ is hitting UK wallets hard once again, announcing another price increase,” he said, adding that annual price bumps have become a broader industry habit. He acknowledged that Disney points to newly added content, including football and other live sports, as justification for higher costs, while contending that the changes reflect a shift away from Disney+’s budget-friendly roots. “These sports additions represent Disney’s plan to become essential viewing that subscribers can’t easily cancel,” the analyst noted.

The price hike also fits into a longer arc for Disney+. since its UK debut in March 2020 at £5.99 per month with 4K streaming and four concurrent streams. Today, maintaining that tiered experience appears to require the Premium plan at £12.99 per month, which represents a roughly 117 percent increase over five years. The broader streaming landscape has seen comparable moves, with rivals such as Apple TV+ and Netflix signaling further price reviews as providers contend with licensing costs and content development budgets.

Analysts say the move underscores a structural shift in the streaming market: services are consolidating more premium offerings and live sports to justify higher price points, even as households face tightening budgets. For Disney+, the question now is whether domestic subscribers will continue to renew annual plans at the higher rate or switch to alternatives, as the company emphasizes its expanding sports portfolio and exclusive content.

Looking ahead, industry observers expect further pricing adjustments across the sector, with some predicting more frequent annual bumps as platforms seek to offset rising costs and content investments. Disney+ subscribers in the UK will likely weigh the incremental cost against the value of live sports, exclusive series, and a growing catalog of original programming as they decide whether to renew annual commitments or adjust their streaming portfolios.