How to Change Your Hulu Plan and Upgrade or Downgrade Easily

Cable TV is old news. With the increasing accessibility of high-speed internet, streaming whatever you want to watch has never been easier. Why be a slave to the time schedules of normal TV channels when you can binge watch an entire series of your favorite show back to back?

Hulu is one of the more popular options as a streaming service, largely due to its impressive flexibility in terms of options. We’ve put together this quick guide so that you can take advantage of the options they provide, and tailor your monthly Hulu plan to suit you, as and when you want to.

How Does Hulu Work?

Other services like Netflix take an essentially all or nothing approach, where you pay the monthly fee and you get access to their library of shows and movies, and that’s that. Hulu does it differently, offering a cheaper package subsidized by showing ads, as well as a range of add-ons that you can use to supplement what’s already available.

Their cheapest plan, the one with the ads, is cheaper than pretty much any other streaming service out there. Their most expensive option, the No Ads + Live TV plan, gives you access to thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows without intrusive commercials (except for a few shows and the Live TV itself), while also providing over 60 channels to choose from that include live sports and news.

Add to those the extra options like adding HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime’s library to what you have to watch, and it’s easy to see why Hulu is still going strong. Also, as the company is owned by Disney, you can now add Disney+ to your subscription.

How to Change Your Hulu Plan to Suit You

If you want to catch up on the latest Marvel movies and the Phase 4 shows that will be coming out on Disney+, or to expand your library to include all of HBO’s hit shows (winter is coming, so it’s a good time to re-watch Game of Thrones from the start), then it’s pretty darn easy. You just need to log in to Hulu’s website, and pick the package and add-ons that you want.

There’s no long-term commitment either, so if you get your fill of Cinemax after a month, you can easily switch it off, and not have to keep paying for the rest of the year. However, there are some limits to your options if you’re subscribed to Hulu through a third-party like iTunes or Spotify.

Here’s what you’ll need to do if you want to upgrade or downgrade your Hulu plan:

1. Open a web browser on your computer or mobile device (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Opera, etc.).
2. Enter hulu.com/account into the browser bar and hit enter, or you can click or tap on the link provided here.
3. Log in to your Hulu account by entering your username and password in the fields provided, then tapping or clicking on the black Log In button.
4. This should take you to your Account page. If not, then click or tap on your username to the top right of the window, and then click or tap on Account.

From here, you can upgrade or downgrade your monthly plan, or you can add or remove the Add-ons you have on your subscription.

Upgrading or Downgrading Your Hulu Plan

1. Click or tap on the MANAGE PLAN link under the Your Subscription section.
2. Click or tap on the plan that you want to change to in order to see what is available when you’re using that plan. The plan you’re currently using will be highlighted by a green box, and will say YOUR CURRENT PLAN at the bottom.
3. To choose the plan you want to switch to, click or tap on the toggle at the bottom of the plan you want so that it says ON.
4. Click or tap on the grey REVIEW CHANGES button.
5. Go through the confirmation dialogue to complete the changes to your Hulu plan.

Adding or Removing Add-Ons on Your Hulu Plan

1. Click or tap on the MANAGE ADD-ONS link under Your Subscription section.
2. Click or tap on the + icon to the left of the add-ons that you want to add to your plan, so that they change to a ✓.
3. To remove an add-on that you no longer want to use, click or tap on the ✓ next to it so that it turns into a +.
4. When you are finished choosing your add-ons, click or tap on the grey REVIEW CHANGES button.
   
5. Go through the confirmation dialogue to confirm the changes to your plan.

Long Live the Stream

The impressive range of customization available is absolutely one of the biggest draws to Hulu’s streaming service. That said, some of the add-ons can be rather pricey. Using this guide, you can now easily tailor your viewing experience each month, so if there was just one HBO show you really wanted to binge and then you’re done with it, you can stop paying at the end of the month.