Hulu is home to a wealth of TV shows, all available on-demand and -- if you pay extra -- commercial-free. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
Trying to choose a favorite streaming service is like trying to pick a favorite ice cream: They're all pretty tasty in their own way. But when I want a treat after dinner, I most often find myself reaching for a pint of Hulu, which offers a superb roster of original shows and movies, an unmatched selection of current network programming and a deep bench of TV classics. (Frasier rewatch, anyone?) It's also surprisingly affordable, at least when compared to certain other streamers that seem to hike prices every five minutes (cough, Netflix, cough). But here's the big open secret: You can also get Hulu included with at least three other Disney streaming bundles. Here's my Hulu review.
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Free trial: 30 days | Individual user profiles: 7 | Parental controls: Yes | Live programming: No
VERDICT: Great interface, great content and Disney+ for only $1 more? Hulu is without a doubt one of the top streaming services available today, and definitely one of the best values.
If you're willing to watch commercials, the basic Hulu plan runs $10 per month. If you're willing to pay for a year in advance, it's $100, which amortizes out to just over $8 per month — a pretty good deal by any measure. (Interestingly, college students who can verify their enrollment qualify for Hulu's student plan — also ad-supported — for only $2 per month. That's just a few packages' worth of ramen noodles!)
Hulu's ad-free tier is a little tougher to swallow: $19 per month, with no price breaks for paying annually. Given how much TV I watch in a month (seriously, it's embarrassing), I'm willing to cough up the extra $9. If every commercial break is three to four minutes, I'm probably buying back at least an hour or two of my time. (Plus I hate commercials.) Worth it.
If you have kids or grandkids, there's an even better option: The Disney Bundle Duo Basic. (Disney owns most of Hulu and is currently working out the details to buy out Comcast's minority stake.) For only a dollar more ($11), you get both Hulu and Disney+ — the latter home to everything Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and much more. The ad-free tier, Disney Bundle Duo Premium, is also just a buck more: $20 per month.
There's a third option as well: Add ESPN+ into the mix for $17 or $27 (but take note that ESPN programming does have ads, even if you choose the no-ads tier).
I don't watch a lot of sports — at least not the stuff carried on ESPN — so my sweet spot is the Duo Premium bundle. That's an awful lot of content for $20, especially considering the freedom from commercials.
Need even more bundling options? You can also get Disney+, Hulu and Max on a single subscription for $17 with ads, or $30 without. That brings in HBO, Warner and Discovery content to your viewing mix.
One final note: Hulu is not a cable TV replacement with live TV channels. Virtually everything here streams on-demand. There's another option, Hulu + Live TV, that includes the Hulu discussed here and a live-TV component similar to a cable or satellite subscription. But it's quite expensive, starting at $83 per month. Find out more in my Hulu + Live TV review.
For our purposes, I'm going to focus strictly on Hulu's library; if you want to know what's on tap at Disney+, that review is coming shortly.
In the beginning, Hulu was the service that brought you "last night's shows," meaning you could watch many broadcast series the day after they aired. That's still the model for most current shows on ABC and Fox, as well as a smattering of stuff from other networks. I use Hulu for the latest episodes of network shows like Shark Tank, Bob's Burgers and Animal Control — but there's also a mammoth library of older stuff: 30 Rock, Cheers, Lost, Freaks and Geeks, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and tons more. Heck, the original Lost in Space is here if you want it. (Danger, Will Robinson! This show does not hold up!)
Hulu is also home to content from cable channels FX and FXX — not just modern classics like Justified and The Shield, but also some noteworthy (and award-winning) original stuff: The Bear, Reservation Dogs, Shogun and Fargo, to name a few.
There are some straight-up Hulu Originals too, including Palm Springs, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Handmaid's Tale and the criminally underrated Extraordinary. Recently the service debuted the latest Jim Gaffigan stand-up special, "The Skinny".
On the movie front, Hulu's catalog isn't quite as extensive as, say, Netflix's or Max's, but you'll sometimes find notable titles making their exclusive streaming debut here. Three recent examples: A Real Pain, Thelma and Anatomy of a Fall.
What about live programming? If that interests you, check out Hulu + Live TV — though keep in mind, it'll cost you a lot more. As for Hulu proper, like Netflix, it's dipping a toe into the "live event" waters. For instance, it will air the 2025 Oscars show live. And you can access the live ABC News channel, but it's just a simulcast of the free stream available online.
Obviously everyone has different tastes when it comes to TV (and, of course, movies). I find that Hulu offers a ton of what I like, which is why I tend to use it more than any other streaming service.
A good streamer should have an intuitive interface that's easy on the eyes, easy to navigate and good at search. Hulu checks all those boxes, though with one caveat: voice search isn't available on all devices.
Although the TV I used for testing, a Sansui S55VOUG, supports voice commands via its Google operating system, the Hulu app didn't give me the option of using the remote's microphone. However, when I plugged in a Roku Ultra streaming box, I had no trouble using the Roku remote for voice search. This is most likely an app-specific limitation: The Roku version of the Hulu app supports the feature; the Google version does not.
Even if you're stuck navigating an onscreen keyboard for search purposes, Hulu provides quick, accurate results. Dynamic ones too: With each letter you enter, the results narrow further.
As for the rest of the interface, it's as neatly organized as any I've seen, with a simple fly-out menu for various navigation options: Home, TV, Movies, My Stuff, Settings and so on. When you select an individual item, the available options — watch now, add to "your stuff," etc. — are clearly identified. And while watching a show, it takes just a few clicks to turn closed-captioning on or off; the setting is right where you'd expect it to be: in Settings, which appears when you pause playback.
In fact, my only real gripe with the UI is the way it handles shows that have multiple seasons. See the example above: If you're just getting started with the hilarious spy spoof Archer, you'll see all the seasons neatly listed on the left side. However, when you get to, say, Season 13, none of the previous seasons remain visible; they've all scrolled up and off the screen. I don't understand why Hulu does this; it can lead to confusion regarding what seasons for a given show are actually available.
That's a minor nitpick, though; for the most part Hulu has one of the easiest interfaces around, and one of the most visually appealing: Nice fonts, nice color scheme, nice layout. In fact, I'll go out on a limb: In the interface department, Hulu beats Netflix, Max, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount and Peacock.
(Let me note that if you add Disney+ to your subscription, you'll notice that the latter now mixes in all Hulu content. While it's nice to have both catalogs under one app "roof" — you could watch nearly all Hulu content without ever needing to open the actual Hulu app again — it's weird to see Disney's family-friendly content mixed in with Hulu's, much of which decidedly isn't. There may come a time when the two services merge more completely; this is the rather weird state of things for now.)
I've been watching Hulu long enough to remember when it was $6/month with no ads. Now I have to pay more than three times as much, which is frustrating, no question. But all streaming services have raised prices over the years, and at least there's the option of keeping it pretty cheap — even if it does put commercials into the mix.
Indeed, assuming Hulu has the kind of content you like, it's a good place to put your streaming dollars and a great addition to your overall TV plan. In fact, put down just one dollar more and get a pretty great second service: Disney+. Right now, no other bundle beats that one.
Check out Yahoo's latest streaming advice, based on hands-on testing.
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