Max 7-Day Free Trial: Streaming for Free in 2024

Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle
Store: Hulu
Price: $17 per month

For this price, you'll get three of the most in-demand streaming services currently available and you'll be saving $9 per month while you're at it. If you could do without the ads, that bundle is also discounted to just $30 per month, offering a $19 savings.

What to Know Before Trying a Free Max Trial

Before you sign up for a free Max trial or take advantage of other Max deals, it's important to keep the following things in mind.

Ad-Supported and Ad-Free Plans Are Available

Note that while HBO and Max are technically separate, you can opt for a plan that includes "everything HBO," as well. Monthly costs include an ad-supported plan for $9.99 per month, while the ad-free plan is $16.99 per month. You can also opt for yearly subscriptions if you'd like. The ad-supported version of the annual plan is $99.99, while the ad-free annual plan is $169.99. There's also an Ultimate Ad-Free plan now for $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year.

The differences among the plans aren't lengthy or significant for the most part. For instance, the ad-supported plans allows users to watch with limited ads, stream on two devices at once, and enjoy full HD video resolution. Upgrade to the middle tier Ad-Free plan and you'll be able to get all the benefits of the with ads plan, but you'll also be able to watch on the go with 30 downloads. And if you go for the Ultimate Ad-Free plan, you'll have the ability to stream on four devices at once, view in 4K Ultra HD quality as it's available, Dolby Atmos audio as it's available, and 100 downloads to watch on the go.

You'll Have to Provide a Method of Payment

Expect to provide a payment method when signing up for a Max trial. Most often this is going to mean providing a credit card or debit card number. But either way, you'll have to input payment info to finish signing up. It's important to remember when your trial ends, as that's when you'll be automatically charged for another period of service. If you aren't planning to stick with it, note when your renewal is and cancel a couple of days beforehand.

Ways to Get Free Max or HBO

Score a 7-Day Free Trial Through Amazon Prime

Are you an Amazon Prime member who wants all the entertainment Max has to offer? The good news is you can add the premium channel to your membership via Prime Video Channels. The bad news is it's an extra cost on top of an already hefty yearly fee. Amazon Prime currently costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month, and if you want to add HBO Max to your lineup, that'll cost an additional $9.99 or $16.99 per month depending on which plan you opt for.

Check Your Subscription Boxes for Max Offers

If you subscribe to services that send you a box on a regular basis, it's worth digging through those add-on offers that are typically tucked inside. You may see cards or flyers for things like DoorDash, as well as streaming services like Max. They may not be for free trials, but you may be able to get your first month or more discounted. Just be sure to read the fine print before signing up and entering your payment info.

Go Unlimited With Cricket Wireless

If you use Cricket Wireless as your mobile carrier, you can snag the ad-supported version of Max at no additional cost. You must sign up for Cricket's $60-per-month unlimited plan to qualify, and Cricket does state that if the network is busy, it may temporarily slow data speeds. It's also important to note that Max will stream in SD quality, and it's only accessible where a high-speed broadband connection is available. But the good news is that by having this Cricket Wireless plan, you should be able to access Max "on your favorite devices."

Switch Your AT&T Plan

Select AT&T unlimited plans include Max at no additional cost. Qualifying internet and wireless agreements include the following:

• Internet 1000, 2000, 5000
• Unlimited Elite
• Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Plus Enhanced
• Unlimited Choice, Unlimited Choice II, and Unlimited Enhanced
• Unlimited &More Premium

Note that with the last one, you must choose HBO as your premium option.

Select AT&T TV packages are also eligible for free HBO Max, including these:

• DirecTV Stream Premier and Max
• DirecTV Premier and Lo Maximo
• U-verse TV U400, U450, and U450 Latino

Watch for Free (With a Catch)

In recent years, news around Max has included things like content disappearing, often without warning. Historically, shows like Westworld, The Nevers, and Raised by Wolves have been removed, among other titles. If you were hoping to binge these series, you may think you're out of luck. But there may be some good news — sort of.

When content started disappearing, some titles were picked up on free sites like Tubi and The Roku Channel. The downside to this is that you may have to wait for a long while before titles hit these channels — and there's no guarantee they ever will. While in the past these sites have picked up HBO titles, they may or may not do so again.

Watch Free Episodes via HBO

Curious about the hype behind an HBO show and want to watch it without a subscription? The good news is that you may be able to watch the first episode for free! Head over to this HBO page and this Max one, and take a look at everything that's available. You can typically watch the very first episode of a show for free, which might be enough to get you hooked and push you into subscribing to a full-blown plan.

Current offerings include episodes of shows like The Last of Us, White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and others. If you're on the fence, watching the first episode of one of these shows could at least push you into signing up for a free trial and bingeing the entire series (if available). Otherwise, you might want to wait for the end of a season to binge the whole thing.

View Free Clips on YouTube

HBO YouTube clips don't really count as getting free HBO, but they're another way to have a taste of the content without signing up. Trailers, clips, and other content of that nature are available to watch, and you can also find select bits of a regular show that are surprisingly lengthy. For example, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver often posts the big story of each episode on YouTube. So you'll typically find various clips that let you hit all the high points.

Max FAQs

How Do You Qualify for a Free Trial?

Most Max offers are going to be applicable for new users only. But there are times when a returning customer may be able to take advantage of a special promotion, too. You may also be able to avoid the new-user rule by providing a new email address instead. Ultimately if you're trying to take advantage of a free trial offer, it's best to read the fine print beforehand to make sure you should be eligible; otherwise, you may just have to take the gamble.

What's the Cheapest Way to Get Max Without a Free Trial?

The cheapest way to get Max without a free trial is going to be by taking advantage of promotions offered with other services. For instance, if you order a fair amount of takeout using DoorDash, it could be worth it to sign up for the DashPass service for $96 per year, which comes out to $8 per month. And then on top of delicious food brought right to your door, you'll be able to enjoy Max at no additional charge.

As noted above, there are other services that bundle it too. Select AT&T plans, DirecTV tiers, and even wireless service through Cricket could mean that you have a service you already want and just have Max as an added bonus.

What Plans Does Max Offer?

There are quite a few options to entice those who want the Max streaming service. If you want a bundle, you can opt for Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max with ads for $16.99 per month; if you prefer no ads (or at least, very limited ads) then you can spring for the higher-priced tier for $29.99 per month.

However, if you only want Max, you have three options for going direct to the source. First, there's the Max With Ads plan for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. If you want Max Ad-Free to watch 30 downloads on the go, then that'll cost you $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year. And if you want the Max Ultimate Ad-Free plan, that'll cost you $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year. In all cases, you'll save 17% by opting for the yearly plan over paying month to month.

How Do You Change Plans?

Changing your Max plan should be relatively easy, but the steps you take will be dependent on how you're billed for the service. You can find direct help from Max but ultimately, you'll need to take the following steps:

1. Determine who bills you
2. Sign in on the appropriate platform
3. Click "Manage Subscription"
4. Choose your new plan
5. Follow the prompts to finish changing your plan

Once you finish signing up, you should see a confirmation that you've changed your plan and a note about when the new plan goes into effect.

When and How Will You Be Charged?

You'll be charged for your Max subscription from whatever payment method you input when you signed up for. If you signed up through another service, you'll be charged via whatever payment method is on file there for said other service. As for when you'll be charged, that's going to ultimately depend on when you signed up, but you can follow these steps to check when your next billing date should be:

1. Sign in to the Max website
2. Choose your profile and then Subscription
3. If you're billed through Max, you'll see your upcoming payment date

If you're not billed through Max, then you can find instructions for determining your billing date with the Max help center.

Did HBO Rebrand to Max?

HBO is still HBO but HBO Max did indeed rebrand to just Max. In May 2023, the streamer officially dropped the HBO from its name. The reasons why vary, but it seems that one of the primary reasons is that HBO wanted it to be known that you're getting more than just HBO shows when you subscribe to Max; in fact, at the time of the change, Max offered over 35,000 hours of content which more than doubled what HBO Max had offered previously.

Another key reason for the name change? Executives at HBO wanted Max to be known as having at least some family-friendly programming. Many adults likely associated HBO with having adult-oriented shows and movies that weren't appropriate for younger viewers, but with the Max rebranding, executives hope to clarify that there are items for kids on there, too.

Before Max, there was HBO Now and HBO Go for streaming HBO content. In May 2020, those were retired to make way for HBO Max. And then in 2023, HBO Max became the Max we know today.

What Can You Watch on Max?

At any given time, there should be a plethora of programming to watch on Max. As noted above, in 2023 when the rebranding occurred, it already had more than 35,000 hours of content available. By now, that number could have very well grown even more as Max includes the following:

• HBO series and movies
• Max Originals
• Select series and movies from:
  • Warner Bros.
  • The DC Universe
  • Cartoon Network
  • The Turner Library
  • Looney Tunes
  • Adult Swim and more
• Discovery favorites including shows from:
  • HGTV
  • The Food Network
  • TLC
  • ID
  • Magnolia
  • Discovery and more

But these are just the networks you can expect to see content from. If you're wondering what titles are available to watch on Max, we have a lengthy list to alert you to.

Some of the most in-demand titles include the following:

• Friends (and Friends: The Reunion)
• Game of Thrones (if you want to relive both the good and bad parts)
• House of the Dragon
• Sex and the City
• And Just Like That
• The Wire
• Succession
• Euphoria
• The Gilded Age
• The Last of Us
• The Flight Attendant
• The Sopranos
• The White Lotus

Of course, lineups can (and will) change so be sure to jump on your favorite titles as soon as they're available to avoid missing out!

How Do You Cancel?

If you want to cancel Max, you'll need to know which platform you're subscribed through. Therefore, the first step will be to find who bills you. If you're being billed directly through Max, for instance, you can sign in to your account and then take these steps to cancel:

1. Sign in on the Max website
2. Choose "Cancel Your Subscription"

Note that if you don't see the option to cancel, you can scroll back up to the top of the screen to see who you're billed through. Once you know that, you can find instructions in the Max help center for how to cancel via third parties.

Once you've chosen to cancel, you'll have to confirm you want to cancel and then you should see an expiration date for your subscription. You'll be able to continue streaming until your subscription expires at the end of the billing period.

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