Hulu Drops Price to $5.99 as Netflix Announces Hike

Following on the heels of the recent announcement of Netflix's price hike, Hulu announced that it will be lowering its prices.

According to The Verge, the streaming service and Netflix competitor will be dropping the price of its basic, ad-supported plan to $5.99 per month, down $2 from its typical $7.99 price tag. Hulu has offered the basic plan at that price before, but only on a promotional basis.

It is not all good news for Hulu subscribers, as the streaming service also announced a price hike to one of its other plans – the Live TV plan, which will jump from $33.99 to $44.99. The price adjustment is due to a broader channel selection under the plan as well as "improvements to reliability and usability of the live TV experience."

Both the "no commercials" plan and the Hulu/Spotify combo subscription will remain at their current prices of $11.99 and $12.99 per month.

The price changes will go into effect on Feb. 26 and affect both new and existing subscribers.

As one of the highest profile streaming services available, Hulu allows subscribers to watch new episodes of hit TV shows shortly after they air, including The Good Place, black-ish, and Rick and Morty. Hulu also offers live-streaming of sports and events.

The streaming service's catalogue of content also includes originals, such as the popular series The Handmaid's Tale, which is based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name, and Castle Rock, which draw inspiration for Stephen King's literary universe.

That catalogue of exclusive content is always expanding, too, with Hulu recently announcing its next original series: Looking for Alaska. Based on John Green's first novel of the same name, the series will star Kristine Froseth (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) and Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) in the lead roles of Alaska Young and Miles "Pudge" Halter.

Hulu's price shifts come just a week after Netflix announced changes that would affect all of its plans – Standard, Premium, and Ultra HD – immediately for new subscribers and "over the next few months" for existing subscribers.

The price hikes will see the streaming service's Basic plan, which offers a single non-HD stream, increase $1 from $7.99 to $8.99. Meanwhile, Netflix's most popular plan, the Standard plan, and the Premium plan will both increase by $2 to $12.99 and $15.99

"We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience," a company spokeswoman said.