Disney+ may go free: Disney reportedly eyes an ad-supported tier

Disney is reportedly working on a free, ad-supported Disney+ tier that would let people watch at least part of the service without paying. Disney hasn’t announced anything yet, and there’s no launch date, but a free plan would give the company another way to grow in a crowded, price-sensitive streaming market, especially among viewers who don’t want to take on one more monthly bill.

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It could also pull some of those viewers into paid plans later, particularly families and younger audiences.

And Disney wouldn’t be starting from zero. In the first three quarters of 2026, 30.6% of Disney+ subscribers worldwide, about 47.2 million people, were already using Disney+’s paid ad-supported plan. In the U.S., that figure was 43.2%.

Across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, combined ad-supported monthly active users also rose from 157 million in January 2025 to 164 million in May 2025.

The broader shift points the same way. Free ad-supported streaming made up 18.7% of U.S. TV viewing in April 2026, up from 12.7% two years earlier.

So if price is the reason you’ve been passing on Disney+, this could be worth trying if it actually launches, though a free Disney+ tier probably wouldn’t include the full catalog. More likely, it’d offer a curated lineup of older movies, selected series, or pilot episodes.

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There are downsides for Disney, too: lower revenue per user, more downgrades, and heavier ad loads. For now, there’s nothing to download, although Disney has also been testing short-form vertical video, podcasts, micro-dramas, and free releases on YouTube.