Max Review 2025: Cost, Plans, and More

Is Max good? It’s complicated.

I used to love HBO Max. HBO consistently produces high-quality originals, and its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) owns some of the biggest franchises on the planet.

But I just can’t fully recommend its current iteration: Max. Its prices are too high for what it provides, and it’s spent the last few years removing content in ways that just baffle me. Cancelling Sesame Street was the last straw.

WBD isn’t the only company to remove original streaming content—previously assumed to live on the platform forever—but it was the first to do so.

Max is still a decent place to watch most DC, Discovery, and, yes, HBO content, but for some subscribers, that still might not be enough content to justify the hefty price tag.

How much does Max cost?

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Max comes in three different plans: Basic with Ads, Standard, and Premium. The ad-free Standard plan is what you might already have if you’ve signed up for HBO through another streaming service or cable provider, and will get you a pretty good ad-free streaming experience. However, if you have a big family or want to take advantage of a 4K television, you might want to upgrade to the pricey Premium tier.

If you’re looking for the cheapest way to stream HBO content, you’ll probably be fine with the lowest ad-supported tier. Keep in mind that HBO shows were originally designed to air on HBO—the premium cable channel whose entire deal is the lack of ads. Those ad breaks are going to be awkward and intrusive.

Each of Max’s three plans is one of the most expensive of its kind among the major streaming services. As of April 2025, its Basic with Ads plan is more expensive than any other service’s ad-supported tier, and the Standard plan is only a buck cheaper than Netflix’s comparable tier. Its premium tier is actually much less expensive than Netflix’s or Disney+/Hulu’s, so we wouldn’t be shocked to see that go up another dollar or two in the near future.

Max vs. other streaming services

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Max’s biggest competitor is Netflix, and the two are pretty evenly matched as the most expensive on-demand streaming services around. Netflix definitely has the bigger library of original content, but Max has more live content through B/R Sports.

Max’s next closest competitor in price and size is Hulu. Hulu is still pretty pricey, and a choice between the two will likely come down to whether you want more cable TV shows (Hulu) or HBO shows (Max). While Max does have a decent amount of Adult Swim titles, for example, it’s not interested in having a comprehensive collection or exclusive access to WBD-owned properties. In fact, Max is often removing Cartoon Network titles and selling them off to other streaming services.

Max’s library is great for HBO fans

Max on-demand shows and movies

With its 2023 rebrand from HBO Max to just Max, WBD began incorporating content from its other streaming platform, Discovery+. While that service still exists as a standalone, HBO fans now get—or are stuck with, depending on your interests—access to all of Discovery’s biggest shows, like 90-Day Fiance and Mythbusters.

Max advertises itself as “the one to watch for HBO,” which is an awful slogan, but also not entirely true. Max does not have the full HBO library (see note about WB Watchlist), nor is it the only way you can get HBO.

However, it is a good way to watch certain recent HBO titles like Succession, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us, which all do very well at award shows. That seems to be the biggest draw to Max—the promise of HBO originals. HBO has been a household name longer than the concept of streaming services has existed, so that makes a lot of sense.

Max may be the one to watch for HBO, but WBD’s other favorite brand is DC. Max offers dozens of popular DC titles, from mainstream DCEU movies to animated specials like Legion of Super-Heroes. It’s even got plenty of DC LEGO titles, including The LEGO Batman Movie.

However, Max doesn’t carry the CW’s Arrowverse—Netflix still owns those streaming rights, so you won’t find The Flash or Legends of Tomorrow here. You’d think that Max would want a complete monopoly on DC properties from now on, but not so. Rotten Tomatoes reported that WBD sold three Batman projects to Amazon Prime Video, and let’s not forget about the time the studio canceled its near-finished Batgirl film. Max just can’t seem to decide whether it likes its superheroes or not.

Max’s user experience

Max is very similar to the late HBO Max, but a few things have changed, including plan specs, ease of use, and app reliability.

Multiple streams on Max

Data effective as of post date.

Unfortunately, the rebrand from HBO Max to Max means that you’ll see a drop in video quality and available streams. Previously, the Standard tier got you three streams and 4K viewing, but now you’ll have to fork over $20.99/mo. for the privilege. Both the Standard and With Ads plans only allow two simultaneous streams, where the Premium plan allows four.

Max can be set up for five separate viewer profiles, with individual preferences and even show-specific profile pictures. However, Max would prefer that all five viewers live in the same location. You can add one extra member outside of your main household, but only one, and it will cost you an additional $7.99/mo.

Max allows downloads for offline mobile viewing, a convenience that cabled-bundled HBO previously didn’t offer. The ad-supported Basic with Ads, however, doesn’t do offline downloads—another strike against it.

Max is available on most devices with an internet connection

Max’s features

Kids’ content on Max

While you can’t turn on a “Kids’ Mode” like on other platforms, you can adjust content ratings per user profile, and set a passcode for user profiles with more mature ratings. It’s not a perfect system, though.

Studio Ghibli, Sesame Street, and even Cartoon Network content is pretty buried, even on a kids’ profile. And the app still displays ads for mature collections, like horror movies, even if the collections are empty if a child tries to click on them.

Customer satisfaction with Max

What’s included in Max’s streaming service?

Max is one of the most expensive streaming services on the market, so it’s got to provide a lot of content to make up for that oversized price tag.

Max subscribers get access to HBO shows and movies, in addition to content from Discovery+, DC, Studio Ghibli, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and more.

Most of these collections aren’t exhaustive—the service removed DC’s Aquaman: King of Atlantis and HBO’s Westworld, for example—but contains enough to make most viewers happy. Just make sure it’s worth it for $9.99–$20.99/mo.

Max FAQ

Why you should trust us

Our experts employed hundreds of hours of hands-on testing with the service previously known as HBO Max, rating the streaming service on bang for your buck, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then, we compared Max with other on-demand streaming services head to head to give a clearer picture of its strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.