Hulu to cut price of starting plan to $5.99 per month

(Hulu)

Hulu is cutting the price of its cheapest plan from $7.99 per month to $5.99.

The new $5.99 price will go into effect on Feb. 26 for new and existing subscribers. This is an ad-supported plan, so you'll have to sit through the occasional commercial when streaming a TV show. To banish ads, you'll have to upgrade to the $11.99-per-month plan.

The bad news is that Hulu is raising the price of its most expensive plan, which also gives you access to live TV from over 60 channels. Starting on Feb. 26, the plan will cost subscribers $44.99 per month, an increase from $39.99.

Hulu didn't explain why the company is making the changes. But it comes as competing service Netflix is raising prices across the boards. Its basic plan is going up from $8 per month to $9, while the standard plan—Netflix's most popular offering—is jumping from $11 to $13.

In response to the price hike, some Netflix subscribers are considering leaving the service, according to one recent survey, which could give Hulu an opening to expand in the streaming market.

Hulu is a joint venture owned by Disney, 21st Century Fox, and Comcast, and the service has already been reporting some fast growth. In 2018, it added 8 million new subscribers, bringing the total count to more than 25 million.

However, Hulu is only available in the US and Japan. Netflix, in contrast, has expanded to over 190 countries and boasts 148 million subscribers worldwide.

Going forward, both services will face more competition in the US. Disney, AT&T's Warner Media, and Comcast's NBCUniversal all plan to launch their own rival platforms later this year and in 2020.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.