Digital subscriptions might make life more convenient, but they’re also making it more expensive.
The average cost of a digital subscription, which includes services such as Netflix, HBO Max, Spotify, and Zoom, has gone up 19 percent since 2020, according to a study from banking site DepositAccounts.
Those higher prices have led 37 percent of consumers to cancel at least one of their subscriptions in the past six months.
The five digital subscription services with the largest price increases since 2020 were plans from Disney+, Apple TV, Xbox Game Pass, the New York Times and Hulu, the study found. Only two services kept prices the same since 2020: iCloud+ and Dropbox.
By generation, millennials and Gen Z spend the most on subscriptions. Millennials spend 64 per cent more on digital subscriptions than baby boomers, while Gen Z spends 54 percent more than boomers.
The overall inflation-adjusted digital subscription cost rose 19 percent over the past five years. But two out of the five services with the biggest price increases were five times that average:
- Disney+ ad-free: +116.9 percent increase from $8.75 to $18.99
- Apple TV Standard: +107.9 percent increase from $6.25 to $12.99
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: +59.8 percent increase from $18.77 to $29.99
- The New York Times all-access: +59.7 percent increase from $20.35 to $32.50
- Hulu ad-free: +26.5 percent increase from $15.02 to $18.99.
The study’s results are in line with overall price trends for consumer goods and services that have been pushed up by inflation since 2020. As recently as December 2025, many staple consumer goods were higher than the previous year. For example, the cost of coffee was 18.8 percent higher and uncooked ground beef was 14.9 percent higher year-on-year in December.
Consumers have felt the sting of high prices. In December, a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that 39 percent of consumers felt somewhat worse off or much worse off financially than the year before.
An ease in pricing may be on its way, though. A recent federal report found that inflation dropped from 2.7 percent in December to 2.4 percent in January. Bellwether items such as eggs and gas were down compared to a year before, punctuating the lowest inflation rate the economy had seen since May 2025.
