Technologies

Disney Plus: Price Hikes, the New Ad Tier and Everything Else to Know

Disney Plus is raising prices to watch ad free and adding commercials if you want to pay a little less.

Disney Plus has been the breakaway success among a wave of new streaming services in the last two-plus years, thanks in part to its large library of shows, movies and exclusive originals. The service already raised its price once since launch, and Thursday brought another hike, with a twist: The service also introduced a second subscription tier with advertising.

Here are the big details to know about the tiers, pricing and everything else.

How much did Disney Plus raise prices?

Previously, Disney Plus had a single subscription level, which was ad free. On Thursday, the service launched a new tier with ads in the US; at the same time, it hiked the price on its ad-free memberships in the US from $8 a month to $11. That means that if you’re an existing Disney Plus subscriber who pays every month, your next bill will be $3 more.

Annual membership are now $110, up from $80 previously.

Disney Plus’ US price still undercuts the $15.50 monthly fee for Netflix‘s most popular plan in the US, which lets you stream to two different devices simultaneously in high definition. And Disney Plus allows all subscribers to stream to four devices and access 4K content at no extra cost — features Netflix charges $20 a month to unlock on its premium tier.

Way back in 2017, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger noted that Disney Plus pricing at launch would reflect the «fact that it will have substantially less volume» than prime competitor Netflix. As the months and years pass, Disney Plus is accumulating a bigger catalog of exclusives and originals. As that happens, it’s widely expected the company will continue pushing its price higher.

How much does the new ad-supported tier cost?

The new ad-supported subscription to Disney Plus is $8 a month, which matches the price of the ad-free tier before Thursday’s hikes. That means if you want to keep streaming Disney Plus but don’t want to pay any more money than you already were paying, you’ll need to switch levels and start watching with commercials. Otherwise, ad-free streaming on Disney Plus is now $11.

The ad-supported subscription doesn’t offer an annual plan.

By comparison, Paramount Plus charges $5 for its tier with advertising, and $10 for the ad-free version. HBO Max is $10 a month if you watch with ads or $15 a month to strip out all commercials. NBCUniversal’s Peacock has a limited free tier with advertising, which blocks some library from being streamed, and it offers two all-access subscriptions: an ad-supported membership for $5 and an ad-free one for $10.

How much is the Disney bundle with Hulu and ESPN Plus?

The company offers bundles that combine Disney Plus with Hulu and ESPN Plus, offering a discount if you subscribe to more than one.

The launch of the ad-based Disney Plus tier has tweaked the various combinations and prices of the bundles:

$10 a month: Disney Plus and Hulu, both with ads
$13 a month: Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus, all three with ads
$20 a month: Ad-free Disney Plus and Hulu, plus ad-supported ESPN Plus

Disney has one additional bundle, but it’s only available for customers who already subscribe to it — you can’t enroll in it anymore. This bundle combines ad-free Disney Plus with ad-supported Hulu and ad-supported ESPN Plus for $15 a month.

Does Disney Plus have a free trial? Or other free offers?

Disney Plus no longer offers a standard free trial. It eliminated its one-week free trial program in June 2020.

But other deals may unlock Disney Plus free (or at no added cost).

For example, Disney and Verizon have a deal that will gives some customers on certain plans the Disney «bundle» — Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus — at no extra cost; you’re supposed to be eligible with Verizon’s higher-end 5G Play More, 5G Do More and 5G Get More unlimited plans, as well as its non-5G Get More or Play More. Other Verizon plans, such as its more affordable Start and Do More plans, have six months of Disney Plus included, but not the bundle. A Verizon websitehas the fine print with the terms those deals.

When do new movies and new shows hit Disney Plus?

All new titles are added to the service at midnight PT/3 a.m. ET on the day of their release.

Typically, Disney Plus releases new series episodes early Wednesday mornings, and original films tend to land early Friday mornings — but it isn’t an ironclad rule.

When will Black Panther: Wakanda Forever start streaming?

Disney hasn’t confirmed a streaming release date for the Black Panther sequel yet, but it’s reasonable to estimate that Wakanda Forever will likely start streaming sometime between late December and mid- to late January.

To make an educated guess about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s timing, it’s most helpful to look at the timeline for other Marvel films once Disney revived the practice of theatrical exclusives.

So far this year, Marvel theatrically released Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in May and Thor: Love and Thunder in July. Although Doctor Strange took 47 days to reach Disney Plus, Thor: Love and Thunder, its most recent Marvel movie, hit Disney Plus 62 days after its theatrical release. That’s closer in length to Marvel’s theatrical exclusives last year: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was in theaters for 70 days and Eternals, 68 days.

If Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were to match Doctor Strange’s 47-day timeline, it would be on Disney Plus on Dec. 28, tucked into the week after Christmas but before New Year’s Day. Every year, that week is an extraordinarily popular time for streaming — it’s often when Netflix racks up some of its biggest hits of all time.

But if Disney opts for Black Panther’s theatrical exclusive to be closer in length to that of its other Marvel movies, then Black Panther won’t become available to stream until mid- to late January, or possibly even later.

Disney’s timing decisions for Black Panther and other upcoming movies — the new Avatar movie and the next Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy films, to name a few — are likely to hinge on how much the company wants to generate box office dollars versus how much it wants to reel in new streaming subscribers and keep the ones it has.

What devices support Disney Plus?

Disney has wide device support, streaming to phones, tablets, computers, connected TVs and streaming media boxes. The company has global distribution agreements in place with Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku, Sony, Amazon, Samsung and LG. That encompasses the makers of:

Roku’s boxes, sticks and TVs.
Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.
Phones and TVs running on Android operating systems, as well as Chromecast streamers.
Xbox One.
PlayStation 4.
Amazon Fire TV devices.
Samsung smart TVs.
LG smart TVs.
Comcast X1 set-top boxes and Flex platforms.

What product features does the service include?

Video and audio formats: Disney Plus can stream 4K Ultra HD content in Dolby Vision, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos immersive audio. You can see a title’s available formats in any of the Disney Plus apps by clicking to that show or movie’s main page and then clicking on the «details» tab. The app for streaming boxes, like Roku and Apple TV, is also designed to briefly flash a symbol telling you the format that you’re watching; it appears in the upper right corner of the screen for a few seconds when a video begins to play.

Simultaneous streams: Every Disney Plus account can stream to four devices simultaneously and can create seven user profiles for different members of the household. Each account can pick an avatar of a Disney, Pixar, Marvel or Star Wars character, with more than 200 avatars available.

Mobile downloads: Disney Plus also offers unlimited mobile downloads for offline viewing. Subscribers can download to up to 10 mobile or tablet devices, with no constraints on the number of times a title can be downloaded. The number of titles stored at one time on a device depends on how much storage space is available on the device.

Languages and accessibility: The service supported English, Spanish, French and Dutch at launch, including in its user interface as well with audio support and subtitles for library content. Disney Plus originals and much of its library is available with multiple languages as the audio or as subtitles. The app also supports closed captioning, descriptive audio and navigation assistance to help subscribers with disabilities. (In July, the American Council of the Blind gave Disney Plus an achievement award for its descriptive audio, specialized tracks that describe the settings and the action taking place alongside a program’s dialogue.)

Parental controls: Disney Plus offers parental controls in the form of kids profiles. You can designate any profile to be in a kids mode, which has a simplified interface designed for younger viewers. These kids profiles limit the library to programming that’s rated TV-7FV and G in the US, or the equivalent ratings in other geographic markets.

Group watch: Disney has a group-watching feature, which lets you synchronize your stream of any title on Disney Plus with other accounts through the app, so you can watch a program at the same time as friends or family even if you’re apart.

Technologies

Motorola’s New Moto G and Moto G Play Pack a Key Gemini Feature at a Lower Price

Both the new $170 Moto G Play and $200 Moto G will get Google’s Circle to Search.

Motorola’s new low-cost Android phones will be among the cheapest to get Google’s Circle to Search. The new $200 Moto G and $170 Moto G Play for 2026, announced Tuesday, will ship with Android 16 and come with access to the Gemini-powered feature along with the Gemini assistant.

Google’s Circle to Search has been a particularly useful AI-powered feature since its debut, making it particularly noteworthy that it will now be available in devices that cost under $200. The $170 Moto G Play will arrive first on Nov. 13, followed by the $200 Moto G on Dec. 11.

Both phones will come with a 6.7-inch display and a 120Hz refresh rate, include 5G connectivity (which is a first for the Play series) and get a 5,200mAh battery.

The lower-cost Play phone will run on a Mediatek Dimensity 6300 processor and include 4GB of memory that can be virtually expanded to 12GB with the RAM Boost feature. That perk essentially borrows from the phone’s 64GB of onboard storage which can be expanded to 1TB with a microSD card slot, while its battery can be recharged at an 18-watt speed. It will also have a 32-megapixel main camera on the back, and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. It will come in one color called Pantone Tapestry, which has a blue-green shade.

The slightly pricier Moto G will also run on the same processor, but step up with 128GB of storage and a 30-watt wired charging speed. Its rear camera system leads with a 50-megapixel wide angle camera paired with a 2-megapixel macro camera, while its selfie shooter is a 32-megapixel camera. It will come in two colors, the Pantone Cattleya Orchid (a magenta-like shade) and Pantone Slipstream (a gray shade).

While I am glad to see lower-cost phones get Circle to Search, I am somewhat concerned that many of the specs in the 2026 edition of the Moto G are similar to the 2025 model — particularly the inclusion of 4GB of onboard RAM. I found the prior Moto G to have stability issues initially, which were largely resolved by using the RAM Boost setting to make the software simulate additional memory to assist with loading apps and multitasking. We’ll have to test to see if the new 2026 Moto G phones will optimize better under Android 16, and hopefully the bigger batteries will also allow these less-powerful phones to go even longer between charges.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Nov. 4, #1599

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Nov. 4, No. 1,599.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle begins with one of the least-used letters in the alphabet. (Check our full list ranking the letters by popularity.) If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels, but one is the repeated letter, so you’ll see that one twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with V.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with E.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to the place where something happens, especially an organized event such as a concert, conference, or sports event.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is VENUE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Nov. 3, No. 1598 was AWOKE.

Recent Wordle answers

Oct. 30, No. 1594: LATHE

Oct. 31, No. 1595: ABHOR

Nov. 1, No. 1596: MOTEL

Nov. 2, No. 1597: RABID

Technologies

Why You Should Consider a Burner Phone for Your Holiday Travel This Year

If you’re traveling internationally, carrying a simple phone that doesn’t store personal information can be a smart move when entering the US.

Travel is challenging enough, and this year adds a new hurdle. US border agents are stepping up searches of travelers entering the country — even US citizens returning from overseas — and that extends to their personal devices. These searches can go beyond a quick look, giving agents the authority to copy or analyze a phone’s contents.

According to new figures from US Customs and Border Protection, nearly 15,000 device searches were carried out between April and June, with over 1,000 of them using advanced tools that copy or analyze what’s on a phone. The rising numbers raise questions about how much personal data travelers may be handing over without realizing it.

So what’s the solution? A burner phone. It’s the ultimate defense for keeping your personal data private when you travel, ensuring you stay connected without handing over your entire digital life at the border.

But the appeal goes beyond privacy. A stripped-down phone is also the perfect escape from the constant notifications and screen-time vortex of your primary device. Even celebrities such as Conan O’Brien have embraced simpler phones to cut through the noise. Whether you’re crossing a border or just trying to cross the street without distractions, a burner might be the smartest tech you own.

Read more: Best Prepaid Phone of 2025

Although carriers have offered prepaid phones since the ’90s, «burner phones» or «burners» became popular in the 2000s following the celebrated HBO series The Wire, where they helped characters avoid getting caught by the police. Although often portrayed in that light, burners aren’t only used by criminals; they’re also used anyone concerned with surveillance or privacy infringement.

What is a burner phone, and how does it work? Here’s everything you need to know about burners and how to get one.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What is a burner phone?

A burner phone is a cheap prepaid phone with no commitments. It comes with a set number of prepaid call minutes, text messages or data, and it’s designed to be disposed of after use.

Burners are contract-free, and you can grab them off the counter. They’re called burner phones because you can «burn» them (trash them) after use, and the phone can’t be traced back to you, which makes them appealing to criminals. Burner phones are typically used when you need a phone quickly, without intentions of long-term use.

Burners are different from getting a regular, contract-bound cellphone plan that requires your information to be on file.

Why should you use a burner phone?

Burner phones are an easy way to avoid cellphone contracts or spam that you get on your primary phone number. Burners aren’t linked to your identity, so you can avoid being tracked down or contacted.

You don’t have to dispose of a burner phone after use. You can add more minutes and continue using it. Burner phones can still function as regular phones, minus the hassle of a contract.

You can also get a burner phone as a secondary phone for a specific purpose, like having a spare phone number for two-factor authentication texts, for business, or to avoid roaming charges while traveling. Burner phones are often used by anyone concerned with privacy.

Burner phones, prepaid phones, smartphones and burner SIMs: What’s the difference?

Burner phones are cheap phones with simple designs that lack the bells and whistles of a smartphone. Because they’re designed to be disposable, you only get the essentials, as seen by the most common version, the flip phone.

All burner phones are prepaid phones, but not all prepaid phones are burners. What sets a burner apart is that you won’t have to give away any personal information to get one, and it won’t be traceable back to you. Again, a burner phone is cheap enough to be destroyed after use.

Prepaid smartphones are generally low-end models. You can use any unlocked smartphone with prepaid SIM cards, essentially making it a prepaid phone.

If you want a burner, you don’t necessarily have to buy a new phone. You can get a burner SIM and use it with an existing phone. Burner SIMs are prepaid SIMs you can get without a contract or giving away personal information.

Where can you buy a burner phone?

Burner phones are available at all major retail outlets, including Best Buy, Target and Walmart. They’re also often available at convenience stores like 7-Eleven, local supermarkets, gas stations and retail phone outlets like Cricket and Metro.

You can get a burner phone with cash, and it should cost between $10 and $50, although it may cost more if you get more minutes and data. If you’re getting a burner phone specifically to avoid having the phone traced back to you, it makes sense to pay with cash instead of a credit card.

If you just want a prepaid secondary phone, you can use a credit card. Just keep in mind that credit cards leave a trail that leads back to you.

There are also many apps that let you get secondary phone numbers, including Google Fi and the Burner app. However, these aren’t burners necessarily because the providers typically have at least some of your personal information.

If you’re just looking to get a solid prepaid phone without anonymity, check out our full guide for the best prepaid phone plans available. We also have a guide for the best cheap phone plans.