Cutting the cord was supposed to save money. Eight streaming services now cost a combined $139 a month

Cord-cutters escaped the cable bundle only to rebuild it, one streaming subscription at a time. Subscribing to eight major streaming services without ads or bundle discounts now costs $139.41 a month, or $1,672.92 a year, according to a calculation of the platforms’ published U.S. list prices as of Sept. 8, 2026. Choosing each service’s standard, full-catalog ad-supported option wherever one exists brings the bill down to $89.92 a month.

That puts the full ad-free streaming stack within a few dollars of the cable bill many viewers fled from in the first place. In 2016, the average pay-TV bill reached $103.10 a month, according to Leichtman Research Group data. Based on the Consumer Price Index, that 2016 bill would equal approximately $143 in July 2026—only about $4 more than today’s $139.41 ad-free streaming lineup. Although the products are not identical, the narrow difference helps explain why streaming can still be technically, barely cheaper without feeling like much of a bargain.

The $89.92 ad-supported bill comes with another catch. It is roughly what a comparable lineup of eight services cost without ads four years ago, using historical prices reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Cord-cutting is no longer an automatic way to save money. Streaming still gives households more control than cable, but keeping it affordable now requires constant attention—downgrading plans, pursuing bundles, canceling unused subscriptions or cycling among services.

The calculation includes Netflix, Apple TV, Disney , Hulu, Paramount , Peacock, HBO Max and Prime Video. For the ad-free total, Fortune used each service’s least expensive ad-free monthly plan. For the ad-supported total, it used the standard full-catalog plan wherever one was available. Apple TV has no ad-supported tier, so its full $14.99 price is counted in both totals. Prime Video’s $8.99 standalone subscription includes commercials, while removing them costs an additional $4.99 a month.

How streaming’s original bargain unraveled

No service captures the shift more clearly than Apple TV. It launched at $4.99 a month in November 2019 and now costs $14.99 after Apple raised the price by $2 on Aug. 28. That amounts to a 200% increase in under seven years.

Disney follows close behind. It........

© Fortune