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6 Phone Plans That Offer a Free Streaming Service

Illustration: by Martin Gee

This article is regularly updated to include the latest deals available.

Nowadays you'd be hard-pressed to find someone without at least one streaming service, but multiple streaming services can add up. Hell, even one can be a splurge depending on the service. (HBO Max is $15 a month!!) If you're on a budget but still want to catch up on Netflix's The Circle one day and watch Disney+'s Loki the next, you might want to look into your mobile plan. From Verizon to T-Mobile, a lot of the major carriers have deals with streaming services, offering free subscriptions as a perk. We've put together this guide to give you the gist of what streaming deals are available through your phone plan. Read through the options and then go claim that free service!

The Deal: Free Netflix (but read the fine print), a year of Apple TV+ and Paramount+

T-Mobile is the only wireless carrier on this list to offer a partnership with the granddaddy of streaming — Netflix — but of course it comes with a few contingencies. Let's quickly break it down. A Netflix Basic Plan, which includes standard-definition streaming on only one screen at a time, comes free with a T-Mobile Magenta Plan with two or more lines or a Magenta MAX plan with a single line. If you want something a little better though, T-Mobile users can get a Netflix Standard plan (which includes HD and simultaneous streaming on two screens) if they bump up their Magenta MAX plan to two or more lines. And that's not all Magenta and Magenta Max plan users can get: T-Mobile is also offering free Apple TV+, and it can apply to new or existing subscribers to the streaming service. All you need to do to redeem is log in through your T-Mobile account. T-Mobile also announced a new deal in November for any of their postpaid consumer and home-internet plan users: a year of Paramount+ Essential. Like the deals above, this one applies to new and existing subscribers, and all you have to do is go to the T-Mobile site to redeem the offer, starting Tuesday, November 9.

The Deal: Free Hulu, Tidal, and possibly a year of Apple TV+

If you're a Sprint user who has been itching to watch the new season of Love, Victor or just need a place to watch The Bachelorette, we've got good news. Whether you're a new or current user, Sprint provides a free (ad-supported) Hulu plan to anyone who is part of their Sprint Unlimited Plus plan. It's a bit of a caveat, of course, but you even get Tidal for free, too. Then there's T-Mobile's offer of a year of free Apple TV+ that can extend to certain Sprint customers. If you're under a Sprint Unlimited Plus and Premium plan, then you can check here to see if you can snag that free deal.

The Deal: The Disney Bundle; a year of Discovery+; 6-12 months of AMC+; and Apple Arcade, oh my.

An unlimited phone plan with Verizon can get you not one, not two, not three, but up to five streaming services. It's quite literally showing off at this point. But with an unlimited plan, Verizon users can get the Disney Bundle which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, typically priced at $13.99 per month, so you'll get your Baby Yodas, your Handmaid's Tale and your sports for basically free. Along with that, you can also get a 12-month subscription to Discovery+, as well as Apple's gaming service, Apple Arcade, for up to 12 months. Though the deal for the latter Apple service is only available to claim until November 30. Verizon also announced another perk for its customers: AMC+. As part of a deal with AMC, Verizon users who buy a new 5G phone or sign up for Fios Home Internet will be able to claim the streaming service for 6 to 12 months, depending on which unlimited phone plan you get.

The Deal: An Amazon Prime Membership

While Metro is under T-Mobile, don't expect to get a Netflix deal as well. Instead, Metro users get a whole Amazon Prime membership with an unlimited plan. In addition to streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the Amazon membership includes the whole shebang: free shipping, exclusive deals, free music, free books, and access to Prime at Whole Foods Market.

The Deal: HBO Max

Who knows what will happen now that AT&T sold Warner Bros. to Discovery, but as of this writing, AT&T still offers HBO Max free with most of their unlimited plans. And even if you don't have a phone plan under AT&T, you can still get a free year of HBO Max with their internet and TV packages.

The Deal: The ad-supported tier of HBO Max and a free year-long Sam's Club membership

Owned by AT&T, Cricket Wireless is the latest mobile carrier to partner up with a big streamer — and, naturally, it is deal-happy HBO Max. To be eligible for it, though, you would have to be under Cricket's $60/mo. unlimited plan. Being under that specific plan would get you access to an ad-supported subscription to HBO Max, which basically guarantees you everything the streamer has to offer with commercials, except for the Warner Bros. films that land on the streamer and in theaters. Though those films usually roll back around onto the streamer months later. To access Cricket and HBO Max's new deal, all one has to do is download the add and then log in using their Cricket Wireless information, and then you're set. Oh, and we almost forgot to mention that Cricket Wireless, on the same $60/mo. unlimited plan, also offers a free year membership to Sam's Club and access to the Acorn savings app. Random? Yes, but it's free.

6 Mobile Plans That Can Get You a Free Streaming Service