Paramount+

As of mid-2026 the Essential plan runs about $4.50 per month. It is ad-supported and leaves out several things: no Showtime catalog, no 4K, no downloads for offline viewing, and no ad-free experience. Premium sits near $6.99 per month and drops ads (apart from within some live TV), folds in the Showtime library, allows downloads, adds your live local CBS station, and enables 4K on select titles.

If you mostly stream at home and don't mind ad breaks, Essential covers the core library. If you want Showtime series, offline downloads for travel, or live CBS, the roughly two-dollar monthly step up to Premium is usually the better value than paying separately for those pieces elsewhere.

Paying yearly is the plainest discount. The annual Essential plan has been priced around $89.99 and annual Premium around $139.99, which works out to roughly two months free compared with paying month to month for the same tier. Full-time students can go further: a verified student discount has offered 50 percent off for 12 consecutive months on either plan, with eligibility confirmed through SheerID. If you qualify, that student rate typically beats the annual prepay, so check it first.

Paramount+ periodically runs limited-time promotions and free-trial windows, often heavier around major sports or new-season launches. These come and go, so a code that worked last month may be gone today. Treat a trial as a way to clear your watchlist before deciding between Essential and Premium rather than as a permanent discount. It also helps to remember that the plan you start on isn't locked in — you can switch tiers or drop to annual billing once you know which shows and sports you actually return to, so there's little reason to overbuy in the first month.