Paramount Plus does offer an annual plan and it will save consumers money on the cost of a subscription, but there are some points to be aware of before signing up to a yearly plan. In spite of the overall cheaper cost, some individuals and households may find the annual plan is not the right option for them.
Paramount+ offers two main subscriptions for consumers to choose from. First up is the Essential plan which costs $4.99 per month when subscribed to monthly. The second is the Premium plan which increases the monthly cost to $9.99. As to be expected, there are some important differences between the Essential and Premium plans, including the use of ads. Therefore, before choosing whether to pay monthly or yearly, consumers will need to decide on which plan is best suited to their individual needs.
In general, the Paramount Plus annual plan results in a 16% saving over the course of the year. If opting for the Essential plan, the annual subscription through the Paramount+ website costs $49.99 per year. There are two ways of looking at the savings. The first is that the $49.99 cost results in the monthly price dropping down to around $4.16. The other way is that subscribers get two months of the year for free. If opting for the Premium annual plan, Paramount+ charges $99.99 per year. Once again, this is best understood as either two months for free, or the cost decreasing to around $8.33 per month.
Subscribe annually or monthly to Paramount+?
It is clear that the annual Paramount+ plan is cheaper overall and, for some, this may be enough of a reason to subscribe on a yearly basis. However, there is a major caveat here and that’s the commitment involved. If considering signing up to Paramount+ just to watch one show or for a limited time, the yearly price might not be worth it. Although it is cheaper over twelve months, that’s providing the account holder remains subscribed for the full year. If the service does not contain enough content to keep an individual or household entertained all year then there’s no point paying for a full year. Not to mention, these annual plans do also require the subscriber to pay the full amount up front. For some, paying the much smaller amount each month might be more manageable, even if it works out to be more expensive over twelve months.
Another point to keep in mind is Showtime. If a household is already subscribed to Showtime, then they may actually be better off bundling Showtime and Paramount+ together. For example, a combined Essential plan plus Showtime subscription costs just $9.99 per month, while the combined Premium plan plus Showtime subscription costs $12.99 per month. For those consumers that want access to both services at the same time, the bundled monthly price might prove to be a better and cheaper option than an annual plan.
Technically, Paramount Plus does also offer bundled annual plans as well. For example, consumers can sign up for both the Essential plan and Showtime for a full year and only pay $99.99 in total. Likewise, they can also sign up to the Premium plan and Showtime bundle for $129.99 in total. Again, these bundled annual subscriptions do result in even more savings over the course of twelve months, but do come with the same points to keep in mind. The main one being whether an individual or household actually sees enough value in remaining a subscriber to both services for a full year instead of opting in and out on a monthly basis depending on when there’s content they want to watch.
Paramount+ annual plans summary
Paramount Plus offers the option to pay annually for a standalone Paramount+ subscription or for a combined Paramount+ and Showtime subscription. In addition, both the single and bundle yearly subscription options can be set up with either the Essential (with ads) or the Premium (without ads) plans. Irrespective of the plan or bundle chosen, consumers can expect to save a minimum of 16% on the cost of a subscription over the course of a full year when compared to paying for the same service(s) each month.
Regardless of whether signing up to the monthly or yearly plans, and whether combining Paramount Plus with Showtime, it is worth keeping in mind that automatic billing is always in effect. In other words, subscribers will need to make sure they cancel their Paramount+ subscription before the current billing cycle ends if they want to avoid being charged either the next month or the next year’s full subscription cost once again.
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