First, the promo codes dried up, then the offers to departing subscribers stopped happening. Now comes word that the last reliable way to stream Paramount+ for free will soon go away.
In a letter to its shareholders reporting its third-quarter 2025 results, Paramount announced that it will be “retiring free trials” in an effort to “prioritize quality growth that delivers strong returns.”
The news comes from David Ellison, the new CEO of Paramount, who also announced yet another round of price increases for Paramount+, with the ad-supported Paramount+ Essential plan going up a buck a month to $8.99/month while the ad-free Premium plan will get a $1-a-month price hike to $13.99/month.
Annual Paramount+ streaming plans are going up too, with a year’s worth of Paramount+ Essential increasing to $89.99 a year while a year of Premium will cost $139.99.
All the price increases are slated to take effect January 15, 2026, meaning there’s still time to lock in an annual Paramount+ plan at the current price ($59.99 a year for Essential, $119.99 for Premium).
Paramount+ has been getting increasingly stingy about its free streaming offers. Not all that long ago, it was a snap to get a code for a free month of Paramount+ streaming, while those attempting to cancel Paramount+ frequently got offers for free extensions.
There was even a strange Paramount+ quirk where those who did cancel could still stream Paramount+ for free even after their subscriptions ended.
But then the Paramount+ promo codes vanished, and the so-called “Paramount+ Pit” that granted free streaming access to departing subscribers got filled up.
That left the standard seven-day free trial for new subscribers as the last reliable way to stream Paramount+ for free, but that option appears to be going away, too.
As of this writing, there is still a free weeklong trial available on Paramount+’s website, but there’s no telling how long it will remain.
Aside from nixing free trials, Paramount says it will also be “reviewing discount practices” to help “build a large, loyal, and profitable subscriber base” (emphasis mine).
So while Paramount+ may yet offer some sweet discounts as Black Friday approaches, the days of effortlessly snagging free Paramount+ access appear to be drawing to a close.
