Disney Plus ditches its free trial

Just a few weeks before it premieres the Hamilton movie on 3 July 2020, Disney Plus opted to ditch its 7-day free trial offer. Punters taking the streaming service for a whirl will now fork out for their first month’s subscription fee ($8.99 in Australia) upon signing up.

The decision comes just a few months after Netflix stopped offering its own free trial in Australia.

It’s understandable in the case of Netflix. Netflix has offered its services in Australia for over five years now, and you’d be stretched to find an Australian who hasn’t taken advantage of the free trial already. But Disney Plus is still relatively new to the market. With such a sparse collection of originals on the service, it’s already struggling to find its feet as another paid streaming alternative.

Hamilton is bound to attract a different demographic than The Mandalorian before it, so there’ll be no shortage of Australians looking to sign-up come Friday, 3 July, but there’ll be no free rides on Disney’s latest attraction.

While media giants Netflix and Disney Plus are no longer playing ball, there are still plenty of free trials kicking about if you're looking at spending less on your streaming this weekend.

Stan still offers a 30-day free trial, and Foxtel's recent spin-off Binge offers 2 weeks free. Foxtel Now will give you 10 days of streaming at no cost, and Kayo subscriptions kick off with a 2-week free trial. Global competitor Amazon Prime Video also has a 30-day free trial offer (which only costs you $6.99 per month anyway).