Is Peacock free? Here's everything you need to know

Is Peacock free? It was for a long time, but things changed in 2023. Let’s tell you all about the situation and find out if you can still enjoy Peacock without paying.

Is Peacock free?

The short answer is: no, you can’t really watch Peacock for free anymore.

Peacock used to offer a free tier financed by advertising, which you were forced to watch during short ad breaks. This free plan didn’t include all the content, though.

Peacock stopped being free in early 2023, but only for new customers. Previous subscribers could still enjoy the free plan for some months. Later in the year, in June, it stopped being free for everyone, and it also stopped being offered to Xfinity customers for free. You can still get Peacock Premium included for free, but only if you get gigabit internet, and the offer is limited to 24 months.

Was the free plan even worth it?

It would be hard to argue that the Peacock free tier wasn’t worth it. It was free, after all. You were paying for it by sitting through ads, though. And you had to accept a limited library.

Where Peacock’s free tier really failed was in its limited access to Peacock’s original series. While having reduced access to movies and shows might have made you lose interest in Peacock eventually. The way original shows were included forced you to either abandon them after one episode or commit to a paid tier. In that way, free Peacock was almost like a teaser service.

So, whether it was worth it depends on you. If you like having access to a few titles you won’t get anywhere else and you don’t mind ads, then Peacock’s free plan was absolutely worth it. If you wanted to watch the MacGruber show or check out new Peacock original movies? Not so much.

Regardless, the option is no longer available. Now, you have to pick between two paid plans if you want to get in on the Peacock fun.

Peacock’s plans: an overview

Peacock Premium

Peacock actually has two paid plans. The two plans mostly include the same access to Peacock’s content. That means you have unlimited access if you’re a paying customer.

For $6 per month or $60 per year, you get Peacock Premium. You’ll get unlimited access to all the movies, TV shows, and more, including new movies from theaters. The only downsides are that it’s still ad-supported, you can’t download content, and you’ll miss out on your local NBC live channels.

Peacock Premium Plus

If you bump that up to a Peacock Premium Plus subscription for $12 per month or $120 per year, you get to drop all of the ads, download content for offline viewing, and access your local NBC live channels.

You can cancel either plan at any time. You can also delete your account, if you prefer.

Why did Peacock kill its free plan?

It’s said nothing in life is free, and such is the case for Peacock’s content. Operating the streaming service has its costs, and 2022’s Comcast reports suggested the service was at significant losses. Apparently, it has yet to turn a profit since its 2020 launch.

On the brighter side, the same report claims Peacock’s paid subscriber count more than doubled, surpassing 20 million. The company seems to have taken this opportunity as a chance to focus on its premium offerings, hoping to finally turn a profit soon.

Regardless, Peacock isn’t commenting much on the matter.

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