Hulu set to keep existing as standalone streaming service and app (for now)

Disney currently has no plans to shutter Hulu as a standalone streaming service or app, according to a company representative.

In a report from Variety today, the spokesperson said that Disney, which took total ownership of Hulu in June 2025, will continue to sell subscriptions to Hulu in the US and that “there are no current plans to sunset the Hulu app.”

Disney owned two-thirds of Hulu before closing its acquisition of the streaming service’s remaining third from Comcast last year. Since then, some reports have suggested that the Hulu app would be phased out in 2026, while others have speculated that Disney would likely, but not definitely, shutter Hulu. Disney’s statement today means that people should be able to continue watching stuff on Hulu without having to pay for Disney+ for the foreseeable future; although, Disney is free to change its mind at any point.

That it will continue to keep the app is good news for people who pay for Hulu+Live TV, which lets users watch broadcast channels or Hulu add-ons that add content from entities like Cinemax and Showtime. Disney+ doesn’t support either of those features currently but will do so “at a later date,” Disney said in an announcement today.

Meanwhile, Disney continues working to get Hulu and Disney+, which is 12 years younger, on the same backend technology infrastructure. Thus far, that work has included making available in March 2024 a Hulu tile in the Disney+ app where people can access content available from Hulu. Since then, users have been able to search for Hulu content within Disney+, and Hulu content recently watched through Disney+ appears on Disney+’s “Continue Watching” section. Notably, people only need a Hulu subscription and a “MyDisney” login—not a Disney+ subscription—to use the Disney+ app.

For many Disney+ and Hulu subscribers, that’s sufficient integration for ensuring it’s easy to watch Hulu content on Disney+. That level of integration involved determining how to unify “everything from login tools to advertising platforms, to metadata and personalization systems” and moving more than 100,000 individual assets/artwork, per a March 2024 report from The Verge. Disney has also said it would re-encode all of Hulu’s video files in order to create one master library with Disney+.

More work is needed to bring all of Hulu’s capabilities to Disney+, further drive app engagement through a preferred user experience, heighten Disney’s ability to track what users are streaming for advertising, crackdown on password sharing, improve recommendations, and simplify Disney’s streaming technology infrastructure for cost savings, reliability, and upgrades.

Today, Disney got closer to its ultimate goal and announced that some Hulu profiles can now link to Disney+, which will bring “their Hulu watch history, watchlist, and recommendations into Disney+.”

“Linking your 18+ profile will be available to eligible Disney+, Hulu bundle and Disney+, Hulu, ESPN bundle subscribers in the coming days and roll out to all bundle subscribers later this year,” Disney’s announcement added. Profiles accessing Disney+ through a bundle combining Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max are not currently eligible, Variety noted.

“Upon logging in [to the Disney+ app], Hulu-only subscribers will continue to enjoy a small sampling of Disney+ and ESPN content to get a taste of what is offered to bundle subscribers,” Disney said today.

Disney is also working to incorporate more features from Hulu into Disney+. It said today that it will start testing a new TV guide in Disney+ for live content, including 24/7 channels that play ABC News Live and The Simpsons. Additionally, Disney+ started supporting HDR10+, initially through over 1,000 Hulu titles, in October.

An example of the Live Guide Disney is planning to add to Disney+. Credit: The Walt Disney Company

Hulu lives on

Disney is unlikely to stop supporting standalone Hulu subscriptions or the app until it finishes unifying all of the technology powering Disney+ and Hulu and can deliver all the features and packages that Hulu offers through Disney+. It remains feasible that Disney will consider killing standalone Hulu subscriptions or, especially, the app at that time.

However, continuing to allow people to sign up for Hulu without Disney+ is beneficial. Currently, a Disney+ subscription starts at $12 per month, a Hulu subscription starts at $12/month, and a Disney+ and Hulu bundle starts at $13/month. That pricing makes the bundle feel like an excellent deal that would also look superior to paying $13/month for a version of Disney+ that incorporates Hulu’s entire library. Further, streaming customers are said to be less likely to cancel a streaming subscription if it is bundled with another subscription.

So it seems that at least while Disney continues the complex work of unifying the two streaming services, the option to be a Hulu-only subscriber will remain.