Cord-Cutters Report Rising Costs as Streaming Bundles Return

A new round of streaming bundles is arriving, promising to combine several services at a modest discount. For cord-cutters who now juggle five or six subscriptions, the appeal is obvious — but the math deserves a careful look.

Bundles save money only if you actually watch every included service. If two of the three apps in a bundle go unused, a la carte often wins. The most reliable way to cut your streaming bill remains rotating subscriptions: subscribe to one service, binge what you want, cancel, and move to the next.

We tracked the current bundle offers against standalone pricing and found the savings are real only for heavy viewers of all included apps. Light viewers are usually better off rotating.