The Max streaming service (sometimes still referred to as HBO Max) is one of the best video streaming services available today with a massive catalog of the best new movies, best new shows, and original programming. It’s got everything from classic HBO series like The Sopranos, alongside new favorites like the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon. Max is regularly adding new programming too, like the upcoming adaptation of Salem’s Lot. Alongside everything HBO has to offer, Max also includes a horde of Discovery-branded content. There are also the rumors that Paramount+ could eventually merge with Max, which would result, of course, in even more programming!
At the end of the day, Max is one of the most bountiful streaming platforms in town. The app can be accessed from just about any smart TV, streaming device, or web browser too. But how much will a Max subscription cost you? And is Max available outside the U.S.? This Max streaming service explainer includes the answers to both those questions, along with plenty other Max intel.
Max price
As of August 7, 2024, Max has three subscription tiers to choose from:
- Max with ads : Costs $10 a month or $100 a year. You’ll get all the same content with some advertising, but it all tops out in 1080p resolution. You should expect up to 4 minutes of ads per hour. You can also have two device streams occurring simultaneously.
- Max without ads : Costs $17 a month, or $170 a year. There are no ads, and you can download content (limited to 30 downloads) to watch offline on mobile devices. Resolution is still at 1080p (that’s a change from the old HBO Max), and you can stream on up to two devices at once.
- Max Ultimate ad free : Costs $21 a month or $210 a year. If you want anything in 4K resolution or anything with Dolby Atmos for audio, this is what you’ll need. You’ll also be able to stream on up to four devices at once.
Note that if your subscription is managed through another service — say, if you’re grandfathered in with a free plan because you have AT&T’s internet service — you may not yet have the option to upgrade to the Ultimate option.
Not yet global
There were a number of headaches on Day 1 for Max, mostly having to do with the fact that some platforms required you to download a new app, while others just updated the old HBO Max app.
And complicating that was that Max was a U.S.-only streaming service in the beginning. That led many to believe that Max was not working, when really it just wasn’t yet available. The reason for that almost certainly is because with the addition of Discovery content, the distribution rights had to be reworked, and that takes time.
So at launch, Max was available in the U.S., along with American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Additionally, as promised, Max has branched out internationally in some limited areas, including a handful of European countries and territories and in Latin America and the Caribbean. For the full list check out the Max website.
Watch Max with a VPN
If you live outside of the supported countries, you might still be able to watch Max via the old tried-and-true method of using a VPN. That’s short for virtual private network, and it’s a technology that basically directs all of your internet traffic through a specific set of servers in a specific location — say, inside the U.S.
Using a VPN to get around geofencing is a bit of a gray area (depending on who you ask), so just keep in mind that this could be a little bit of a cat-and-mouse game. It’s entirely possible that Max (like other some streaming services) could block the use of a VPN.
The good news? There are a lot of good VPN companies from which to choose.
What’s on Max?
Once you get over all that fuss over price and availability and bugs and whatnot, it’s time to get to the important part. What’s on Max.
You can break down the taxonomy like this: Max is everything HBO, plus Max Originals (those are shows and movies that aren’t on the old legacy HBO, but were/are on HBO Max. OK, it’s still confusing). Things like Game of Thrones, Succession, Sex and the City — the stuff that makes HBO HBO. And you’ll get movie releases, too, though that’s certainly not as important as it was in the years before streaming.
Plus you get all the other networks that made up HBO Max, like the DC universe, and all the Turner networks. That means TBS, TNT, CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Turner Classic Movies, TruTV, and Adult Swim. You’ll also find other networks like Studio Ghibli, Rooster Teeth, and Pogo.
And then there’s all the Discovery content and sub-brands — Naked and Afraid, Deadliest Catch, Dr. Pimple Popper — you get the gist.
That’s a lot of stuff in one place.
Where to watch HBO Max
This last part is the easiest. You can watch Max on pretty much anything that has an internet connection. That means streaming devices, like Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Google TV, and Android TV. The same goes for smart TV platforms from all the major manufacturers.
And you can always watch Max in a web browser if you’re on the go or just prefer to do things that way. The point is there’s nothing inherently special or difficult about watching Max.
