Breaking: You’ll Be Able to Have Hulu By Itself Even After the Hulu App Goes Away

During today’s quarterly investor call, Disney CEO Bob Iger was relatively tight-lipped about his streaming services. For the first time, the company refused to share subscriber numbers. But Iger did drop one big piece of news: “Consumers will always be able to get Disney+ or Hulu on its own.”

This news comes as a huge relief to people who don’t want one library or the other.

Disney+ is the family-friendly brand with Pixar, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Muppets, Disney Animated Classics, “Bluey” and other preschool titles, and big concert events from beloved musicians.

Hulu is the grown-up label with compelling originals, great documentaries, the wonderful shows of FX, and a treasure trove of current and older TV hits.

Together, the services provide a fairly well-rounded experience. But if you don’t have kids, you may not need Disney+. If you want grittier dramas, you may prefer HBO Max or Paramount+ over Hulu.

The ability to separate a subscription is pretty great. (We hope Netflix is taking notes if they do end up getting control of HBO Max.) The price savings with a bundle make it silly to drop one subscription or the other, but any freedom of choice is a welcome benefit in 2026.

One big question is whether Iger’s successor will keep the option open. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro is reported to be in line to take Iger’s job, and he could easily fuse the two services into one. Time will tell.

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