# HBO Max 7 Hacker News commenters recommended HBO Max and 35 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for covering most video needs and having less filler than rivals, and still affordable. Critics say post-merger changes, ads, and price rises have hurt it. ## Why people recommend it - Covers most video needs (1 comments): "these two platforms covers 95% of my video content needs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46162594)) - Less filler than rivals (1 comments): "HBO may have less content but there's also less garbage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160789)) - Established, long-running streaming brand (1 comments): "HBO/Max under Warner is far more established in terms of forward looking/facing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48984323)) - Still affordable (1 comments): "where it is still affordable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46164209)) ## What people warn about - Less good than original HBO (5 comments): "HBO isn't what it used to be and probably isn't worth combing back to any time soon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46137813)) "Discovery's awful content push out quality HBO content was already a major blow." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46162653)) "HBO was never what you thought it was, and HBO Max definitely wasn't." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46162126)) - Botched Max rebrand (3 comments): "After that complete fumble of HBO becoming "Max" they were at their last legs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160911)) "The "Max" fiasco was pretty much the strangest branding mistake ever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46161292)) "The branding debacle around HBO streaming service was malpractice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46163325)) - Frequent price increases (2 comments): "the drip-feed of price increases in such a short time pissed me off enough to cancel" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46650022)) "not be able to get access to major releases without paying more on top of the subs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48931744)) - Slow app loading (2 comments): "All the streaming apps work well, except for HBO Max which takes a few minutes to load." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46251891)) "On an Apple TV with first gen Homepods connected it is incredibly laggy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46134047)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [YouTube Premium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/youtube-premium.md): 197 recommend - [Netflix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netflix.md): 181 recommend - [Nebula](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nebula.md): 58 recommend - [HBO](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hbo.md): 32 recommend - [Amazon Prime Video](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-prime-video.md): 29 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=HBO+Max+subscription&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.hbomax.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "HBO Max", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hbo-max/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).