Hulu
Shares rank 11 of 20 streaming services by recommenders
Recommended for a few good shows and a good player, though its library is thin. Critics often cite rising prices and ads on ad-free plans.
Recommended for a few good shows and a good player, though its library is thin. Critics often cite rising prices and ads on ad-free plans.
39 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 30
- approval share
- 23%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Has some good shows
“I can only thing of 5-10 great Hulu shows; I don't really know what to watch on there.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “they do have some good stuff”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “TIL: Parental Controls Aren't for Parents”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Prices rise and costs add up
“all of them being independent monthly subscriptions ON TOP of your Internet plan that add up to being way more than your old cable or satellite subscription”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” “Creating islands of content exclusive to that platform and then raise prices after record breaking profits and mergers to create a monopoly?”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “$22/month for Hulu, $27/month for Netflix, Amazon Prime where you pay for the privilege of paying to rent some movies.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Waymo in Toronto” - Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “The lost joy of music piracy”
Ads on ad-free plans
“their supposedly "ad-free" plans will now be allowed to include ads and promotional content”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “see for example Netflix or Hulu, where you pay a subscription and are advertised to”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions” “I don't want to turn the platform to "Hulu" with their annoying ads.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Gaming Couch – a local multiplayer party game platform for 8 players” - Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “I built a demo of what AI chat will look like when it's "free" and ad-supported”
Content split across exclusives
“Creating islands of content exclusive to that platform and then raise prices after record breaking profits and mergers to create a monopoly?”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Disney+ and Hulu raise prices by up to 13 percent after doubling profits” “the overlap of libraries (Hulu and Disney are increasingly the same thing”
Comment from 10 Sep 2026 in “The same nine streaming subscriptions cost $702/year more than in 2021” “then we started getting some hulu exclusives (not available in Canada)”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “The Pirate Bay Remains Resilient, 20 Years After the Raid” Buggy app and playback issues
“Usually, it’s the app falling into a fugue state, at some point, as I am channel-surfing”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled” “it takes 30 seconds for the audio and video streams to sync up”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Why are streaming apps so bad (insiders only)?” “Why should I have to restart the app each time I navigate in?”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Turn Your YouTube Subscriptions into a Retro TV Guide”
Other streaming services people recommend
The four most recommended other streaming services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Premium | 197 | 195 | 50% | 13 | 10 yrs10 owners | — |
| Netflix | 181 | 538 | 25% | 12 | 15 yrs10 owners | — |
| Nebula | 58 | 17 | 77% | 12 | 2 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| HBO | 32 | 32 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| HuluThis page | 9 | 30 | 23% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
35 of the 40 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I just recently dropped Disney+ and Hulu from my ESPN unlimited subscription”
“$22/month for Hulu, $27/month for Netflix, Amazon Prime where you pay for the privilege of paying to rent some movies.”
“less frustrating (and wildly cheaper) than appleTV/netflix/hulu”
“I could be wealthy beyond my wildest dreams and still be turned off by their obnoxious changes.”
“the content hasn’t improved”
“These streaming services learned nothing from cable are just pushing people back to pirating”
“Creating islands of content exclusive to that platform and then raise prices after record breaking profits and mergers to create a monopoly?”
“I can only thing of 5-10 great Hulu shows; I don't really know what to watch on there.”
“their supposedly "ad-free" plans will now be allowed to include ads and promotional content”
“Hulu had a good player, Disney+ had a good library.”
“the overlap of libraries (Hulu and Disney are increasingly the same thing”
“it gradually felt like it got worse”
“Hulu was seen as “the worse netflix””
“showing how terrible their own catalog is”
“others (like Hulu) advertise stuff you can’t view at all.”
“corporations can't just take it away whenever they feel like”
“not be able to get access to major releases without paying more on top of the subs”
“then we started getting some hulu exclusives (not available in Canada)”
“see for example Netflix or Hulu, where you pay a subscription and are advertised to”
“To say nothing of Hulu or others.”
“all of them being independent monthly subscriptions ON TOP of your Internet plan that add up to being way more than your old cable or satellite subscription”
“making a very strong case to revert back to piracy”
“Then they started showing adds anyway and I cancelled.”
“Why should I have to restart the app each time I navigate in?”
“Hulu's ad free subs have some shows that show unambiguous ads.”
“Don't even want to talk about Disney+, HBO, or Hulu.”
“Cancelled Disney and Hulu when Kimmel was taken off.”
“they do have some good stuff”
“I don't want to turn the platform to "Hulu" with their annoying ads.”
“it was a pleasure watching some Hulu”
“Hulu "no ads" is even worse.”
“It's a lot of fluff on the same or even lower caliber than Netflix.”
“it takes 30 seconds for the audio and video streams to sync up”
“there were also Hulu and Apple TV discounts”
“Usually, it’s the app falling into a fugue state, at some point, as I am channel-surfing”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.