June Is Busy for Streaming Services. Let’s Help You Decide Which Ones to Keep

If there’s one month during the summer you want to have the big three streaming services — Netflix, Max and Disney Plus — on your roster, it’s June. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still consider your wallet, especially if you may now be paying for extra people to use your Netflix account.

Avatar: The Way of Water hits Disney Plus and Max (formerly HBO Max) on the same day, and Manifest, Black Mirror and The Witcher all return to Netflix. Though AMC Plus isn’t on this list, The Walking Dead: Dead City debuts with Negan front and center. It’s time to get your favorite streamers in order. 

Every month you may want to weigh whether to cancel a streaming service because of the content that’s currently available and how much you’re paying for each service. I want to offer one strategy: Churn like butter.

What does that mean? Subscribe, cancel, roll with a different platform, then resubscribe. Rotating services as needed helps save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, Max and others don’t have the content you want to watch at a given time. Just remember to shut off autorenewal for your monthly subscriptions. Churning may not be an option if you’re sharing your accounts with people outside your household, of course. But if you can work out an arrangement with your streaming partners, go for it. 

Here are my recommendations for which streamers to keep or cancel for June, based on new shows and movies (I didn’t consider sports and live TV streaming services) arriving on each platform. Naturally, your tastes may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to at least consider the concept of rotating for savings. It’s easier than you might think.

Read more: Best Streaming Services of 2023

Hold on to Disney Plus, Netflix and Max

Disney Plus: If you didn’t catch it in theaters, Avatar: The Way of Water lands on June 7. Marvel also rules with a new Stan Lee documentary (June 16) and the premiere of Secret Invasion on June 21.

Netflix: It’s time to say goodbye to a few shows in June, including Manifest. Here are the standouts on Netflix this month:

• Manifest, season 4, part 2 (June 2)
• Arnold (a documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger, June 7)
• Never Have I Ever, season 4 (June 8)
• Bloodhounds (K-drama, June 9)
• Human Resources, season 3 (June 9)
• Black Mirror, season 6 (June 15)
• Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (anime, June 16)
• Extraction 2 (June 16)
• The Witcher, season 3, volume 1 (June 29)
• Nimona (June 30)

Max: One week after revamping HBO Max to Max and adding more Discovery Plus content, the platform has a few notable debuts for its June slate.

• Magic Mike’s Last Dance (June 2)
• The Idol (controversial new series starring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd, June 4)
• Avatar: The Way of Water (June 7)
• The Righteous Gemstones, season 3 (June 18)
• Downey’s Dream Cars (June 22)
• Warrior, season 3 (June 29)

There’s also TNT’s AEW All Access (June 9), a new season of We Baby Bears (June 18) and 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days (June 4).

Hulu: Two years after a successful first installment, the second season of Cruel Summer arrives June 6. The Flamin’ Hot movie dives into the true story of Richard Montañez on June 9, but you can also stream it on Disney Plus. Other Hulu releases include The Wonder Years, season 2 (June 15) and The Bear, season 2 (June 22).

Starz: Outlander, season 7 is here on June 16, and fans won’t want to miss out. Right now, there’s a special deal where you can get Starz for $5 per month for three months.

Consider canceling these services in June

Prime Video: If you don’t already have Prime Video, I suggest waiting to sign up in July as the buzziest titles hit around the end of June and into July. Of course, if you already receive access through your Prime membership, don’t worry about canceling the streaming app. Here’s a sample of what’s coming: Dead Loch (June 2), I’m a Virgo (June 23) and Jack Ryan, season 4 (June 30). 

Peacock: The entire eight-episode season of Based on a True Story, starring Chris Messina and Kaley Cuoco, will post on June 8. You may want to cancel Peacock after a binge unless you’re a fan of Days of Our Lives, sports and Bravo’s reality shows.

Paramount Plus: New releases include iCarly, season 3 (June 3) and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 2 (June 15). If you prefer, you can skip the platform this month and wait to binge these shows in a few weeks.

Apple TV Plus: Ted Lasso just ended on May 31, so do you really want to keep Apple TV Plus? If you do, Idris Elba’s new series, Hijack, debuts June 28, and Silo’s finale airs on June 30. Otherwise, cancel the service for now.

Save more cash by waiting

If you’re not someone who routinely gets FOMO, then a smart method is to wait until the bulk or all episodes of your favorite series land on a platform. That way, rather than pay for a service for two or three months to cover the six- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle.

For example, there will be eight episodes of Secret Invasion on Disney Plus. The finale drops in August, so all episodes of Marvel’s show will be available to stream at that time. Though it premieres on June 21 and runs through August, save yourself three months of fees by waiting to stream it in full anytime in August or September. You can do the same thing with Cruel Summer on Hulu or the nine-episode run for The Righteous Gemstones on Max.

Note how much you’re paying per month for each streaming service, and do the math. Apple TV Plus is $7. Netflix is $7 to $20 (plus fees for extra members), Disney Plus is anywhere from $2 to $11 depending on bundles, Max costs $10 to $20, Hulu starts at $8 and Starz runs $9. The others have a base rate of $5 per month (for now). Should you decide to churn, set yourself a calendar reminder to alert you when it’s time to resubscribe or cancel. We’ll see you in July for another streaming rundown.