Can You Bundle Streaming Services to Save Money?

Juggling streaming services has become a common complaint. With so many competing platforms, keeping up with all your favourite shows can cost a fair chunk of change each month, especially with the recent price increases from Netflix.

Unfortunately, while it was once somewhat common to find streaming service bundle discounts or inclusions when signing up for an NBN plan, these deals seem to have mostly dried up – barring the occasional limited-time offer. That said, there are still a few bundle options that might help, depending on which streaming services you use or secretly desire.

Optus SubHub

Optus’ SubHub platform bundles multiple streaming services into a single monthly bill. Not only can this make it easier to keep track of your spending, but you also get a small discount – 5 per cent off the whole bill for linking two services, or 10 per cent off for linking three or more.

So, how much will you save? It depends on the services you link to SubHub. Some popular examples are Binge, BritBox, Hayu, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime (for Prime Video), and YouTube Premium. For sports fans, there’s NBA League Pass and Optus Sport – though while adding Optus Sport counts towards your number of linked services, you don’t receive a discount for it.

Non-streaming services include a personal or family Microsoft 365 subscription, Google One, and Kindle Unlimited. There are more to choose from, but they start to get a bit niche at this point.

Before you jump on board, consider the overall cost. Optus’ NBN plans aren’t the cheapest on the market, so what you save in discounts might not equal what you’d save by going with a cheaper internet provider (more on this later). You’ll have to break out the calculator to figure out what’s best for your needs.

Here are Optus’ NBN plans:

If the free inclusion of a Standard Netflix subscription with an Optus Plus Family Entertainer plan caught your eye, take another look at the pricing and fine print. Family Entertainer plans have an introductory discount for the first six months, after which they go up in price. They eventually cost $20 per month more than a just-as-fast Everyday plan.

Given a Standard Netflix subscription is $18.99 per month, you’re really only saving $1 by taking this option over an Optus Everyday plan. Of course, the Family Entertainer plan has a few other perks, but only really if you want a WiFi booster with your Optus Ultra WiFi Gen2 modem router.

Hubbl

Hubbl is Foxtel’s latest attempt to muscle in on the streaming market. This set-top box lets you link your streaming services and receive a monthly discount on your bills. The only problem is the box itself costs $99. So, how much do you save?

“Stack” three services and save $5 per month, four to save $10, and five or more to save $15 per month. Some quick back-of-the-hand maths will tell you how long it’ll take to pay off that initial $99 investment. This matters more than you might think because these discounts only last for three years on each service. After that, it’s back to full price.

With a $5 per month discount, you’ll need to use Hubbl for 20 months before you start turning a profit. At $10 per month, it’ll take 10 months. And if you’re saving the full $15, you’ll get ahead after seven months.

But Hubbl only has five stackable streaming services at present, so you’d better hope your tastes match with what’s on offer if you want the full $15 discount. The eligible streaming apps are Binge, Netflix, Kayo Sports, LifeStyle, and Flash.

You can view other streaming services through Hubbl (including free-to-air TV), but they won’t count towards your stacked discounts.

You can sign up for the Hubbl here.

Sign up for a cheaper NBN plan

You might actually save more by looking at your monthly NBN bill, instead of your streaming services. Switching internet providers is easy, and there’s a decent chance you can cut costs by moving to a new ISP.

You can save even more by jumping between introductory discount periods, which means switching providers every six months or so. Of course, you’re probably unlikely to do that, so here are some of the cheapest NBN 50 plans on the market, ranked by total cost over the first 12 months:

It’s worth mentioning that, while Origin doesn’t have the cheapest NBN plans available, the provider will throw in 12 months of Paramount+ as a bonus if you’re a new customer to both services.

Here’s a look at some of the cheapest NBN 100 plans, ranked by total cost over the first 12 months:

---

Alex Angove-Plumb is a journalist at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website

Image: Disney