Hulu is Finally Getting Rid of Its Ads—For a Price

One of the biggest complaints Hulu users have leveled against the video-streaming site is its glut of commercials. Now, Hulu is finally offering a solution for customers willing to open their wallets a bit wider.

On Wednesday Hulu announced a new “No Commercials” plan that removes advertisements from almost all of its shows. The new plan will cost about $12 per month, compared to the cheaper Hulu plan that costs $8 per month and features ads throughout shows. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which don’t feature ads, cost $9 per month and $8.25 per month (in the form of a $99-per-year subscription), respectively. Netflix also offers a $12/month plan that allows more simultaneous streams to different devices and higher resolution content.

Not every show on the ad-free plan will actually be ad-free. Because of its inability to secure the necessary streaming rights, Hulu will still show a handful of shows with commercials before and after episodes, including Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and New Girl.

The move is the latest aggressive tactic Hulu has taken this year as it tries to shake off its image as an also-ran in the streaming wars. The company signed a big-ticket deal to stream all episodes of Seinfeld in June and in August signed a nonexclusive deal with the pay-TV channel Epix for the rights to hit films like The Hunger Games and Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Hulu now has 9 million subscribers in the United States, compared to Netflix’s 41 million.