HBO Max Standard: What the Cheapest Ad-Free Tier Does and Does Not Include
Standard is HBO Max’s entry-level ad-free plan at $18.49 a month or $184.99 a year. It removes advertising from shows and films, but it stops at 1080p and two devices — 4K sits behind the Premium tier at $22.99.
★ Verified at a glance
- Standard: $18.49/month or $184.99/year, excluding tax
- Basic with Ads: $10.99/month — roughly 6 minutes of ads per hour
- Premium: $22.99/month or $229.99/year — adds 4K and 4 devices
- Standard: 1080p maximum, 2 simultaneous devices, 30 downloads
- Live events carry ads on every tier
Where Standard sits
HBO Max runs three tiers. Basic with Ads is $10.99 a month and carries roughly six minutes of advertising per hour. Standard, at $18.49, removes ads from shows and films and adds 30 offline downloads. Premium, at $22.99, is the only tier with 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Atmos and four simultaneous devices.
These prices took effect on 21 October 2025 for new subscribers and from the first billing cycle on or after 20 November 2025 for existing ones.
The resolution ceiling
Standard tops out at Full HD 1080p. Live sports on Standard do stream in 1080p with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR 10, which softens the blow — but if you bought a 4K television for streaming, the ad-free tier you want is Premium, not Standard.
“Ad-free” is not absolute
HBO Max documents that live events contain ads regardless of subscription tier, and that sports programming carries the same commercial breaks as the TBS, TNT and truTV broadcasts. Standard removes advertising from the on-demand catalogue, not from everything you can watch in the app.
Downloads
Standard includes 30 downloads. Premium raises that to 100. Basic with Ads lists no download allowance at all, which is a meaningful difference if you watch on planes or trains and were considering the cheapest plan.
Who should pick which
Basic with Ads if you watch at home, on one screen, and six minutes an hour does not bother you. Standard if advertising does bother you and 1080p is enough. Premium if you have a 4K set, an Atmos system, or more than two people watching at once — that last one is often the real reason to upgrade, not the picture.
Sources: HBO Max: plans · HBO Max: plan details
How this was checked: figures on this page were read from the sources linked above on 26 August 2026. We have not tested this product ourselves; where a figure is the maker’s claim rather than an independent measurement, we say so. Prices change — check the retailer before buying. See our Editorial Policy.
