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Streaming Services to Cancel or Keep in July 2022

Vecna isn't the only reason to hold on to Netflix this month.

Kourtnee Jackson Senior Editor
Kourtnee covers TV streaming services and home entertainment news and reviews at CNET. She previously worked as an entertainment reporter at Showbiz Cheat Sheet where she wrote about film, television, music, celebrities, and streaming platforms.
Expertise Kourtnee is a longtime cord-cutter who's subscribed to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Crunchyroll, Sling, Spotify and more. As a real-life user of these services, she tracks the latest developments in streaming, the newest re Credentials
  • Though Kourtnee hasn't won any journalism awards yet, she's been a Netflix streaming subscriber since 2012 and knows the magic of its hidden codes.
Kourtnee Jackson
5 min read
The Stranger Things kids and Eddie Munson huddle around a table

It's a good time to cycle through your streaming service subscriptions, but don't miss Stranger Things 4.

Netflix

With Stranger Things 4 part 2 on Netflix, the service is a must-have for fans in July. There's still a while to go until House of the Dragon is available to watch on HBO Max, but does that mean you should cancel it for now? Every month you may need 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. In these difficult financial times, I'd like to offer one strategy: Churn like ice cream.

What does that mean? Subscribe, cancel, roll with a different service, then resubscribe, keeping your favorites in a rotation. The upside is that you get to save money when Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and others don't have the content you want to watch at a given time. Just remember to shut off auto-renewal for your monthly subscriptions. Churning may not be an option if you're sharing your accounts with people outside your household, but if you can work out an arrangement with your streaming partners, go for it.

To give you a head start this summer, here are my recommendations for which streamers to keep or cancel for the month of July, based on new TV shows and movies (I didn't consider sports and live TV streaming services) arriving on each platform. Of course your tastes may be different, but if nothing else, I urge you to at least consider the concept of churning for savings. It's easier than you might think.

Read more: An App That Helps You Negotiate a Lower Rate on Subscriptions Like Netflix and Spotify

Streaming Service Rotation for July 2022


KeepCancel
Netflix X
Disney Plus X
Hulu X
Apple TV Plus
X
Prime X
HBO Max

X
Starz X
Peacock
X
Paramount Plus
X

Why you should keep these services in July

Netflix: Anticipated releases include Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, Boo, Bitch (July 8), The Sea Beast (July 8); How to Build a Sex Room (July 8), a Resident Evil TV series (July 14), Virgin River season 4 (July 20) and The Gray Man starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Regé-Jean Page (July 22). Additionally, five new video games hit the platform in July.

Disney Plus: Last month, we advised you to drop Disney Plus in favor of waiting until July. With Ms. Marvel wrapping its first season on July 13, it's a good time to stream the entire show. The same goes for season 1 of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Baymax!, which released all six episodes on June 29. 

Kamala Khan takes the helmet of her homemade Captain Marvel costume in Ms. Marvel

July is a prime time to see Kamala Khan in every episode of Ms. Marvel on Disney Plus.

Marvel Studios

Hulu: Hulu is on the bubble for July, so it's up to you if you want to axe it. You can watch Only Murders in the Building season 2 throughout the month and into August, or wait until next month to binge it. Other releases landing in July include The Princess (July 1), The Bachelorette season 19 premiere (July 12), What We Do in The Shadows season 4 (July 13), Grown-ish season 5 (July 21), and The Bob's Burgers Movie (also on HBO Max July 12).

Starz: Sign up for Starz for $3 per month for six months if you're a new or returning customer. P-Valley has 10 episodes in season 2, with the majority airing in July. Viewers can finish Becoming Elizabeth season 1, and Spider-Man: No Way Home finally touches down on July 15.

Prime Video: If you already get this service through your Prime membership, you may as well keep it. The Boys airs its season 3 finale on July 8. Chris Pratt's new show, The Terminal List, drops on July 1 and House of Gucci begins streaming on July 2. Paying for a standalone Prime Video subscription? It's OK to cancel if you're not keen on The Boys. 

Put these streamers on hold for July

HBO Max: HBO Max has a few noteworthy drops in July, but waiting until August to watch it all works fine too. The Bob's Burgers Movie hits the platform on July 12, but it costs less to stream it on Hulu. Issa Rae's new show Rap Sh!t debuts on July 21. Harley Quinn -- which includes an appearance from James Gunn this season -- returns with season 3 on July 28. The new Pretty Little Liars spinoff, Original Sin, also premieres on July 28. With so many late July releases, you can hold off until next month or September to hit HBO Max for a binge session. 

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy lie on beach chairs while dressed in swimsuits

Harley Quinn fans can wait until August to start streaming season 3's 10 new episodes.

HBO Max

Apple TV Plus: No Ted Lasso, but newcomer Black Bird premieres July 8 if you're curious. Trying season 3 and Surface season 1 debut in late July, so you can put Apple TV Plus on the back burner for now. You can also wait until August to binge every episode of For All Mankind, because season 3 wraps on Aug. 12.

Peacock: If you're not game to watch Love Island USA (July 19), The Bad Guys (July 1), every John Wick movie or Tour de France, we suggest canceling Peacock or at least downgrading to a free account for July. 

Paramount Plus: Unless you're a Big Brother or South Park fan, you can probably leave Paramount Plus off your July roster. Big Brother season 24 lands on July 6, while South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2 arrives July 13. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ends its 10-episode run for its first season on July 7. 

Save more money by waiting things out

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 6- to 10-week run of a show, you can catch up on everything by subscribing for one month. And then repeat the cycle again.

As an example, there are 10 episodes of Harley Quinn this season on HBO Max. The finale airs in mid-September, so all episodes of her and Poison Ivy's "Eat, Kill, Bang" tour will be available to stream at that time. Though it premieres on July 28 and runs through August, why pay for both months when you can wait to watch it in full anytime in September? 

Think about how much you're paying per month for each streaming service you have, and do the math. Netflix is $10 to $20, Disney Plus is anywhere from $3 to $8 depending on bundles, HBO Max costs $10 or $15, Hulu starts at $7 and Starz runs $9. The others have a base rate of $5 per month. Should you decide to churn, set yourself a calendar reminder to ping you when it's time to re-subscribe or cancel. We'll see you in August for another streaming breakdown.

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