Peacock includes commercials but subscribers can pay more each month to remove them. The streaming service offers two tiers that not only vary on content, but also on their approach to ads.
Peacock launched nationwide in 2020 with three different plan options available. The basic Peacock plan was completely free, but limited on how many episodes and movies were available to watch. The now-discontinued free tier also included commercials.
With the free tier gone, new users only have the option of signing up to either the Premium or Premium Plus plan. In general, these two plans are very similar overall, with the main differences boiling down to local NBC, the ability to downloads videos to watch offline, and ads.
Peacock Premium with and without ads
A standard Peacock Premium subscription costs $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year. For the price, Premium subscribers get access to all the movies and shows available to watch on-demand. This is in addition to a selection of live channels and live sports events.
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As the standard Peacock Premium plan is an ad-supported plan, subscribers encounter commercials before, after, and often during, videos. This is in addition to ads during live content, including the selection of FAST channels and live sports events, including NFL.
In contrast, the Premium Plus plan is Peacock’s best plan. Priced at $13.99 a month, or $139.99 a year, Premium Plus unlocks access to a subscriber’s local NBC channel while also removing the ads from on-demand content.
To upgrade from Premium to Premium Plus:
- Visit the Peacock website
- Sign in
- Click on profile icon (top right corner)
- Click on Account (top right corner)
- Click on Change Plan (under Your Plan)
- Check the box next to Plus Option (Ad-Free)
- Select Change Plan
At the time of upgrading the subscriber will be charged an additional $6 a month, or $60 if signed up to the annual plan.
Even though Premium Plus is an ad-free plan, there are times when an ad-free subscribers will encounter ads.
Ad-Free Premium Plus Contains Some commercials
While subscribers to the standard Peacock Premium plan can expect to routinely see commercials, the ad-free Premium Plus plan is not completely ad-free. For starters, any and all live content will include ads. This includes all of the live channels and live sports events.
When it comes to the on-demand library, there are still times when commercials will be shown to ad-free subscribers. As Peacock explains, “Due to streaming rights, a small amount of programming, Peacock channels, live events, and a few TV shows and movies, will still contain ads.“
While paying extra for Premium Plus doesn’t guarantee all content will be available without commercials, the vast majority of content is available to stream ad-free. Again, this only applies to on-demand content, as all live programming, including live sports events, will inevitable include commercial breaks.
If ads are a deal-breaker, subscribers should consider signing up to the more expensive Premium Plus plan. While Premium Plus does still include some commercials, the ad-load is significantly lighter than the standard Premium plan.
That said, Peacock is a no-contract streaming service, so opting for the cheaper Premium plan and seeing if the ad-load is acceptable might be worth trying first. If the ads are too frequent, subscribers can easily upgrade to the ad-free plan at any time.
$8-14/mo
- Live Channels
- Live Sports
- NBC & Bravo Shows
