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Is There A Starz Free Trial? It’s Complicated

John Finn Avatar
Starz free trial

Starz does offer a free trial but it isn’t always available due to the service also routinely offering various promotions and deals that lower the cost of a subscription. Therefore, whether an individual or household can actually sign up to a Starz free trial will often depend on when they are signing up. Adding to this, how the consumer signs up can also affect the availability of a free trial, and how long it lasts.

Starz might only be one of many streaming services to choose from, but it does provide access to a selection of shows and movies that are only available to stream with the service. A standard Starz subscription costs $8.99 per month, and although that’s far from being the most expensive service around, a free trial can be a good way to check out what the service has to offer before having to commit to a paid subscription.

The standard Starz free trial is 7 days. However, Starz doesn’t always make the option of a free trial available. Essentially, if Starz is offering a deal at the time, it is also unlikely to offer a free trial at the same time. One of the more common deals that Starz offers throughout the year is to sign up for six months at a discounted price per month. When this deal or others like it are available, a free trial tends not to be.

Making matters more difficult for those that want a free trial, there’s not usually any way to opt out of any current deal offered. These promotions tend not to require a promotional code and are instantly applied to all new sign-ups. Consumers can head over to the Starz website at any time to check if a free trial or a promotion is currently available. The user just needs to click on the Sign Up or Claim Special Offer link on the website and on the next page Starz will advise if a free trial is available. If it doesn’t say there is a free trial available, and is offering a promotion instead, users should assume that a free trial won’t be available if signing up at that time.

Signing up through another service

For those intent on testing Starz out before having to pay, there are options. The easiest and quickest one is to sign up through another service. Although there are benefits to signing up to a streaming service like Starz directly through the website or through its platform apps, there can also be benefits to signing up through another service. Even though HBO Max no longer offers a free trial, if someone signs up to HBO Max through YouTube TV they will gain access to a 7-day free trial. For those looking to sign up to Starz, the situation is very similar.

If signing up to Starz through YouTube TV, consumers are able to take advantage of a 5-day free trial. This is irrespective of whether Starz happens to be offering a deal or discount at the time. It is also possible to sign up to Starz and many other premium networks through YouTube TV without the base plan. In fact, those signing up without the live TV plan may find it to be even more beneficial. For example, while YouTube TV is currently offering its live TV subscribers the option to sign up to Starz with a 5-day free trial, it is offering those without a live TV subscription the option to sign up to Starz with a 7-day free trial.

For reference, YouTube TV is not the only option. Consumers will find that a number of services offer access to other subscriptions, including Starz. For example, the Philo live TV service offers a 7-day free trial to Starz. Likewise, The Roku Channel also offers a seven-day free trial and this is likely to be a good option for those using a Roku device and not wanting to sign up to through another paid subscription service.

A free trial might not be the best option

Even though there are plenty of services that make it possible to gain access to a Starz free trial at any time, and even though Starz also sometimes offers a free trial directly, some may find that a free trial is not actually be the best option. Once the free trial does come to an end, those subscribers will automatically be charged the monthly rate. Whether it is directly through Starz, or through most third-party services, this will typically result in a $8.99 payment unless the subscription is canceled before.

For those sure that Starz is not the right service for them, the free trial is likely to be a better and cheaper option, providing they cancel in time. However, if an individual or household is likely to remain subscribed for longer than the first week, then it may make more sense to actually opt for one of the various deals or promotions instead. As an example, even though a $3 per month deal doesn’t come with a free trial it would take almost three months to pay the same amount a consumer would pay after one week when signing up for a Starz free trial.

Again, whether it is better to seek out and sign up for a Starz free trial or simply take advantage of one of the deals and promotions will depend on the individual subscriber or their household. Essentially, a free trial is good for those that are unsure of a service like Starz, or for those that only want very short-term access. Otherwise, one of the routine Starz deals is likely to prove more beneficial than a free trial.

John Finn

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