Hulu is officially on its way out as a standalone app. By 2026, Disney plans to merge Hulu into Disney+, creating one unified streaming experience. If you’ve been juggling multiple apps to watch your favorite shows, this might simplify things—but there are still some big questions hanging in the air.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that Hulu will be fully integrated into Disney+ in 2026. The idea is to bring everything—from Marvel movies and Star Wars series to Hulu originals like The Bear and Only Murders in the Building—into a single app. No more switching back and forth between services.

“Today, we’re announcing a major step in enhancing our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney Plus,” said CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston. “This will deliver a powerful entertainment package — combining top-tier brands and franchises, general entertainment, family programming, news, and industry-leading live sports — all within a single app.”

You’ll still be able to subscribe to Disney+ or Hulu individually if you want, but the separate Hulu app will be phased out. Instead, Hulu content will show up as a dedicated section within Disney+, similar to how the service already organizes Marvel, Pixar, and National Geographic content.

Live TV on Hulu is getting a bit of a shakeup too. Disney has announced a joint venture with Fubo, a streaming service focused on live sports. Hulu + Live TV will eventually be absorbed into Disney+, but for now, it’ll continue to operate separately. At some point in 2026, though, you’ll start seeing Hulu’s live channels rolled into the Disney+ experience.

If you currently watch channels like ESPN or ABC through Hulu + Live TV, expect a transition. Fubo is taking on the infrastructure and user base, but Disney will still play a big role—owning a majority of the joint venture.

Disney is also launching a separate ESPN streaming service on August 21, 2025. This one’s designed for sports fans and includes access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN on ABC, and more. The catch? It’ll cost $29.99 per month.

That’s on the high end for a streaming service, but Disney is hoping the mix of live sports—including future WWE pay-per-views—will make it worth the price. There will also be a bundle deal: for the same $29.99, you can get Disney+ + Hulu + ESPN for the first 12 months.

It’s clear Disney is banking on sports fans to shell out for premium content—and they’re offering options for those who want everything in one place.

This big shift follows Disney’s full buyout of Hulu. In 2025, the company wrapped up its deal with Comcast, purchasing the remaining 33% of Hulu for nearly $9 billion. Now that Disney owns it outright, consolidating Hulu and Disney+ is a logical next step.

From a business standpoint, running both services on the same tech platform is expected to cut costs and streamline operations. It also helps Disney combine ad sales across both services and potentially reduce subscriber churn by making things simpler for viewers.

Will prices change? That’s still unclear. Right now, Disney+ and Hulu each cost $9.99/month for the ad-supported version. You can already get them bundled for $10.99/month with ads, or $19.99/month without. Disney hasn’t announced any changes yet, but with all these integrations happening, some pricing adjustments wouldn’t be surprising.

Also worth noting: Disney has decided to stop reporting individual subscriber numbers for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Netflix and Amazon have already done the same, so it looks like transparency is going out of style in the streaming world.

If you’re already subscribed to both Disney+ and Hulu, you probably won’t notice much change at first—aside from having one less app to open. Your favorite Hulu originals will still be around, just living under the Disney+ umbrella. And if you’re someone who only uses one of the platforms, you’ll still be able to subscribe to them separately (at least for now).

The live TV situation is a bit more complicated, especially with the Fubo partnership in play. But if you watch ESPN or other live sports regularly, the standalone ESPN app or the new bundle may offer some value—if you're okay with the monthly price tag.

Disney’s move to combine Hulu and Disney+ isn’t happening in isolation. Other companies are doing similar things. Paramount just merged with Skydance, Netflix is building a $900 million production hub in New Jersey, and most streamers are figuring out how to offer more with fewer apps.

Whether this is a win for simplicity or just another step toward more expensive bundles remains to be seen. Either way, the streaming landscape is changing—and Hulu as we’ve known it is about to become a thing of the past.