How Many Streams Does Disney Plus Support at Once?

William Sattelberg October 9, 2019

After year’s of rumors, build-up, and speculation, Disney is finally ready to launch their own streaming service, and it’s shaping up to be one of the best deals for streaming media you can get today. Disney is one of the largest brands in media, and thanks to their massive backlog of movies, television shows, and animated classics, Disney Plus is starting off with a great selection of content for the whole family. All that’s in addition to Disney’s acquired brands—Star Wars, Marvel, and Fox—and upcoming originals, which promise to make Disney Plus a must-have streaming service.

Of course, with entertainment available for viewers of all ages, a question lingers over Disney Plus prior to launch: how many streams will the service support at once? Thanks to existing streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, streaming fans have gotten used to each service having a certain limited amount of streams at a time, and Disney Plus won’t be any different. Whether you’re installing the app on your child’s iPad, or you’re looking to split the cost of the service with your roommates, let’s look at how many streams Disney Plus will support per account at launch.

Get Started By Signing Up

Before you start streaming your favorite Disney movies on Disney Plus, you’ll need to get signed up for an account. Start by signing up here for a free week trial, or get your favorite movies, shows, and sports for one low price by bundling Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus right here!

Split Streaming

Though services like Netflix used to allow for an unlimited amount of streams on each account at once, thanks to the sharing of accounts and passwords, most streaming platforms have had to clamp down on how many users can stream media per account. In fact, Netflix is perhaps the most infamous of these platforms when it comes to this. Unlike most streaming services, Netflix offers a tiered pricing system starting at $8.99 per month. That can sound like a great deal, but it only allows you to stream in standard definition, and if you try to stream on two devices at once, you’ll receive an error message on the second device. In fact, to get four simultaneous streams on Netflix, you have to jump up to their Premium plan for $15.99 per month. That can get expensive fast, but if you have more than two family members who like to watch Netflix at night, it’s what you’ll need to sign up for to avoid arguments.

So, priced at $6.99 per month, it’s easy to see why Disney fans were nervous about how many streams the service would allow for at once—especially since Disney is so family-focused. Thankfully, you and your wallet can relax. Everyone who signs up for Disney Plus will be able to use four simultaneous streams, which means you and your partner can enjoy The Mandalorian in glorious Ultra-HD while your children enjoy binging through reruns of Raven’s Home or DuckTales.

As we mentioned, to get a similar experience on Netflix, you would have to pay more than double the monthly cost of a Disney Plus subscription to get the same benefits. Amazon Prime stacks up a bit better, offering users three simultaneous streams for $8.99 per month. Hulu—which is now owned by Disney following the 20th Century Fox acquisition—gives users the option for two simultaneous streams on its basic $5.99 per month plan, though their Live TV subscribers can get an unlimited screen add-on to make things a bit easier for streaming.

Ultra Sharp

We just hinted at it above, but yes, Disney Plus doesn’t just stop at offering users four simultaneous streams for nearly 60 percent less cash. It also allows users to watch in 4K, something Netflix requires users upgrade to the Premium plan for even if they only need the standard two stream plan. Ultra-HD streaming, in addition to the four streams Disney Plus users have access to, helps to make Disney’s streaming platform one of the most user-friendly options on the market today, for the least amount of cash.

Any Catches?

As far as the basic $6.99 per month plan goes, there’s no real catches to be found. Four streams plus included 4K streams of your favorite movies, shows, and originals. However, if you’re interested in upgrading to Disney’s streaming bundle—which includes Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu—you should be aware that the latter two streaming services aren’t quite as friendly. ESPN Plus will allow you to use two streams (down from the usual five if you pay for it separately), while Hulu’s included option drops to just a single stream instead of the usual two. However, whether you get Disney Plus on its own or included with a bundle, you’ll always get four simultaneous streams.

And of course, though Disney Plus is launching at $6.99 per month, there’s a good chance that price increases as the service ages and additional content is added to the platform. Don’t be surprised if, after a couple of years on the market, Disney starts charging you $8.99 or more.

Still, at launch, Disney Plus offers users with families or roommates a great deal. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how their original shows and movies hold up—but based on the blockbuster trailer for The Mandalorian, we think they’ll do just fine.