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- Paramount Plus is a streaming service with content from CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and more.
- Subscribers can also watch live sports and exclusive original shows, like “Halo.”
- Paramount Plus starts at $5/month with ads, and new members can get a one-week free trial.
Paramount Plus is one of the most affordable streaming services available. The ad-supported Essential plan starts at $5 a month, while the ad-free Premium plan costs $10 a month.
The service offers a growing collection of original series and films, including several “Star Trek” shows, a “Yellowstone” prequel called “1883,” and a series based on the popular video game franchise “Halo.”
Paramount Plus also has live CBS sports, including NFL and SEC football games. Soccer fans can also stream UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the National Women’s Soccer League. Golf enthusiasts will find live events including the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Access to your local CBS station is also included, but only with the Premium plan. New subscribers to Paramount Plus get a one-week free trial, and a discounted bundle is even available with Showtime.
Below, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about Paramount Plus, including pricing, packages, and what you can expect to watch. For detailed impressions, check out our Paramount Plus review.
What is Paramount Plus?
Paramount Plus is a subscription
streaming
service from ViacomCBS. It includes programs from CBS, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, and The Smithsonian Channel.
New and classic movies from Paramount, Miramax, and MGM are included as well. The library also features Paramount Plus originals you won’t find anywhere else.
The service even offers live access to your local CBS network, but this option is only available with the Premium plan.
How much does Paramount Plus cost?
Paramount Plus offers two plans: an ad-supported “Essential Plan” for $5 a month ($50 a year) and an ad-free “Premium Plan” for $10 a month ($100 a year).
The annual plans end up saving you about 16% compared to the month-to-month options. The Premium Plan is also available as an add-on channel to Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Both plans feature access to the platform’s on-demand library and select live sports, but the Essential plan is subject to commercial interruptions when streaming on-demand programs.
The Premium Plan gives you ad-free streaming of on-demand content, plus live access to your local CBS station. Since it’s live, however, CBS streaming still features regular commercial breaks.
Can you watch live sports on Paramount Plus?
Paramount Plus lets you watch live CBS sports. The Essential and Premium plans both include support for streaming local NFL games on CBS, as well as some live soccer content like the UEFA Champions League.
That said, to get access to the platform’s entire lineup of live sports — which includes The Masters, NCAA basketball, PGA Tour, SEC football, and MMA — you need the Premium plan.
Can you bundle Paramount Plus with Showtime?
Paramount Plus offers a discounted bundle package with Showtime. For a limited time, the Paramount Plus Essential Plan + Showtime bundle is $10 a month or $100 a year. Meanwhile, you can get the Paramount Plus Premium Plan + Showtime bundle for a deal price of $13 a month or $130 a year.
To lock in these limited-time promotional prices, you need to sign up by June 30. After that date, the Essential bundle will cost $12 a month or $120 a year, and the Premium bundle will cost $15 a month or $150 a year.
Showtime costs $11 a month on its own, so the limited-time bundle deal saves you up to $8 a month. Showtime’s streaming service includes access to all of the premium cable network’s content, including hit series like “Dexter” and new shows like “The Man Who Fell To Earth” and “The First Lady.”
Does Paramount Plus offer a free trial?
Paramount Plus offers a seven-day free trial for new members.
Eligible T-Mobile customers can also get one year of the Paramount Plus Essential plan for free. For more information on the promotion, check out the Paramount Plus website.
You can also get 25% off Paramount Plus if you’re a student at a US college or university. This offer is only available for the monthly ad-supported plan. Students are eligible for the discount for a span of four years.
What devices can I use to watch Paramount Plus?
Paramount Plus is compatible with the following devices:
- iOS
- Android
- Chromecast
- Roku
- Apple TV
- Fire TV
- Portal TV
- Samsung smart TVs
- Vizio TVs
- LG TVs
- PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series S
- Xbox Series X
- Xfinity Flex
- X1
- Cox Contour Box
Can you stream Paramount Plus in 4K, Dolby Vision, and HDR?
Select Paramount Plus titles are available to watch in
4K
, HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision. These formats are only available to subscribers of the Premium plan ($10/month), and are not supported on the cheaper Essential plan ($5/month).
Shows available in these advanced video formats are marked with “badges” on their title pages, while movies that support these formats mention them in their description boxes.
Paramount Plus supports streaming in 4K, Dolby Vision, and HDR10 on the following devices:
- Select Roku models
- Amazon Fire TV (Stick 4K, Cube)
- Select Android TV models
- Apple TV 4K
You can also stream select Paramount Plus titles with advanced Dolby Atmos sound on some devices. Dolby Atmos is supported on iPhone and iPad as well as on Apple TV.
How does Paramount Plus compare to CBS All Access?
For all intents and purposes, Paramount Plus is simply a replacement for the now defunct CBS All Access service. It carried over the same library of content and added a lot of new programs.
CBS All Access members that had active subscriptions automatically transitioned over to Paramount Plus on March 4, 2021. The CBS All Access app automatically switched to Paramount Plus as well.
What can I watch on Paramount Plus?
Paramount+
Paramount Plus offers access to classic and original programs from the likes of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, MTV, Paramount Pictures, and CBS. The Premium plan also adds access to your local CBS network.
Currently airing shows on CBS are also added to Paramount Plus the day after they air on TV, so you can catch up on all of your favorites, including “Survivor,” “NCIS,” and “Ghosts” without a cable subscription.
The service is home to brand-new movies too, including Paramount theatrical releases 30 to 45 days after they debut on the big screen. “A Quiet Place II” was the first in-theater movie to arrive on Paramount Plus, and “Jackass Forever,” “The Lost City,” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” all hit the service in 2022.
Older films and TV shows are also included. The service launched with movies from popular franchises like “Indiana Jones” and “Star Trek.” Paramount says it now has a library of over 30,000 episodes and films.
Popular Paramount Plus original shows include “Halo,” which is based on the popular video game franchise, and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” a prequel set in the “Star Trek” universe. Another notable original series is “The Offer,” which tells the true story of the making of “The Godfather.”
The service also has new originals on the way, including two new “Yellowstone” spin-off shows. “1883: The Bass Reeves Story” is set to continue the story of “1883,” and a brand-new era of the Dutton family will be explored in “1932,” which will star Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.
Originals that initially premiered on CBS All Access also remain available, including “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “The Twilight Zone,” and “The Stand.” Some shows that originally premiered on cable, including “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” have been moved to Paramount Plus to continue as originals.
You can find a full breakdown of new Paramount Plus movies and shows here.
Angela Tricarico
Streaming Editorial Fellow
Angela Tricarico is a Streaming Editorial Fellow for the Insider Reviews team, where she covers the latest in streaming services. In addition to her arts and entertainment reporting at the University of New Haven and for The Ensemblist, she has a background in theater and loves to tell people what it means to be a dramaturg. When she’s not writing, you might find her reading comics or a book club pick, cooking, baking, or trying to catch up on the last ten years of television.
Steven is a Tech Editor for the Insider Reviews team, where he oversees streaming and home entertainment product coverage. He previously served as High-Def Digest’s Gear Editor from 2013 to 2019, and his work has appeared on Ben’s Bargains, Steve’s Digicams, Big Picture Big Sound, and Consequence of Sound.
Over his nine years of experience covering the audiovisual industry, Steven has reviewed numerous TVs, headphones, speakers, monitors, streaming players, and more. He was one of a select number of journalists invited to get a hands-on first look at LG’s first 8K OLED TV in 2019, and is always excited to check out the newest and biggest displays on the market.
Based on his extensive experience in the home theater industry, Steven served as one of the expert judges for the 2018 TV Shootout, the premier annual display competition that crowns the best TVs of the year. Steven also has a background in film criticism, having reviewed over 400 movies and TV shows. He uses his movie industry knowledge to help inform his coverage of the streaming and home entertainment markets.
Steven’s own home theater setup makes his passion for entertainment clear, complete with a 65-inch HDR display and the biggest Dolby Atmos speaker system he can fit in his apartment. And though he often spends his free time binging new series on every streaming service under the sun, he remains proud of his huge collection of Blu-ray discs.
See below for some of his work.
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Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.
Learn more about how we test tech and electronics.
Ben Blanchet
Streaming Fellow, Insider Reviews
Ben is a Streaming and Home Entertainment Fellow for the Insider Reviews team, where he covers the latest in streaming services along with roundups of popular TVs, speakers, and headphones. He previously reported for The Buffalo News’ Sun newspapers and was an editor at the University at Buffalo’s independent student newspaper The Spectrum. He comes from a background in music journalism and he’s one of the minds behind “More Than A Hit,” a podcast with his brother Brenton where the two talk with music stars from their childhood.
See below for some of his work.
Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.