• With Christmas movie season will in swing, a new study revealed Americans search for Hulu free trials more than any other service, with 351,595 monthly Google searches.

• Peacock and Netflix were the second and third most searched free trials.

• Other highly sought-after free trial streaming services were Max (formerly known as HBO Max), Starz, and FuboTV. 

A new study has revealed the most sought-after free trial of any streaming platform, with Hulu coming out on top. 

Social casino website McLuck examined the number of searches for 60 popular streaming services followed by the term 'free trial' to uncover the most searched. They also looked at which five streaming platforms were most searched in each state. 

Hulu came in first place with 351,595 Google searches on average each month for the term ‘hulu free trial.’ It also appeared in every state's top five most searched streaming services overall. 

Hulu carries multiple exclusive originals including The Kardashians and Futurama which drive the streaming service’s appeal. Hulu currently offers a one-month free trial to its customers. 

Peacock ranks second with 294,059 monthly searches for the term ‘peacock free trial.’ The popularity of the streaming platform, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, could be due to its marketing efforts to promote itself as the first service with a free option for streaming. Peacock doesn’t offer a free trial to premium content currently but has a free-with-ads tier. 

Netflix came in third place with 232,566 monthly searches for ‘Netflix free trial.’ To put that into perspective, that’s roughly 7,752 searches per day. Netflix, originally named ‘Kibble,’ was among the top five most searched streaming services in all 50 states. Netflix doesn’t currently offer its customers a free trial. 

Max ranks fourth with 176,361 monthly Google searches across America for ‘HBO max free trial.’ The streaming platform, which rebranded in 2023, following the merging of HBO Max and Discovery+, appeared in the top five most searched terms across 22 states. The service does not currently offer a free trial and has not since 2020. 

Starz placed fifth, with 127,003 monthly searches for ‘Starz free trial’ across America each month. Starz, which rebranded as Lionsgate+ in 35 countries, doesn't currently offer a free trial. 

FuboTV ranked sixth with 125,013 searches for ‘fubotv free trial.’ The streaming platform currently offers a 7-day free trial to new users.  ESPN+ ranks seventh with 78,731 searches for the term “ESPN plus free trial” each month. ESPN+ was the most searched streaming service across all fifty states. ESPN+ does not currently offer a free trial. 

Eighth place went to Disney+, with Americans searching for “Disney plus free trial” 75,926 times per month. The streaming platform, which appears in the top five most searched streaming services for all 50 states, does not currently offer a free trial.   

Paramount+ (60,891 monthly searches) and Apple TV (36,429 monthly searches) were the ninth and tenth most searched streaming service free trials. 

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for McLuck said: 

“With an overwhelming number of platforms each requiring a subscription fee, many customers cannot afford to subscribe to several services. Therefore, taking advantage of free trials where possible allows customers to binge-watch content that is exclusive to a particular streaming service, without being tied into another subscription. 

“Many providers have caught on to the fact that customers are often canceling before the end of their free trial period, and have done away with this option altogether, in favor of an ad subsidized model for those who can’t afford to pay for the full service.”  

America’s 10 most searched streaming platform free trials 

Sources:  

Google Keyword Planner 

Methodology: 

Google Keyword Planner was used to determine the most popular streaming service free trials in America. The number of Google searches for each streaming service followed by the term ‘free trial’ over the last 12 months between May 2023 and April 2024 was entered and then ranked from highest to lowest number of searches.  

The same methodology was employed to find the five most searched streaming services in each state, this time only looking at searches for the names of the streaming services.