Your Family's Streaming Bill Just Got Bigger Than Your Old Cable Plan

Remember why you cancelled cable? For most families it came down to one thing: you were paying for 200 channels and watching six of them.

So you cut the cord. You picked up Netflix. Then Disney+ for the kids. Then Spotify because it was a no-brainer. Then Amazon Prime came bundled with shopping. Then YouTube Premium because the ads were unbearable. Then Apple TV+ for £2.99 because they offered a free trial and the show was good.

It's May 2026 and the average family with four or five streaming subscriptions is now spending roughly €70–85 per month — and that's before sports, audiobooks, or the cloud storage you signed up for when someone's photos wouldn't sync.

That is, by any honest measure, a cable bill.

How We Got Here

The cord-cutting maths worked beautifully in 2020. Netflix at €10, Disney+ just launched at €7, Spotify Family at €15. Three services, €32/month. Half what cable cost and no sports you'd never watch.

Since then, every major streaming service has raised prices — some of them multiple times. Netflix alone has had four price increases since 2022. The Standard ad-free plan that was €10 is now €18–20 depending on your country. Disney+ went from €7 to €17. Spotify's Family plan crept from €15 to nearly €18. YouTube Premium just raised prices last month.

Here's what a typical European family's streaming stack looks like today:

Not every family has all six. But most families have at least four of them, which puts the total at €65–75/month — and that's before any niche services, gaming subscriptions, or news apps.

A basic cable TV package in Switzerland or Germany in 2022 cost around €25–35/month. The premium cable bundle with HD and sports was €50–70. In other words: a typical family today is spending on streaming what the premium cable household used to spend on everything.

The Difference Nobody Talks About

Cable was one bill. One line on your bank statement, one number you recognised, one renewal you either cancelled or didn't.

Streaming is six different bills on six different dates, billed to two different credit cards, some annual and some monthly, each priced in a way that makes the total impossible to track without actively trying. That's not an accident.

When Netflix raises prices by €2, it doesn't feel significant. When Disney+ raises by €3, same. But if every service raises prices by €2–3 this year — which is exactly what has happened — a family that wasn't paying attention has silently absorbed a €10–15/month increase. That's €120–180 more per year, for the exact same services.

SubManager's spending breakdown can put a number on this instantly — it shows what you paid across all subscriptions over the last 12 months versus the 12 months before. For most families who've never looked, the comparison is surprising.

The Three Questions Worth Asking Now

1. Which services did your family actually use last month?

Not "which ones do you intend to watch" — which ones did someone actually open and watch something on. If you can't answer without checking your viewing history, that's useful information. SubManager surfaces inactive subscriptions automatically, flagging anything that hasn't seen activity in 30 days.

2. Are you paying for the right tier?

Netflix Premium at €26 gives you 4K and four simultaneous streams. If your family watches on two screens at most and nobody has a 4K TV, you're paying €8/month extra for nothing. Similarly, YouTube Premium Family at €23 is excellent value if five people use it daily — and genuinely poor value if it's basically one person's ad-free experience.

3. Could you rotate instead of stack?

The shows that matter to your family are spread across three or four services — but they don't all release new episodes at the same time. Subscribing to one service at a time for two months, then switching, means you catch the content you want without paying for three services simultaneously. It takes a little planning but saves €20–30/month for most families. A renewal reminder from SubManager (set to 3 days before billing) makes it practical rather than a hassle.

Two More Price Increases Coming in June

If you needed a reason to do this audit today rather than next month: Starz and AMC+ have both announced price increases effective 8 June 2026 — Starz moving from €10.99 to €11.99, AMC+ from €9.99 to €10.99. Neither is a dramatic increase, but they're the 8th and 9th streaming price increases of 2026 so far.

The pattern is consistent enough to call it: prices will continue to rise, and the services that seem affordable today will feel expensive by next year. The families who manage this well aren't the ones who cancel everything — they're the ones who know what they're paying, make deliberate decisions, and stop letting inertia do the choosing.

That's a 20-minute job once a year. It's worth doing now.