Streaming services have become a part of daily life, but a new study shows the cost of keeping up with them has climbed sharply over the last five years. Subscribing to 15 popular services, from Netflix and Spotify to Zoom Pro, now totals $237 a month, up 49% from $159 in 2020. Even after adjusting for inflation, that's a 19% increase from $199.Disney+ saw the biggest price jump of any service in the report. Its ad-free plan surged 171.7%, from $6.99 to $18.99 between 2020 and 2026. Apple TV's standard plan rose 160.3%, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate increased 100.1%."Subscription costs have jumped faster than many realize," Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst, said. "That kind of increase squeezes budgets. No wonder 37% have canceled a subscription recently, and nearly half say they overspend. Many households are taking a closer look at what's truly worth it." Kyara Badillo, who subscribes to Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, said she pays about $60 a month combined for those services. When told Disney+ once cost $6.99, her reaction was immediate."What? No way. What? 6.99," Badillo said.She said she doesn't always keep close tabs on what she's spending."I don't check often, honestly. I usually check when I'm trying to cancel a subscription," Badillo said.She's not alone. According to a survey by DepositAccounts by LendingTree, Americans average 4.5 digital subscriptions and spend $84 a month or $1,008 a year. Millennials and Gen Z carry the most subscriptions, at 5.2 and 5.0, respectively, and also spend the most."People have a lot of these subscriptions, and they're paying more for them now, significantly more than they were a few years ago," Schulz said. The survey found that about half of Americans review their online subscriptions every month to check whether they still need them, with many others doing so at least every six months."That indicates to me that people are aware, at least to some degree, of what they're paying and are keeping a close eye on it," Schulz said. "I think it also speaks to how aware people are of every dollar that they're spending now in a race to try and make ends meet in a battle against high prices."The rising costs are pushing many to cut back. The survey found 37% of Americans have canceled at least one paid subscription in the past six months, and another 13% are considering it. Nearly half 45% say they feel they overspend on subscriptions.Badillo said the numbers have her reconsidering her own habits."Cancel my subscriptions and look at it on YouTube. That's what I'm thinking," Badillo said.Schulz said the situation echoes what happened when cable prices drove people to streaming in the first place."Many years ago, everybody was dropping their cable services because they were so expensive, and it was cheaper to cut the cord," Schulz said. "Now we're stuck in this moment where there's so much content everywhere that everybody wants it that it ends up where you're paying the same, if not more, sometimes, than what cable might be."He added that streaming services have made it easier than ever to cancel and return, which can be a useful strategy for managing costs."If you want to subscribe to something one month, cancel it, then come back a couple of months later, it's really not that big of a deal for the most part with a lot of these big services," Schulz said. "In order to save a little bit of money on a service that you're just not using anymore, or you're not using right now, it's worth the effort."For those feeling the pinch, one strategy is to monitor subscription spending monthly and adjust when the total exceeds what feels comfortable."The truth is that a lot of these services are discretionary," Schulz said. "They're not things that we necessarily absolutely have to have."The full study is available at depositaccounts.com.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere -- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices. Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube ...read more read less