How to watch Hulu in the US, UK and abroad
Read on to find out what's available on Hulu, what are the different Hulu plans and how to watch Hulu in the US, UK and abroad
There’s no doubt that the UK is home to some of the best streaming services, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and even Sky TV for that matter. However, if there’s one service we hope we get access to soon it’s the US on-demand video service Hulu that’s majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company.
While it’s easy to lust after content on Hulu, it’s worth stating upfront that most of the content available on Hulu is already available to watch in the UK, albeit on different streaming services. Of course, this does not mean that everything is available and Hulu is certainly a brilliant streaming service, if only for the convenience to watch its great line-up of TV shows and movies in one place.
Disney Plus UK recently launched its sixth brand Star in a move that added over 75 TV shows and over 280 movies to the streaming service in the UK overnight. This content included many items that are already available on Hulu in the US, which is not surprising given that Hulu is owned by Disney Plus’ parent company.
At present, UK viewers cannot use Hulu, so we’ll be outlining other ways to stream Hulu content from the UK. For those of you travelling abroad, your best option to access the streaming service is to use a good VPN service (like ExpressVPN) then go to the Hulu website.
Remember, the service offers a 30-day free trial, after which its cheapest plans start at $7/mth. Hulu subscription prices are due to increase by up to $5/mth on 10 October 2022, so bear this in mind when choosing your plan as cheaper plans will only be increasing by a dollar.
We’ll first give you a brief list of the best TV series and films that are currently on Hulu (at the time of writing), then explain the different Hulu plans that can get confusing, before telling you how to watch Hulu in the UK and abroad.
What’s available to watch on Hulu
Best TV series currently on Hulu
- American Horror Story
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Normal People
- Conversations with Friends
- The Kardashians
- Tell Me Lies
- Euphoria
- Game of Thrones
- Sex and the City
- Chernobyl
- Skins
- Killing Eve
- Looking for Alaska
- Under the Banner of Heaven
- The Wire
- Little Fires Everywhere
- How I Met Your Father
Best movies currently on Hulu
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Prey
- Spencer
- Elvis
- Hustlers
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- Parasite
- The Truman Show
- Venom
- Black Swan
- Cold Pursuit
- Nomadland
- Jumanji
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Batman: The Dark Knight
- Ghostbusters
- Die Hard
- Death on the Nile
- 10 Things I Hate About You
- The King’s Man
What are the different Hulu plans
We’ll get the most straightforward answer out of the way first: if you’re a US resident, you’ll be able to sign up to Hulu no questions asked (other than your bank details, that is).
US subscribers have three different Hulu subscriptions plans, which are all explained in detail below. Two of these three plans include a 30-day free trial of the service for new subscribers before money is first taken from your account.
The same three plans are also available as a package deal, with ESPN+ and Disney Plus included, though this combo plan is slightly more expensive and doesn’t include any free trials.
Hulu Basic: The most basic – and most popular – plan is the Hulu Basic plan which costs $7/month and comes with a 30-day free trial for new subscribers. On 10 October 2022, the monthly fees are due to increase to £8/mth. This plan lets you create up to six user-profiles and stream simultaneously on two devices at the same time, which is the same as what most other UK streaming services offer.
Hulu (No Ads): The only drawback with the Hulu Basic plan is that some TV shows may have ads in between and you can’t download content to watch offline. To do this, you’ll need to choose the Hulu (No Ads) plan, which costs $13/mth and also comes with a 30-day free trial. Like the rest of the plans, the cost of ad-free Hulu is due to increase on 10 October, this time by $2/mth.
Hulu + Live TV: The third plan is Hulu + Live TV. As the name implies, this plan includes everything in the Hulu Basic plan as well as Live TV with over 65 channels, a TV guide to navigate the channels and the option to record Live TV with 50 hours of cloud storage. It’s worth noting that this plan costs $70/mth, due to increase to $75 on 8 December 2022, and does not come with a free trial. Not all is lost though, as Hulu is currently offering this plan at just £50/month for three months, after which point it renews at the regular monthly price.
Hulu, Disney Plus + ESPN+ bundle: Since all three streaming services are owned by the same parent company, you also have the option of adding Disney Plus and ESPN+ to each of the three plans mentioned above. The regular price of this plan increases to $14/mth for the Basic plan, $20/mth for the Hulu (No Ads) plan, and $76/mth for the Live TV plan.
How to watch Hulu in the UK
If you’re hoping to access Hulu’s vast library of content in the UK, I’ve got some bad news for you. Sadly Hulu is not available in the UK, and there are currently no plans to bring the platform to the UK market. We’ll be keeping an eye on this to see if Hulu’s parent company, Disney, announce any changes to this but in the meantime, there are some other places to watch Hulu’s content from the UK.
Whilst you won’t be able to access all the content on Hulu, much of the same content is already available on Disney Plus and Star. This service includes over 400 TV shows and 800 films, all of which are free to watch when you purchase a monthly subscription. The cost is also reasonable; you can get Disney Plus for just £8/month or £80/year. Not sure if it’s right for you? Take a look at our full Disney plus review for a more detailed rundown of the streaming service.
How to watch Hulu abroad: use a good VPN service
If you’re jetting off abroad but still want to have access to Hulu’s vast library of content, you won’t be able to without using a VPN service – short for “virtual private network”. Normally, whilst abroad your access to US-only streaming sites like Hulu is blocked by geo-blockers. That’s also why you can’t access US streaming sites from the UK.
The best VPN services both secure your connection, ensuring it is private and untraceable, and allow you to change the location of your browser. That means you can simply change the location of your browser and continue making the most of your Hulu subscription whilst you’re abroad. So, whether you’re in Shanghai on business, Europe on your year abroad or the Caribbean on a family holiday, you can access everything Hulu has to offer by simply using a VPN.
Not all VPN services were created equal, and some don’t have the capacity to change browser locations. Don’t worry though, as we’ve tested bucketloads of VPNs and have hand-picked the best. We’ve suggested our favourite VPNs for streaming below.
ExpressVPN: Among all the VPN services we’ve reviewed, ExpressVPN has the fastest speeds and is the most secure. Its entire service has even been audited by an independent audited by PwC to prove that it store any identifiable personal data. The service can be used on five devices at the same time, and there’s 24/7 customer support in case you ever need a hand. If you need to test the service, it comes with a 30-days no-questions-asked moneyback guarantee. If you purchase ExpressVPN using the link below, you can even get an extra three months on the house.
NordVPN: NordVPN is another great option, sharing many of the same traits as ExpressVPN. You can use it on up to six devices at the same time and it, too, takes data protection very seriously, having been fully audited to prove that it doesn’t store or log any identifiable user data. Users love its map-based interface that lets you select the US and then browse Hulu normally as if you were browsing from anywhere in the United States.
