HBO Max no longer offers an official seven-day free trial, but there are many other ways that you can access the platform through a trial or for free.
HBO Max is a streaming service that offers a vast variety of on-demand content to its subscribers.
Even though HBO Max ended its official seven-day free trial service to test the platform in 2020, there are still many ways that you can access the platform for free or through a different trial offering.
What is HBO Max?
It may seem like there are more subscription-based streaming platforms than you can keep track of these days, but HBO Max is still considered one of the top platforms for streaming on-demand content.
The reason for this is that the HBO Max catalogue includes a wide variety of shows from HBO’s award-winning original content.
Some of this content includes The White Lotus or Hacks, and the entire HBO catalogue, as well as Warner Bros. movies and shows like Friends, Rick and Morty, Citizen Kane, and more.
Does HBO Max have a free trial?
When HBO Max launched as the replacement for HBO Go, which was the streaming service for HBO pay television subscribers in the United States in 2020, the platform featured a special seven-day free trial service.
This was so that subscribers could test out the platform before making a monthly commitment.
This model proved to be especially effective after Warner Bros. announced that they would be making their movies available on the HBO Max streaming service on the same day that they were released in theatres, as with the Wonder Woman 1984 release.
However, this seven-day free trial service was discontinued by HBO Max in December 2020 and the platform no longer offers subscribers this option.
Fortunately, there are still several ways that you can access HBO Max for free or through a trial service on another platform. These include:
- A free trial of HBO Max through your DIRECTV Stream subscription or a special deal through your cable service
- Free access to HBO Max through select Cricket Wireless plans or select AT&T plans
- A trial service through other subscriptions like Amazon Prime Video or Hulu
If you do not want to use any of the above options, but you still want to access some of the HBO Max content, you can always download the HBO Max application.
Moreover, you can visit hbomax.com to watch the first few episodes of some of the HBO Max Originals and HBO Originals for free.
Accessing HBO Max through your cable service or DIRECTV
If you already have an HBO subscription through your cable provider, you may want to check whether you have access to an HBO Max for free with this subscription, especially with larger providers like Samsung TV, Roku, Verizon Fios, and more.
If you do not get HBO Max for free with your HBO subscription through your cable provider, but you have a DIRECTV SATELLITE or a DIRECTV STREAM package, then you still qualify for a special, free two-month HBO Max trial service through this package.
Accessing HBO Max through Cricket Wireless and AT&T
If you have access to a Cricket Wireless Unlimited plan or an AT&T Unlimited Elite, Plus, Plus Enhanced, Choice, Choice II, Choice Enhanced, or More Premium plan in the United States, you can automatically access HBO Max for free.
This means that you can sign into HBO Max with your AT&T number or Cricket Wireless credentials and enjoy the entire HBO Max catalogue for free without having to worry about a free trial.
Accessing HBO Max through other subscriptions
You may also qualify for a free trial service of HBO Max through another subscription like Amazon Prime Video or Hulu. These offers can be summarised in the table below as follows:
| Platform | Amazon Prime Video | Hulu |
| Price | $14.99 per month | Choose between the ad-supported plan ($7.99 per month or $79.99 per year), the no-ad plan ($14.99/month), or the Hulu + Live TV plans ($69.99 per month to $82.99 per month) |
| HBO Max free trial | Seven-day free trial | Seven-day free trial |
| Process | Visit Amazon’s offer page and select the “Start your free trial” option | Add HBO Max as an add-on to your account and confirm |
This way, you will not only have access to the HBO Max content for a limited time through the free trial, but you will also have access to the other benefits that come with these subscription services.
Once your free trial period for HBO Max on both Amazon Prime Video and Hulu has ended, you will still be able to watch the HBO Max content for an additional fee of $14.99 every month.