How to get a free trial of HBO Max

Getting a free trial of HBO Max on Roku and Fire TV is still possible

There are a couple of ways to get a free trial of HBO Max in 2021 before you decide whether you want to subscribe. 

But you won’t find it on the HBO Max website. 

That’s because parent company WarnerMedia killed off the free trial in December 2020, a few weeks before the debut of “Wonder Woman 1984”. 

The film was simultaneously released in theaters and HBO Max, and “WW84” was seen as a major movie that could drive paying subscribers to the streaming service. That strategy will likely stay in place given that more films including the “The Matrix 4,” “Mortal Kombat” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” remake are scheduled to hit HBO Max later this year. (See schedule below.)

An HBO Max subscription costs $14.99 per month. Compared to Hulu or Paramount+ — which costs $5.99 per month — HBO Max is one of those bigger financial commitments in the streaming landscape. 

For years, free trials have been a decent way cord cutters have been able to try out a service. Now, a few streaming services are starting to shift away from them. But some of HBO Max’s partners haven’t completely dropped free trials as a way to bring in new subscribers.

By the way, HBO Max does have a “watch free” section where you can stream a sampling of shows without paying anything. But it doesn’t have new movies and only offers a small sampling of episodes. 

Here are a couple of ways that you can still try out HBO Max free for seven days without cable. 

HBO Max free trial through Hulu

Hulu still offers a free trial of HBO Max tucked away inside its website. You need to have a Hulu subscription to take advantage of the free trial. Don’t have one? You can sign for a 30-day free trial of Hulu. Then follow these steps. 

1. Go to add-ons under the “Account” tab and click on one-week free trial of HBO Max. 
2. Once you sign up for HBO Max, download the HBO Max app to your streaming device.
3. The HBO Max app will ask you to sign in through your TV or mobile provider. 
4. Choose “Hulu” as your provider, and you’ll have full access to the HBO Max during your free trial. 

Keep in mind that once your free trials end, you will be billed $5.99 per month for Hulu, and $14.99 per month for HBO Max. So if you decide not to keep Hulu or HBO Max after a couple of days, you’ll need to go back to your Hulu account and cancel.

HBO Max free trial through Amazon Prime

For months, HBO subscribers who paid for their subscriptions through Amazon Prime couldn’t upgrade to HBO Max. Now that a deal has been worked out between Amazon and WarnerMedia, you can access HBO Max once you sign up for HBO as a Amazon Prime Video channel.

Amazon Prime Video still offers a week-long free trial for HBO.

After you sign up for HBO under Amazon Channels, a feed from HBO will appear within your Amazon Prime interface. But if you want the full catalog of movies and shows from HBO Max, you can follow a similar path as with the Hulu add-on.

1. Once you sign up for HBO under Amazon Channels, download the HBO Max app on your Fire TV device. 
2. The HBO Max app will ask you to sign in through your TV or mobile provider. 
3. Choose “Prime Video Channels” as your provider, and you’ll have full access to the HBO Max catalog during your free trial. 

One advantage of using the HBO Max app is that you can find new movies a lot faster. It’s also easier to filter by genre or studio. 

If you navigate toward the bottom of the home page of the HBO Max app, you will find a hub for various WarnerMedia properties, including Max Originals, DC Universe, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop, and Cruncyroll. 

Upcoming releases on HBO Max

• Mortal Kombat: April 16
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It: June 4
• In The Heights: June 18
• Space Jam: A New Legacy: July 16
• The Suicide Squad: August 6
• Malignant: September 10
• The Many Saints of Newark: September 24
• Dune: October 1
• King Richard: November 19
• The Matrix 4: December 22

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