Disney+’s ad-supported tier launches today with Chromecast and Android TV support; no Roku

Ben Schoon | Dec 8 2022 - 7:46 am PT

After months of hearing about it, Disney+ has today launched its “Basic with ads” tier that lets customers save some money in exchange for sitting through a few ads. It launches with support for both of Google’s big-screen platforms, but won’t work on Roku for the time being.

Available as of today, December 8, Disney+ is offering its service with ads starting at $7.99 per month. That cost gets you the core Disney+ streaming service, while bundles offer Disney+ and Hulu for $9.99/month, adding ESPN+ for a total of $12.99/month. Ad-free plans start at $10.99/month and rise to $19.99/month for a bundle of all three services together.

Disney+’s ad-supported tier, “Basic with ads,” shows roughly four minutes of ads per hour and content aimed specifically at children will not show ads. Profiles set up for kids also lack ads on this plan. Unlike Netflix’s recently released ad-supported tier, Disney+ won’t limit its catalog at all if you opt for an ad plan. 4K and streaming on up to four screens simultaneously are also left intact.

The biggest loss, really, is the ability to download content for offline viewing in Disney+’s mobile apps.

But there is another interesting note around Disney+’s ad-supported tier at launch, and that’s compatibility. For one, the service is only available in the United States. But beyond that, it also lacks support for both Roku and Windows. It’s surprising to see a gap like that on Disney’s part, but it’ll likely be fixed in the not-too-distant future.

The good news, though, is that both Chromecast and Android TV OS are supported. That’s notable, too, as Netflix’s ad-supported tier lacked support for traditional Chromecast devices.