HBO Max has arrived in the UK, challenging the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ for you eyeballs and wallets. If you’ve been anticipating its release, you’ll be looking for ways to subscribe.

HBO Max will launch with some exclusive programming but that doesn’t mean that everything that’s available on HBO Max isn’t available somewhere else (in some form).

There are also differences between the various tiers which you should be aware of before you sign up. For instance, the cheapest tier – Basic with Ads – will not have access to films that stream on the platform after their cinema release. You’ll need to subscribe to the Standard with Ads, Standard or Premium tier to have access to all HBO films and TV shows.

There are several avenues to get HBO Max in the UK as we’ll go through now, but the most obvious is to subscribe direct to HBO Max.

Subscribe with HBO Max

The easiest way to subscribe to HBO Max is to sign up directly with the service itself. HBO Max has been available in other European countries for years but hidden behind a geoblocker in the UK. With it now on UK shores, you can simply head over to the UK website and sign up to anyone of the following options.

• Basic with Ads: £4.99/month
• Standard with Ads: £5.99/month
• Standard: £9.99/month
• Premium: £14.99/month
• Standard with Ads and TNT Sports: £36.98/month
• Standard and TNT Sports: £40.98/month
• Premium and TNT Sports: £45.98/month

You can also subscribe on a yearly basis as well.

It’s worth noting that some of these deals are specific to the UK, in particular the TNT Sports packages which won’t be available anywhere else. The UK also gets the Standard with Ads tier, which isn’t necessarily available in Europe.

Subscribe with Sky Ultimate

You can subscribe with Sky Ultimate TV package if you’re an existing (or new) Sky subscriber. You can link your HBO Max account with your Sky account, and the cost of HBO Max will be folded into your overall Sky billing, meaning all your entertainment subscriptions will be bundled into one, easy-to-read bill.

However, Sky is only offering the Basic with Ads tier, which costs £4.99/month, so you won’t get the brand films after they’ve been released in cinemas, nor will you get any 4K HDR support. For those features, you will have to pay extra on top of the base tier plan.

Subscribe through other TV providers

HBO Max won’t be exclusive to Sky TV viewers in the UK. You will be able to access the package through other TV providers. Though as usual, you do need to read the fine print.

Virgin Media customers with 360 or Stream boxes can access HBO Max by heading through to the Apps section on those platforms. If you already subscribe to TNT Sports on Virgin Media, you now get HBO Max at no extra cost.

So while you can access HBO Max through the app on 360 and Stream boxes, there currently aren’t any plans to offer the app through one of Virgin Media’s TV packages, as Sky do.

Subscribe on your smart TV

HBO Max is landing on several platforms as part of its launch, so it should be really easy to access to the app.

Similar to how it works on Sky, if you’re a Prime Video customer you’ll be able to access the app. It’s also available on Fire TV, TiVo OS, Titan OS, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Tizen, and LG WebOS smart TVs as well.