This Popular Streaming Service App Is Being Phased Out By 2026 - Here's What You Need To Know

Disney is looking to streamline its streaming offerings, and part of that involves discontinuing the Hulu app. The platform's content will be merged into the entertainment giant's premier Disney+ service, and the app will be fully phased out in 2026.

Originally owned by a triad of Disney, Fox, and Comcast, Hulu began life as a gauntlet thrown down to Netflix by legacy media corporations when it launched in 2007. It became one of the best streaming services and was home to beloved original series such as "The Bear" and "Only Murders in the Building." It was also a longtime home for programming from FX, where it streamed acclaimed works like "Reservation Dogs" and longtime favorites like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." It debuted movies like the "Predator" spin-off "Prey," and hosted fan-favorite reboots, including new seasons of animated comedy "Futurama."

Disney acquired Fox in 2019, giving it majority ownership of Hulu. This put it in conflict with Comcast, which wanted out of Hulu's strange co-parenting situation. It took until June 2025 for the two companies to finalize a deal that saw Comcast walk away with $9 billion and Disney attain full custody of the awkward stepchild. Unfortunately, Disney has little need for Hulu. The company found success in the intervening years with its Disney+ service, and Hulu only serves to fragment its subscriber base.

Current Hulu subscribers left wondering what will happen to their favorite content can breathe a sigh of relief: Although Disney is killing it off as a standalone platform, the Hulu brand  — and the content it produces  — will continue to be available. Here's what Disney has in store for Hulu.

Disney plans to phase the Hulu app out within the next year. But it won't be gone entirely. Instead, it will be relegated to a tab inside the Disney+ app, where Hulu has been for a while. Those changes began on October 8, 2025, with Disney transitioning the Hulu name to become "the global General Entertainment brand on Disney+," according to a press release. It replaced the Star brand in international markets, unifying global branding.

To manage Disney's stable of entertainment and media brands, which includes the Disney brand, Hulu, and ESPN, as well as franchise IP including "Star Wars" and Marvel, Disney+ is becoming an umbrella app. The redesigned app will show users a top bar with several options depending on their subscriptions. The Disney tab will house family-friendly content, like the aforementioned franchises, along with Pixar, Disney Princesses, and so on. The Hulu tab will function as an adult-oriented entertainment hub, where users can find shows like "Only Murders in the Building" that were formerly available on the defunct platform. ESPN will continue to be a hub for sports content. The home page will merge all content a user may be interested in, with algorithmic recommendations and favorites.

Other changes will accompany Hulu's incorporation into Disney+, including new navigation elements for a new "Live" hub for streamed shows and events. Also coming are badges to indicate new series and movies, season finales, and other contextual information. Not every user will see the update immediately, but given Disney's aggressive timeline, expect to see it soon.

The Hulu app is going away, but the brand remains part of Disney's stable. That raises the question of what will happen to Hulu's original programming. On one hand, everything may continue as planned, with no changes to Hulu Original content aside from where it's hosted. The service hosted popular and critically acclaimed series, including multiple-time Emmy winners such as the Margaret Atwood adaptation "The Handmaid's Tale" and restaurant dramedy "The Bear." With Hulu now positioned as a general entertainment brand, it's still the best home for content that doesn't fit Disney's family-friendly mold.

On the other hand, with the entertainment industry in an undeniable downturn, Disney may be hesitant to overload a newly unified Disney+ with too much new content. If release schedules need to be lightened, some of the more peripheral, adult-oriented Hulu content could be on the chopping block. CEO Bob Iger admitted in 2024 that Disney had pursued quantity over quality, with streaming offerings that diluted flagship brands and caused a drop in box office revenue for newer "Star Wars" and Marvel projects. Fewer projects are getting made in Hollywood generally, and although Disney hasn't gone full Zaslav with its cancellations, some shrinkage is to be expected.

During a 2025 earnings call, Iger said it would be a "far better experience when [Disney+ and Hulu] are combined by combining all of the program assets of both current apps" (via Hollywood Reporter), though he appears to have been referring to currently available content. Moreover, Disney+ subscribers will be subject to a price hike soon, regardless of whether they use Hulu, with Iger having told investors that the platform merger would create new "price elasticity."