Amazon Prime adds HBO and Cinemax subscription options

Amazon has announced that its Prime customers can now subscribe to Cinemax and HBO as add-on video subscriptions to flesh out the Prime Video library. The HBO subscription option is the most expensive of the two at $14.99/month, the same price you'd pay if you sign up for HBO NOW directly. The subscription options are part of Amazon Channels, which already offered Starz, Showtime, Sundance Now, and a bunch more.

Amazon announced the two new options today, adding two major networks to Amazon Channels and, no doubt, making an Amazon Prime subscription a tiny bit more appealing. Whereas the HBO subscription costs $14.99/month, the Cinemax subscription is cheaper at $9.99/month. With these two additions, Amazon Channels offers over 80 video subscriptions.

The subscriptions give Prime members unlimited access to both service's video library, including popular offerings like Westworld and Game of Thrones. Obviously, you could get the HBO subscription separate from Amazon, but the appeal here is that you don't have to toggle between the Amazon Video app and the HBO NOW app — instead, you log in once and everything is together in one place.

Cinemax and HBO are add-on options for an increasing number of services, including PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, and DirecTV NOW. Cable subscribers who already have HBO as part of their cable package can get streaming access to HBO content through HBO GO, an authentication app that differs from HBO NOW in that it is free if you have an applicable television plan.