Earlier this year, in April, Star India-owned Hotstar partnered with Disney to bring Disney+ Hotstar to the Indian market, which brought a combination of content from both the services into one platform accompanied with a bump in the subscription prices.

Hotstar (now Disney+ Hotstar) offers two paid subscription plans — Disney+ Hotstar Premium and Disney+ Hotstar VIP — both of which are a bit different in the content and features offered and if you’re confused about which one you should invest your money into here we’re going to talk about the major differences between the two plans and which one will be more suited for your needs.

In addition to the Android and iOS apps, and the website, both the plans can also be used to play content on your TV via Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick and Chromecast.

Also read: How to logout of Hotstar from all devices?

Pricing

While Disney+ Hotstar Premium costs INR 299/month or INR 1499/year, Disney+ VIP costs a fraction of the cost at INR 399/year.

The monthly cost of the Premium subscription costs only 100 bucks less than the yearly subscription of the VIP plan. However, if you’re into Hollywood movies and American TV shows, the Premium plan is the way to go and it won’t set you back much if you go for the yearly subscription, which approximately equals five monthly payments of the same plan.

The costs of both the subscriptions have risen as much as by 50% following the partnership between Disney and Hotstar as previously the Hotstar Premium plan sold of INR 199/month or INR 999/month and Hotstar VIP for INR 365/year.

Also read: How to download Hotstar videos?

Content

Disney+ Hotstar Premium and Disney+ Hotstar VIP both offer the following content.

• Hotstar Specials.
• Latest episodes of Indian TV shows at 6am daily.
• New Indian movies.
• Live sports coverage, including Cricket and Premier League.
• Disney+ shows and movies, including kids content dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Disney+ Hotstar Premium offers the following, while Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription doesn’t.

• Disney+ originals, shows, movies and kids content in English.
• Latest American movies and shows.

So, while a majority of the content is available with the Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscription, none of the English content is available, which includes content from channels like HBO, Hooq, Showtime, ABC Studios, Star World and Fox Life.

Also read: How to enable subtitles in Hotstar?

Advertisement

One of the most prominent distinctions between the two is the advertisement. While Disney+ Hotstar VIP subscribers are shown targeted ads, Premium subscribers get to enjoy an ad-free experience.

While this might not be that big of a bummer if you’re thinking of purchasing the VIP membership since traditional television has made it natural to have ads forced down viewers throats, but having an ad-free experience is simply worth the extra money you spend purchasing Disney+ Premium.

Ads not only spoil the flow of the content but also makes the entire show or movie longer than it needs to be — costing you time, which is supposed to be money.

Also read: Netflix vs Amazon Prime Video vs Hotstar vs YouTube Premium

Disney+ Hotstar Premium vs Disney+ Hotstar VIP: Which one should you buy?

Whether you should choose Premium or VIP subscription really depends on the three aforementioned factors — the price, your content choice and what you think about advertisements.

If you would like access to English version of all the DIsney+ content as well as Hollywood movies and other American shows offered by the platform, then Hotstar Premium should be your obvious choice.

If the English content doesn’t entice you much, you should still consider choosing Disney+ Hotstar Premium instead of the Hotstar VIP subscription due to one very important factor — advertisement. As mentioned above, while the Premium plan offers an ad-free experience, the VIP plan carries personalised ads, which we’re guessing offsets the price for the end-users.

However, you need to consider the bargain you’re making. The yearly subscription of both the plans differs by INR 1100 per year. If you can afford that extra money, it’s recommended you go for Disney+ Hotstar Premium plan, because not only do you get the option to view extra content in English but also you get an ad-free experience, which alone might be worth the money.

So, unless you’re light in your pocket and don’t mind watching ads to offset the cost of your subscription, you should go for the yearly subscription of Disney+ Hotstar Premium.

You can choose to buy either Disney+ Hotstar Premium or Disney+ Hotstar VIP plans here.

Should you upgrade from VIP to Premium?

Upgrading to Hotstar Premium really depends on the kind of content you consume and whether or not you wish for an ad-free experience. Needless to say that advertisements do take a bit of fun out of streaming movies and TV shows online.

So, if you have the extra money, upgrading to a Premium subscription isn’t a bad idea at all. In addition to the ad-free experience, you also get the option to watch Hollywood movies as well as American TV shows.

You can upgrade to Disney+ Hotstar Premium by paying the difference between VIP and Premium subscription, which ideally at your first day of subscription should be INR 1100.

Also read: How to change the language in Hotstar?