Discovery+ Review 2022: Is it Worth it?

Intro: Discovery Plus Review 2022

While not as big as Netflix or Hulu, Discovery Plus remains a popular streaming service with thousands of shows available. In this Discovery Plus review, we’ll answer the question “Is Discovery Plus worth it?”

This article breaks down the plans, pricing, Discovery Plus app, and the highlights from their library of shows. Also make sure to scroll to the end for some Discovery Plus discounts!

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Contents

• The Basics: Plans, Pricing, & What's Included
• A Note on the HBO Max Merger
• What's on Discovery Plus?
• Discovery Plus App
• Discovery Plus Discounts
• Final Verdict: Is Discovery Plus Worth It?

The Basics- Discovery Plus Pricing & What's Included

Plans Available	Ad-Lite Plan: Includes ads Ad-Free Plan: No ads
Pricing	$4.99/month (Ad-Lite) $6.99/month (Ad-Free)
Free Trial?	Yes, 7 days
Availability	U.S., Canada, India, Ireland, U.K., Brazil, Philippines, Spain, several countries across Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East

Discovery Plus is the streaming service from Discovery, Inc. (which is now a part of Warner Bros Discovery). This is the company behind some of the most popular cable channels.

A distinguishing feature of Discovery Plus is a specific focus on unscripted content. 

Not sure what this means? Think about the nonfiction section of a bookstore. Instead of narrative fiction stories with actors and a script, there’s reality series, cooking shows, home design series, documentaries, and other similar programs.

The content on Discovery Plus pulls from cable networks including: HGTV, Discovery, Food Network, TLC, CNN, Lifetime, A&E, Animal Planet, Travel, Sci, ID, OWN, and History, among others.

When it comes to memberships, you have two options with Discovery Plus: ad-supported or ad-free. According to reports, the ad-supported plan on Discovery Plus averages at 12 ads per hour. That puts it on par with Hulu, but gives it more ads than HBO Max or Peacock.

Discovery Plus is offered either as a standalone subscription or as a premium add-on to Amazon Prime Channels or The Roku Channel.

Both Discovery Plus plans offer a seven-day free trial, which you can access by clicking on the button below!

A Note on the HBO Max Merger

As you might have heard, Warner Bros Discovery plans to merge Discovery Plus and HBO Max into a single streaming service sometime in 2023. We still don’t have a lot of details but CEO David Zaslav indicated that more information will be announced to the public by the end of 2022. 

There are likely going to be changes ahead for Discovery Plus as we inch closer to the launch of this new streaming service. 

For now, the biggest changes are the addition of new content from CNN Originals to the Discovery Plus library such as Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, This is Life with Lisa Ling, and Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.

Unlike HBO Max, Discovery Plus hasn’t seen significant cutbacks to their content lineup. 

Want to learn more about HBO Max? Check out our HBO Max review here.

What's on Discovery Plus?

The content library you’ll find on Discovery Plus includes over 2,500+ shows with 60,000+ episodes. Many of these originated on cable, but there are also Discovery Plus Originals as well.

I’ve found that the service is great when I want to unwind with TV that doesn’t require too much attention. I can relax and check Facebook on my phone while cooking competition shows play in the background, for example. 

With Discovery Plus, you’ll have the choice between watching shows on-demand or on a handful of live channels. These live channels aren’t the same you’d find on cable but instead feature a feed of specific shows or TV genres (similar to channels you’d get through apps like Pluto TV or The Roku Channel).

Here are some of the highlights, broken down by category.

Food

Home

Lifestyle & Documentaries

Relationships

Science, Nature, & Tech

Paranormal & Unexplained

Adventure & Exploration

True Crime

The Discovery Plus App

Simultaneous Streams	4
Profiles	Up to 5 per account
Offline Downloads	No
Video Quality	Up to 4K, both plans for select titles
Parental Controls	Yes

From my experience, the Discovery Plus app runs smoothly on the range of devices I’ve used it on. That includes my smartphone, laptop, Apple TV, Roku player, and Amazon Fire TV Stick. Only on very rare occasions have I had issues with the menus loading slowly. A quick reboot of the app, though, fixed this problem.

The categories that the app is broken up into allow you to discover the perfect niche in a short period of time. Content can be filtered by network (such as TLC or Animal Planet) or by genre (such as “True Crime” or “Food”).

Parental controls allow you to control what your kids watch, and each member of your family can save their favorites to a “My List” section. Discovery Plus is available on a wide range of devices, and is also compatible with Chromecast and AirPlay.

Discovery Plus Discounts

Not only does Discovery Plus offer a lower price than some of its competitors, but there are multiple discounts you can add to it as well. Here are some ways to save money on Discovery Plus!

Student Discount

If you’re a college student, you can save 40% on the “Ad-Lite” plan for up to 12 months. That means instead of paying $4.99 a month you’ll pay just $2.99 a month. AND you’ll still get the 7 day free trial– not bad!

You’ll need to verify your enrollment through SheerID. To sign up or find out more details, click here.

Want to learn about more streaming service student discounts? Check out our article here!

Military Discount

A military discount is offered to U.S. active-duty military, spouses, reservists, and veterans. The discount applies to the Ad-Lite plan, which will take it to $2.99 a month instead of the usual $4.99 a month.

You’ll need to verify your status through SheerID and can take advantage of this discount for as long as your status remains verified. You’ll also get the seven day free trial. Get the Discovery Plus military discount here!

To learn about more streaming service discounts offered to U.S. veterans and members of the military, check out our article here!

Get it Free with Verizon

Verizon Wireless customers can get up to six months of the Discovery Plus Ad-Free plan at no cost! This offer applies whether you are a first-time Verizon customer, current customer who is upgrading to Unlimited, or a current Verizon customer who already has an Unlimited plan. 

Just go to their website, apply the deal to your account, and you're set! Get Discovery Plus from Verizon free here.

Limited Time Discounts and Deals

Throughout the year, Discovery+ offers promotional discounts. We always try to highlight the best deals on Discovery+ on our Deals page. Make sure to bookmark this page, and check for any deals before you sign up!

Final Thoughts: Is Discovery Plus Worth It?

Discovery Plus might not have the all-inclusive library you’d get from a streaming service like Netflix or HBO Max. But when it comes to doing one thing and doing that one thing well, this streaming service excels. 

If you are looking for entertaining nonfiction content that you’d get from cable channels like HGTV, Discovery, or TLC, then the low price of Discovery Plus makes it an attractive offer.

For cord cutters in particular that miss some of the content you’d get from cable, this gives you many of the same shows at a MUCH lower price than a cable subscription. 

We still don’t know what’s ahead for Discovery Plus as its parent company plans a new streaming service that combines it with HBO Max in 2023. For now, at least, Discovery Plus remains a decent streaming service for cord cutters who want some shows to sit back and unwind with on the couch.

To sign up for the free Discovery Plus trial, click on the button below!