The streaming landscape has changed drastically of late, and as one of precious few services that has managed to keep things steady, Philo has emerged as one of the most attractive cord-cutting options on the market. The Philo free trial is undoubtedly one of its big draws, but it also strikes a fine balance between its price and its lineup of 70 channels.
Call it skimpflation, shrinkflation or something altogether less well-mannered, subscription fees you used to know like the back of your hand have crept up, more than once in some cases, and swathes of generous offers trial periods have completely disappeared from the map. Philo is bucking the trend.
Featuring more than 70 channels, including big-hitters like HGTV, Hallmark Channel, TLC and History for just $25 per month after a free trial, it costs a fraction of the price of an average cable package, and doesn't carry any of the long-term baggage.
Philo takes its name from the great American inventor Philo Farnsworth, one of the fathers of the television. Needless to say, the streaming platform is much easier to get your head around than any of its namesake's ground-breaking creations.
In fact, Philo is arguably the most straightforward cord-cutting service around.
Is there a Philo free trial available?
A free trial is available to anybody who hasn't signed up to Philo before.
Create a brand new account and you'll have seven days to try out the service without paying a thing.
To get the most out of it, you can include the premium STARZ (usually an extra $9 per month), MGM+ (usually an extra $6 per month), and Movies & More (usually an extra $3 per month) add-ons in your Philo free trial.
One important thing to note is that you have to register your payment details in order to activate the trial period. This means that you'll automatically move to a paid subscription as soon as your seven-day free trial ends.
While we have seen Philo offer new users a 30-day trial in the past, that's not the case currently.
How to sign up to the Philo free trial
- Select 'Start your 7-day free trial' on the Philo website
- Enter your email address or phone number
- Follow the the link sent to your email
- Or copy the code and enter it on the Philo website
- Select any add-ons that you want to try (you don't have to choose any)
- Enter your payment details
- Hit 'Start free trial'
If, during the period of your free trial, you decide that you'd rather not pay for a Philo subscription, you can simply cancel through the Philo website.
You'll still retain access to Philo for the remainder of your free trial period.
What is the cheapest way to sign up after your Philo free trial ends?
Philo only offers one subscription tier: a $25 per month package that gets you every channel the service has to offer, apart from the premium add-ons.
Once your free trial is up, you'll automatically become a paying customer. Start your free trial at noon on Saturday, say, and $25 will leave your bank account at the same time the following Saturday.
Since there are no contracts involved, you can cancel your subscription whenever you want and retain access to Philo until the end of the billing period. By the same token, you can reactivate a subscription whenever you want to.
Philo used to offer a Referral Program, which would earn you $5 in credit for every person you successfully got to sign up to the service. Get five people to sign up, for instance, and you'd cover your monthly fee. However, the Philo Referral Program was discontinued in September 2022.
