With an ever-growing list of streaming services on the market, it can be tough to know which ones are worth it.

If you're looking to add Hulu to your repertoire, but you're not sure it's worth the commitment, Hulu's here for you. Both its ad-supported service ($5.99 a month) and its ad-free option ($11.99 a month) - which we recommend - begin with a generous 30-day free trial period.

During the trial, you gain unfettered access to Hulu's entire streaming catalog including all its TV shows, movies, and Hulu Originals just like a paying customer, so you'll really be able to fully test the service and learn if it's right for you.

Updated on 7/13/2020 by Steven Cohen: We've revised this article to include mention of Hulu's HBO Max add-on, as well as Hulu's current extended 30-day free trial for Showtime.

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Foto: Watch "The Handmaid's Tale" for free with Hulu's 30-day trial. Source: Hulu

How do you get Hulu for free?

To access the free trial, you'll have to sign up for Hulu using a valid credit card. Hulu will begin charging you once your 30 days are up, but Hulu is wonderfully transparent about when it will charge you each month, so there's no guessing or trying to remember how many days you have left before you'll be billed.

On your "Manage Account" page, your next billing date will be clearly displayed right above the cost of your service. So if you plan to cancel, set a reminder for yourself one day before you're set to be charged, so you won't be billed accidentally.

In addition to its on-demand subscription services, Hulu also offers shorter free trials for its premium add-ons, including its live TV option.

I used the seven-day free trial of Hulu + Live TV (starting at $54.99 a month) to watch Shark Week once I discovered my cable subscription didn't come with the Discovery Channel. If you're already a Hulu + Live TV subscriber and are finding that the default 50 hours of DVR storage isn't enough, Hulu's 200-hour upgrade ($9.99 a month) comes with a one-month free trial. If you have a large family who wants to stream on many devices at once, you can also try out the unlimited screens add-on ($9.99 a month) for a month free before you commit.

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Foto: Watch HBO original programming with Hulu add-ons. Source: HBO

Hulu also offers a seven-day free trial of its $14.99 a month HBO Max add-on, which is enough time to stream all eight seasons of "Game of Thrones" - if you dedicate 10-12 hours a day to it.

The Cinemax and Starz add-ons also begin with seven-day free trials, so I'd suggest toggling through them week after week to see what content each unlocks, then decide which ones you want to tack onto your regular subscription. For a limited time, the Showtime add-on currently comes with a free one-month trial instead of the regular seven-day trial. The Showtime promotion ends on August 16.

We think the HBO Max add-on is the premium channel most worth the cost. It gives you access to HBO's entire catalogue of original shows, past and present, as well as a vast collection of movies, blockbuster films, and brand-new original series.

Sadly, the only package that Hulu does not currently offer a free trial for is its bundled plan with Disney Plus and ESPN+. That subscription costs $12.99 a month, but there is no option to try it out before being billed.

Hulu offers a lot of services, so if this feels overwhelming, check out this complete price breakdown where you can see everything Hulu offers and what it costs, side by side. And it couldn't be easier to start and stop these services in your Hulu account. Everything is laid out on the "Manage Plan" page, and you can change any of your services at any time.

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Foto: Source: Alyssa Powell/Business Insider

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