Services
NOW TV Free Trial: Does It Still Exist in 2026?
The blunt answer is that NOW withdrew its standard free trial some years ago, and the "30-day free trial" pages still ranking in Google are mostly out of date or affiliate spam. Trials do still surface, but only in specific places. This page explains where, and what to do instead when none is available.
The short answer
- There is no standard, always-available NOW free trial in 2026.
- Trials appear occasionally via retailers, retention offers and Sky Mobile.
- Discounted first months are far more common than free ones.
- A 24-hour Sports day pass is the cheapest way to test the service.
Search "NOW TV free trial" and Google will return a wall of pages promising thirty days free. Almost none of them is accurate. NOW withdrew its general free trial from the UK market some years ago, and what remains is a patchwork of occasional promotions that appear and disappear without announcement.
That leaves a lot of people signing up expecting not to be charged, and then being charged. So this page does the opposite of the affiliate pages: it tells you plainly what the position is, lists the specific circumstances in which a trial genuinely does appear, and sets out the legitimate alternatives that actually reduce what you pay.
We re-check NOW’s sign-up flow monthly. The position described here reflects August 2026.
Is there a NOW TV free trial?
No, not through the ordinary sign-up route. NOW withdrew its standard free trial some years ago, and the 30-day free trial pages still ranking in Google are mostly out of date. As of 2026 the website charges from day one on every Membership. Trials survive only in a few specific places.
NOW ran a 7-day free trial on most Memberships for several years, and it was genuinely generous — you could sample Entertainment or Cinema and cancel before paying anything. It was withdrawn as the market matured and Sky moved NOW towards discounted introductory pricing instead.
The "30 days free" claim that circulates so widely appears to originate from two places: short-lived retailer bundles, and confusion with other services that did run month-long trials. It was never a standing NOW offer in Britain.
Why the trial went away
Two reasons, both commercial. Trials attract heavy churn — people who sign up, binge one series and cancel — which is expensive when the content is licensed per subscriber. And discounted introductory pricing achieves the same acquisition goal while collecting a payment and a card on file from day one. From Sky’s point of view the discount is simply the better instrument.
Where can you still get a NOW TV trial?
Only through side doors, never the main sign-up page on NOW’s website — which charges from day one. The places a trial still turns up are intermittent rather than standing offers, so treat any you find as a bonus rather than something to plan a subscription around.
Four places, in rough order of how often we actually see them.
1. Retention offers when you try to cancel
The most reliable of the four. Existing customers who begin the cancellation flow are frequently presented with a save offer — commonly a heavily discounted month or two, and occasionally a free month. This is a genuine, sanctioned mechanism rather than a loophole, and it costs nothing to look at.
Our walkthrough of how to cancel a NOW Membership covers the exact screens, including where the save offers appear.
2. Hardware and retailer bundles
Buying a NOW Smart Stick, or certain smart televisions and streaming devices, sometimes includes a bundled month or two of Entertainment. These come and go with retail promotions and are most common around Black Friday and the January sales. Check the box contents rather than the shelf label — the bundle is not always advertised prominently.
3. Sky Mobile and Sky broadband customers
Sky periodically includes NOW Memberships as a perk for its mobile and broadband customers, sometimes for a fixed free period. If you are already a Sky customer in any capacity, it is worth checking your account rewards section before paying separately.
4. Returning-customer offers
Lapsed customers are a target for win-back campaigns, which arrive by email and occasionally include a free or near-free month. This is the mechanism behind the widely repeated advice to cancel and re-join: it does often work, though the offer is not guaranteed and the gap required varies.
What can you do instead of a NOW TV free trial?
A free trial saves you one month. Several of these save considerably more than that, every year. Hardware is a separate question — is the NOW TV Stick worth buying covers it.
Buy a 24-hour Sports day pass to test it
Around £14.99 for a full day of every Sky Sports channel. If what you actually want is to see whether the service works acceptably on your broadband and your television, this answers the question for the price of a takeaway and involves no recurring commitment at all.
Take the introductory rate, then diarise the step-up
NOW runs discounted first periods on most Memberships far more often than it runs trials — frequently half price for several months. The saving is usually larger than a single free month. Put the step-up date in your calendar the day you sign up.
Treat Sports as seasonal
This is the big one. There is no contract, so cancel between seasons. Paying nine months instead of twelve saves roughly a quarter of the annual cost — far more than any trial ever did. Cancelling in June and July alone is worth about £80.
Check whether a Sky product you already hold includes it
Sky Mobile, Sky broadband and some Sky TV packages carry NOW Memberships as rewards. People frequently pay for a Membership they are already entitled to. Check the rewards section of your Sky account first.
Decide about Boost deliberately
Boost is around £6 a month for 1080p, 5.1 audio and no adverts. On a large television it is close to essential; on a laptop or tablet it is genuinely optional. Skipping it where you do not need it saves £72 a year — more than two free months.
Is NOW TV free in any sense?
A common follow-up, and the answer is a qualified no — but there is genuinely free television in Britain, and it is worth knowing what it covers before paying for anything.
NOW itself has no free tier. Every Membership is paid, and the app will not show you content without one. There is no advertising-supported free layer of the kind some international services offer.
| What you want | Free option | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Main UK channels, live | Freely or Freeview Play | Free (TV Licence for live) |
| BBC content | BBC iPlayer | Free with TV Licence |
| ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 content | ITVX, Channel 4, My5 | Free, ad-supported |
| Sky Atlantic drama | No free route | NOW Entertainment or Sky |
| Live Premier League football | No free route | NOW Sports or Sky Sports |
| Highlights only | BBC Match of the Day | Free with TV Licence |
Do NOW TV discount codes actually work?
Searches for NOW discount and voucher codes run into the thousands each month, so it is worth being clear about which of them are real.
- Official promotional pricing — genuine, and applied automatically at checkout rather than needing a code. This is where most real savings live.
- Retention offers — genuine, and often the largest single discount available. Reached through the cancellation flow.
- Gift cards — genuine. Sold at supermarkets and occasionally discounted, which is an indirect way to pay less.
- Sky rewards — genuine, if you hold another Sky product.
- Third-party "codes" from voucher sites — almost always dead. NOW rarely issues generic codes, and voucher aggregators keep expired ones live because the pages still earn clicks.
The practical guidance is to ignore voucher-code sites for this particular service and go straight to NOW’s own offers page, then check your Sky account rewards if you have one. That covers essentially every real discount available.
How the entry cost compares: is NOW TV free anywhere else?
The reason a trial matters less than it appears is that NOW’s introductory pricing is usually better than what the competition offers, trial or no trial. Here is the realistic first-month position across the UK market.
| Service | Free trial? | Typical first month | Tied in? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOW Entertainment | No | ~£5 promotional | No |
| NOW Sports | No | ~£21 promotional | No |
| the Sky Stream puck | No | ~£15 Essential TV | Yes — 24 months |
| EE TV | No | Bundled with broadband | Yes — broadband term |
| Virgin Stream | No | Box cost plus first pack | Rolling packs |
| Freely | n/a | Free | No |
| Freeview Play | n/a | Free | No |
That last point is the one worth absorbing. Free trials have largely disappeared from British pay television across the board, replaced by discounted introductory periods. Searching for a trial that no longer exists at any provider costs you more than simply taking the best available promotional rate.
Our full comparison of every legal UK service sets out what each one costs once the introductory period ends, which is the figure that actually matters over a year.
What should you check in the small print?
Four clauses decide whether an offer is as good as it looks — what the rate rises to and when, whether it is tied to a minimum term, what cancelling early costs, and how it renews. Read those before the headline price, because they are where the real cost sits.
When a trial or introductory rate does appear, four clauses determine whether it is as good as it looks.
- What it steps up to, and when. A discounted rate is only meaningful alongside the standard rate and the date it applies. "Half price for three months" on a Membership you will keep for a year is a 12% annual saving, not 50%.
- Whether Boost is included. Promotional pricing on the Membership frequently excludes Boost, so the advertised figure delivers 720p with adverts. Check whether the offer covers both.
- Whether it is new-customer only. Most are. If you have held that Membership before, the offer may not apply even if the sign-up page shows it.
- What happens on cancellation. With NOW you keep access to the end of the paid period, which is generous. Some offers are structured so cancelling forfeits the remainder — always worth confirming.
How can you try a subscription before committing?
The same logic as a free trial applies to a short term rather than a long one, and if the real question is whether NOW is worth it at all, NOW against Netflix is the comparison to read. A rolling monthly Membership can be taken for a single month and cancelled, which tests the service properly for the price of one month — usually less than the value a trial would have given you anyway.
If the appeal of a free trial is testing a service before paying properly for it, the same logic applies here — the three-month terms below exist for exactly that, and cost less than a single month of NOW Sports. Both tiers are listed because trials are almost always taken out for a specific fixture or a specific series: IPTV 4K Ultra in 4K HDR, and IPTV 8K Ultra Max with the wider channel list and deeper catalogue. Elsewhere the equivalent is a one-month trial rather than a free one — our own trial terms work that way.
IPTV 4K Ultra
From £2.86/moCinema-quality HDR & Dolby
True 4K Ultra HD streaming with HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Watch the Premier League in 4K like you are at the ground.
Starter 4K
3 Months
£34.99−31%
£23.99
£8.00/mo
- 27,000+ channels in 4K
- 192,000+ VOD titles in native 4K
- 4K UHD (3840×2160) HEVC
- Full EPG guide
- 1 screen
- 24/7 UK support
- Anti-freeze technology
Secure payment
Standard 4K
6 Months
£54.99−27%
£39.99
£6.67/mo
- 27,000+ channels in 4K
- 192,000+ VOD titles in 4K HDR
- 4K UHD + HDR10+
- EPG + 3-day replay
- 1 screen
- Priority support 24/7
- Anti-freeze servers
Secure payment
Premium 4K
12 Months
2 months free£74.99−27%
£54.99
£3.93/mo
- 27,000+ channels in 4K UHD
- 192,000+ VOD titles in 4K HDR
- 4K UHD + HDR10+ + Dolby Vision
- EPG + 7-day replay
- 1 screen
- VIP WhatsApp support
- Dolby Atmos 5.1 audio
- Free automatic updates
Secure payment
Ultimate 4K
24 Months
4 months free£89.99−11%
£79.99
£2.86/mo
- 27,000+ channels in 4K UHD
- 192,000+ VOD titles in 4K Ultra HD
- 4K + HDR10+ + Dolby Vision
- EPG + 14-day replay
- 1 screen
- VIP WhatsApp instant support
- Dolby Atmos 7.1 surround
- Early access to 4K content
- Optimised HEVC streaming
Secure payment
IPTV 8K Ultra Max
From £3.93/mo8K HDR + Dolby Atmos — the pinnacle
The most advanced plan on the list. True 8K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound, 55,000+ live channels, 220,000+ on-demand films and series, and multi-language subtitles on everything.
Starter 8K
3 Months
£39.99−25%
£29.99
£10.00/mo
- 55,000+ live channels in up to 8K
- 220,000+ films & series on demand
- 8K UHD + Dolby Vision HDR
- Dolby Atmos immersive audio
- Multi-language subtitles
- Full EPG guide
- 1 screen
- 24/7 UK support
Secure payment
Standard 8K
6 Months
£69.99−29%
£49.99
£8.33/mo
- 55,000+ live channels in up to 8K
- 220,000+ films & series on demand
- 8K UHD + Dolby Vision HDR
- Dolby Atmos immersive audio
- Multi-language subtitles
- EPG + 3-day replay
- 1 screen
- Priority UK support 24/7
Secure payment
Premium 8K
12 Months
2 months free£99.99−30%
£69.99
£5.00/mo
- 55,000+ live channels in up to 8K
- 220,000+ films & series in 8K / 4K
- 8K UHD + Dolby Vision HDR
- Dolby Atmos object-based audio
- Multi-language subtitles throughout
- EPG + 7-day replay
- 1 screen
- VIP WhatsApp support 24/7
- Free automatic updates
Secure payment
Ultimate 8K
24 Months
4 months free£124.99−12%
£109.99
£3.93/mo
- 55,000+ live channels in up to 8K
- 220,000+ films & series in 8K / 4K
- 8K UHD + Dolby Vision HDR
- Dolby Atmos 7.1+ surround sound
- Multi-language subtitles throughout
- EPG + 14-day replay
- 1 screen
- VIP WhatsApp instant support
- Early access to new 8K content
- Optimised 8K HEVC / AV1 streaming
Secure payment
Nothing above renews when the term ends, which is the trap most free trials are built around and the reason they need cancelling on a calendar reminder. The full price list shows what each term works out at per month, and the NOW review covers the memberships themselves.
How to cancel before you are charged
If you do land a trial or an introductory rate, the thing that catches people out is the rollover. Two rules make it painless. The full sequence is in how to cancel NOW TV, and what NOW Memberships carry covers what you would be giving up.
- Cancel the day you sign up. Cancelling does not cut off access — you keep it until the end of the period you have paid for or been given. So there is no downside to cancelling immediately and simply enjoying the remaining days.
- Diarise the renewal date, not the trial length. "Seven days" is ambiguous about time zones and billing cycles. The account page shows an exact renewal date; use that.
The cancellation route itself is short but not signposted. Full instructions, with the exact menu path and the save offers you will be shown, are in our guide to cancelling NOW.
And if you decide NOW is not the right shape after all, our comparison of every legal UK service covers the alternatives — including the two that cost nothing at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is NOW TV free at any point without a trial?
No. There is no permanently free tier, no ad-supported free level, and no way to watch NOW without paying something. Anything advertising NOW free is either an entry discount, a bundled offer through another provider, or not legitimate.
Does NOW still do a free trial?
Not as a standard offer. As of August 2026 the ordinary sign-up route charges from day one on every Membership. Free periods still appear occasionally through retention offers, hardware bundles, Sky customer rewards and win-back campaigns, but there is no always-available trial.
Was there ever a NOW TV free trial 30 days long?
Not in the UK. The old NOW TV trial ran to about 14 days at its most generous, and a NOW TV free trial 30 days long is something people remember from other services rather than this one. What exists now are discounted first months, not free ones.
Is there a NOW TV 30-day free trial?
No, and there never was a general 30-day trial in the UK. NOW ran a 7-day trial for several years before withdrawing it. Pages advertising 30 days free are almost always outdated affiliate content.
Is NOW free?
No. Every NOW Membership is paid and there is no advertising-supported free tier. For genuinely free UK television, Freely, Freeview Play, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and My5 all cost nothing, though live viewing requires a TV Licence.
How can I watch NOW cheaply without a trial?
Take the introductory promotional rate, treat Sports as a seasonal purchase and cancel between seasons, use 24-hour day passes for individual fixtures, check whether a Sky product you already hold includes a Membership, and only pay for Boost where you actually need 1080p.
Do NOW discount codes work?
Generic codes from voucher aggregator sites rarely work — NOW seldom issues them and expired codes stay listed. Real savings come from NOW’s own promotional pricing, which applies automatically at checkout, from retention offers in the cancellation flow, and from Sky account rewards.
Will I be charged if I cancel during a trial?
Not if you cancel before the renewal date shown on your account page. Cancelling does not end access immediately — you keep it until the paid or free period expires — so the safest approach is to cancel on the day you sign up and simply use the remaining time.
Will NOW bring the free trial back?
There is no indication that it will. The withdrawal was part of a market-wide shift away from trials towards discounted introductory pricing, and no mainstream UK pay-TV provider currently runs a standing free trial. Occasional free periods through retention offers and retailer bundles are the realistic expectation rather than a return of the general trial.
Does cancelling and rejoining NOW get me a better price?
Often, yes. Lapsed customers are targeted by win-back campaigns that arrive by email and sometimes include a free or heavily discounted month. Nothing is promised, and how long you need to stay away varies, but with no contract to break the experiment costs nothing to try.
What did the old NOW TV free trial include?
The withdrawn offer was a 7-day trial on most Memberships, giving full access to that tier before any payment was taken. It required card details up front and rolled into a paid month automatically unless cancelled. Sports was frequently excluded, and it was new-customer only.
Do other UK TV services offer free trials instead?
Not really — standing free trials have largely disappeared from British pay television across the board. Sky Stream, EE TV and Virgin Stream all charge from the start, and none runs a general trial. The market has shifted to discounted introductory periods, so comparing first-month prices is more useful than hunting for a trial.
Is the NOW Sports day pass better value than a trial would be?
For testing the service, arguably yes. Around £14.99 buys 24 hours of every Sky Sports channel with no recurring commitment and no card left on file for a rollover. If your question is whether NOW performs acceptably on your broadband and your television, a day pass answers it definitively.
Can I get a free trial by making a new account?
Creating duplicate accounts to repeat promotional offers breaches NOW’s terms and can result in accounts being closed. Cancelling between seasons saves considerably more money legitimately than any single trial would.
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