How Much Data Does Hulu Use?

A streaming service like Hulu provides hours of TV and movie content on demand. But if your internet service provider limits the amount of data you can use each month, you might be concerned about your Hulu data usage. Here's what you need to know about Hulu data usage and how to control it.

How Much Data Does Hulu Use?

Hulu doesn't provide official figures for how much data its service uses, but you can get a general idea based on its recommended internet speeds. Your actual usage will probably be lower than these figures, but Hulu gives these figures to ensure the most reliable experience.

Here's approximately how much data Hulu requires for different kinds of content:

For most of its library, including HD content: Hulu recommends internet speeds of at least 3 megabits per second. This value is about equivalent to 1.35 gigabytes per hour.
For live streams: Hulu suggests at least 8 Mbps. This speed can download about 3.6 GB per hour.
For 4K content: Hulu suggests a connection of at least 16 Mbps. At this rate, you can download about 7.2 GB per hour.
For low quality content: Hulu also offers a lower-quality option that only needs 1.5 Mbps, which is about 0.675 GB per hour.

How to Control How Much Data Hulu Uses on the Web

You can change some settings to use less data when you're watching Hulu. Here's how to adjust the settings to save some bits.

Go to Hulu and sign in.
Start playing a video.
Click the Settings icon in the lower-left corner of the screen.
Select Quality.
Select Data Saver.
Hulu will switch to a lower-data version of the stream.

How to Control How Much Data Hulu Uses on Mobile

Hulu has some other settings you can adjust if you're watching movies on your phone or tablet. Here's what to do to save data on the go.

These settings will only affect the usage when you're watching Hulu using a cellular network. They won't affect devices connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Open the Hulu app and sign in.
Tap Account at the bottom of the screen.
Tap Settings.
Tap Cellular Data Usage.
Tap Data Saver.
Now when you're away from home, Hulu will use less data to stream video.

How to Control How Much Data Hulu Uses for Downloads

If you download videos from Hulu to watch later, you can also control your data usage with Hulu by controlling the quality of the files you put on your device. Here's how to do it.

Open the Hulu app and sign in.
Tap Account at the bottom of the screen.
Tap Settings.
Tap Downloads.
Turn off Cellular Downloading to prevent your device from using its cellular network to download programs.
Tap Video Quality.
You have two options on this screen: Standard and High. Tap Standard to download smaller, lower-quality files to your device. This setting will also save space on your hard drive.