How Much Does A WoW Subscription Cost?

The WoW Subscription Cost covers you to play WoW Classic and any of the content to the end of Shadowlands. Shadowlands became free as part of the monthly subscription towards the end of 2022. You’ll only need to pay for the current expansion (Dragonflight), if you want to play that content. The Subscription costs $14.99 for 1 month, $41.97 for 3 months and $77.94 for 6 months. 

WoW originally launched in 2004 and since then there have been 9 expansions. 

Up until 2018 you needed to purchase previous expansions or the Battle Chest. 

Since 2018, you now get all previous expansions included in the monthly fee. This means you get to enjoy all previous content without having to pay anything extra. 

You just need to purchase the current expansion, which will normally cost around $49.99 for the base version. 

WoW subscription costs Around the World

If you want to subscribe to WoW, you can subscribe for different lengths of time. You can sign up monthly or for 3 or 6 months. It does work out cheaper if you go for the longer subscription but it only saves you around $1-$2 a month. 

You can also sign up for a special 12 month subscription. 

The only reason you might want to sub for 6-12 months is the in-game items you can get. Often a mount or some form of transmog. 

For example the most recent offer was a massive Gargantuan Grrloc Ground Mount. It looks pretty epic! 

WoW subscription costs in the United States

If you’re based in the United States, the cost to subscribe to World of Warcraft is;

WoW subscription costs in Canada 

The price is a little higher in Canada to subscribe, this is due to the exchange rate. When you read this, it might vary slightly. 

WoW Subscription costs in Canada are; 

WoW subscription costs in the U.K.

If you’re based in the UK then overall it does work out a little cheaper, again this is due to the exchange rate. Below you’ll find the WoW subscription costs in the UK; 

How Much Does WoW Classic Cost?

When WoW classic was launched in 2019 it became very popular, very quickly. 

Many players missed just how hard and how much of a grind it was, and so it gives players a way to feel nostalgic. 

Whether you enjoy WoW Classic or Retail WoW, you can enjoy them both. 

Classic is included as part of the basic WoW Subscription Cost. You just need to download it as a separate game in the Battle.net App.

Alternatives to recurring subscriptions

If you don’t want to sign up to yet another subscription or your not able to, there are some alternatives. 

Purchase Game Time

The first way is by simply buying GameTime from the Battlenet shop. You can purchase 60 days worth of play time which costs $29.99/£19.99. 

This does work out at roughly the same price if you were to subscribe for 2 months. 

It’s not really costing you anymore not to subscribe. 

When your game time runs out, you won’t be able to play until you buy more game time. 

This is different to when you subscribe as that just auto renews at the same time every month. 

Spend WoW Tokens

Gold sellers have been a massive problem over the years in WoW, as well as the amount of gold in the ecosystem. 

To try and combat that, Blizzard bought out WoW Tokens. 

These are tokens that can be purchased from the auction house and you will use them for game time. 

The cost of them does vary depending on how many are available at that time. 

If you want to use WoW Tokens then you’ll need to be prepared to grind some serious gold. Currently in the US these cost 240,168 Gold and 353,647 Gold in the EU. 

Can You Play WoW For Free? Is There A Trial?

Yes, you can play for free with their free trial offer. This gives you access and allows you to play up until level 20. There are some limitations but you can still play any race or class you want to see which is best for you. 

You can also learn any of the professions and also have up to 1000 gold. 

Some of the things you cannot do in the trial are; 

• Join a guild
• Use the pet battle system
• Form a party
• Trade with other characters
• Use the world chat

Content from the current expansion is also not available. 

FAQ’s

Do I Need To Buy Shadowlands? 

No, Shadowlands is now a part of the WoW Subscription cost. You only need to purchase the current expansion. At the time of writing this, that would be Dragonflight. 

Will WoW ever be free?

It’s doubtful that WoW will be completely free to play, and I don’t think it should be. The expansions take a lot of development and the only way we can get this new content is through the income generated from subscriptions. 

Can you buy World of Warcraft Permanently?

No, you cannot buy a non subscription version of the game. The closest you can do to this is to buy the 6 or 12 month subscription. 

How many subscribers does World of Warcraft have?

It is estimated that in 2022, there were a total of 4.6 million subscribers to World of Warcraft. 

During this time it’s believed that 700,000 to 1,650,000 people play WoW each day. With a 3rd of these playing WoW Classic. 

Final Thoughts

In terms of cost a WoW subscription is around the same as other well-known MMO’s such as FFXIV. 

To say you get all of the previous expansions and game content included, its a pretty good deal. 

If you’re a new player, you’ll spend hours and hours enjoying the story and learning more about the lore. 

Starting from $14.99 a month, you’ll get access to the retail version of the game as well as WoW Classic. 

If you don’t want to pay through a subscription then you could always buy game time or spend in-game gold on WoW Tokens. 

If you’re reading this article as a potential new player and you’re not sure if you want to get a WoW Subscription, play the trial. 

As mentioned this will let you play up to level 20 with any class and race. 

Once you hit level 20, you’ll know whether or not it’s a game for you.