Gaming · pricing
Battle.net pricing
Battle.net publishes 2 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 31 August 2026, Battle.net pricing is free across 2 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- One-time purchase
- Tiers
- 2
- Free tier
- Yes
Battle.net plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battle.net client | Free | 3 | Entry tier |
| World of Warcraft subscription | $14.99/month | 3 | +$14.99/month, 3 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
Battle.net client
FreeThe entry tier. It covers free client and account, free to play titles including hearthstone and overwatch 2, games and expansions bought individually.
World of Warcraft subscription
$14.99/monthOver Battle.net client, this tier adds:
- Monthly recurring subscription with cheaper three and six month terms
- Includes access to the current retail and classic realms
- Can be paid with in game tokens bought from other players
Where Battle.net stops being free
Battle.net client, Free
- Free client and account
- Free to play titles including Hearthstone and Overwatch 2
- Games and expansions bought individually
World of Warcraft subscription, $14.99/month
The first thing you pay for:
- Monthly recurring subscription with cheaper three and six month terms
- Includes access to the current retail and classic realms
- Can be paid with in game tokens bought from other players
What the product covers
The full Battle.net feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- Game installation and patching
- Account services
- Social layer
- In game shops
- Subscription management
- Parental controls
People bring Battle.net in for playing any current blizzard title, since the launcher is mandatory whether or not you bought through steam, running a world of warcraft subscription and paying for it with in game gold through tokens instead of cash, keeping call of duty installs and updates managed on pc without going through the xbox app, households that need play time and purchase limits applied to a child account by a parent. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Battle.net are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Gaming
Too few gaming tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle.net (this page) | Free | One-time purchase | - | |
| Winio | Free | subscription | - | vs Battle.net |
| Roblox | Free | Free to play, Robux currency packs and a subscription | - | vs Battle.net |
| Fortnite | Free | Free to play with in-app purchases | - | vs Battle.net |
| Minecraft | $29.99/one-time | One-time purchase, optional Realms subscription | - | vs Battle.net |
| Humble Bundle | $11.99/month | Pay what you want per bundle, or a monthly subscription | - | vs Battle.net |
| Amazon Luna | $9.99/month | Per user per month | - | vs Battle.net |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Battle.net badges page.
Before you pay for Battle.net
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 2 tiers between Free and $14.99/month, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Battle.net runs on windows, macos, and is published by Blizzard Entertainment, a Microsoft company of Irvine, California, United States. The full record is on the Battle.net review, and the rest of the category is under best gaming tools.
Battle.net pricing questions
- How much does Battle.net cost?
- Battle.net publishes 2 tiers, from Free for Battle.net client up to $14.99/month for World of Warcraft subscription. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Battle.net have a free plan?
- Yes. The Battle.net client tier costs nothing and covers free client and account, free to play titles including hearthstone and overwatch 2, games and expansions bought individually. Paying starts at $14.99/month for World of Warcraft subscription.
- What is the difference between Battle.net client and World of Warcraft subscription on Battle.net?
- World of Warcraft subscription costs $14.99/month against Free, and adds monthly recurring subscription with cheaper three and six month terms, includes access to the current retail and classic realms, can be paid with in game tokens bought from other players.
- Which gaming tools can I use without paying?
- 5 of the 8 gaming tools listed alongside Battle.net have a free tier: Winio, Roblox, Fortnite, Lutris, RetroArch.
- What am I actually paying for with Battle.net?
- The record lists 6 features across 1 area: other. In practice it is brought in for playing any current blizzard title, since the launcher is mandatory whether or not you bought through steam, running a world of warcraft subscription and paying for it with in game gold through tokens instead of cash, keeping call of duty installs and updates managed on pc without going through the xbox app.
- Does Battle.net charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 2 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Battle.net prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Battle.net against before paying?
- The closest gaming tools in this directory are Winio, Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Battle.net covering price, platforms and features.