It has a very specific selection of content: Disney animated movies, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, and National Geographic.Įssentially, if Disney owns it and kids can watch it, it's on here, and often streaming in 4K for no additional price. Instead, it's a family-friendly option that feels like it lives alongside a Netflix or Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Hulu comes in two flavors: the standard on-demand streaming service you've always known and loved, and the newer Hulu with Live TV -to learn more you can read our full Hulu review here. It's also the only streaming service app on the Nintendo Switch. Video streaming service Hulu (opens in new tab) offers big-name titles like The Handmaid's Tale, The Great, and Family Guy alongside a huge number of titles from NBC, FOX and Comedy Central.
Prime Video is available for PC and Mac, the Kindle Fire HD, iPad, Xbox, PlayStation, internet-enabled TVs and Blu-ray players, Sony's Home Cinema system, Sony's Network Media Player and myriad other minor devices that will go unmentioned. The two big differentiators between the services are the fact that access to Amazon's streaming service comes standard with a subscription to Amazon Prime – meaning access to Amazon Music and premium delivery services.Ī subscription to Amazon Prime will run up $14.99 per month, which is still great value when you factor in the other benefits of the service.
So always check out guide to the best Amazon Prime TV shows before you dive in head-first.
Like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video (opens in new tab) has its own set of original series – Invincible, The Wheel of Time, and The Boys among others – but, generally speaking, they don't receive the same fanfare as their Netflix-bred brethren.Īlthough Netflix is as guilty for dud programming as the rest of them, it's worth mentioning Amazon Prime does get some pretty terrible new additions from time to time. That's not to say they're identical – they're definitely not – but the differences are few and far between, and Prime comes a close second in the battle of the best streaming services.
But don't forget you can also give Netflix a spin with the 1-month free trial (opens in new tab) (in the US, anyway) to see if it's worth your money. Netflix's basic plan currently costs $9, while its HD plan sets you back $14, and its 4K Premium plan $18. Netflix will have to work hard to make up for those losses. Both garnered significant audiences on Netflix in the US.
Friends and The Office, for example, have both departed already.
The number one threat to Netflix is its licensed content disappearing to newer, competing networks. Since launching its own original content in 2013, Netflix's originals library has swelled to an enormous size, boasting dozens of award-winning shows including Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Squid Game – you can see our pick of the best Netflix series in the US. The quality of the movies and TV we tried – mostly streamed in Ultra HD – on both TV and on tablets is exquisite. These days, most smart TVs have Netflix apps and finding a streaming box without it is the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack.