Should you choose Disney Plus, Netflix or Prime Video? (Image: NETFLIX • PRIME VIDEO • WALT DISNEY • GETTY)
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Having trouble watching something? A streaming service can be an affordable way to access hundreds of new TV shows, documentaries, sports (in some cases) and blockbusters. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are available on ongoing monthly contracts, so unlike some of the best Sky TV deals you can cancel at any time – making these streamers incredibly flexible.
But with news of Amazon Prime’s UK price hike coming – the first cost increase since 2014 – which streaming service offers the best value for money?
Netflix is still the most popular with 220 million subscribers worldwide. Despite the massive success of its latest season of Stranger Things, which is available to stream exclusively on Netflix and racked up an astounding 5 billion minutes watched in one week, it’s losing subscribers at one of the fastest rates among the platforms on this list. Netflix lost 210,000 subscribers to 17.08 million in the UK between April and June this year, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Board (Barb).
Amazon Prime lost 589,000 subscribers to 12.76 million in the same period. Interestingly, these subscribers could all have avoided the incoming price increase by renewing their contracts at the current rate before September. Disney+ bucked the trend and increased its subscribers in the last quarter, according to data from Barb. This added 91,000 paying subscribers to reach 6.62 million in the UK.
If you’re going to join the thousands of people who are cutting their monthly expenses by ditching a streaming service … which one isn’t worth the monthly cost? We’ve pitted the UK’s most popular streaming platforms against each other to help you decide.
Prime Video
Built in part by Amazon’s 2011 acquisition of DVD-mail company LoveFilm, Prime Video is a bit different from its two biggest streaming competitors, Netflix and Disney+. While these platforms only offer the titles included as part of your monthly subscription, Prime Video also allows subscribers to pay extra to rent and buy shows, documentaries and movies that aren’t included in the £5.99 monthly subscription. This may interest you : Boris Johnson defies calls to resign in the midst of mass exodus from his government. As such, it offers an almost unlimited library within its app…if you’re willing to pay.
Of course, there’s also a great deal as part of your monthly subscription fee. Amazon produces a huge number of exclusive films, including Being the Ricardos, Val, The Tomorrow War, Coming 2 America, Sound of Metal, The Big Sick, Manchester by the Sea and Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm. It has also launched a number of successful original series, including The Grand Tour, The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Clarkson’s Farm, James May …Our Man in Japan and Backstage with Katherine Ryan.
In the coming weeks, Prime Video will launch its biggest bet to date, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, set thousands of years before the events of the Oscar-winning film trilogy and billed as the most expensive TV show yet. the show has ever been produced on an eye-popping budget of $58m (£48m) per episode.
Prime Video is the only streaming service to include live sports as part of its monthly subscription: US Open, WTA and ATP Tours, two full match rounds of the Premier League 2022/23 season and Autumn Nations Rugby.
Unlike Netflix, Prime Video only offers one subscription level, so you don’t have to pay extra to watch in the highest picture quality available (4K Ultra HD) – you just need a compatible set-top box, TV, phone. or a tablet and an internet connection fast enough to handle the format. Prime Video subscribers can watch simultaneously on three devices with the same login credentials. Only two different devices can watch the same title at the same time.
While Prime Video can be subscribed to for £5.99 a month, the streaming service is also a benefit of Amazon Prime membership.
The scheme also offers free next-day delivery on thousands of Amazon items (and even same-day delivery for some in the UK), millions of songs to stream via Prime Music on your phone or Amazon Echo, and free Kindle e-books to read. With Prime Reading, free PC games you can download and keep with Prime Gaming, a one-year subscription to Deliveroo Plus, early access to Lightning Deals and discounts on Amazon (including during Black Friday sales), unlimited photo backup to the cloud, the list goes on…
Amazon Prime costs £7.99 a month or £79 a year, but from September 15 its membership will rise to £8.99 a month or £95 a year.
However, if you’re happy with a Prime Video subscription, the plan is currently just £5.99 a month, and that price won’t go up in September. And if you sign up for an annual Amazon Prime membership now, you’ll avoid the price increase until your membership renewal in August 2023.
Whichever plan you choose, it will still be cheaper than a regular Netflix subscription. This package, which includes access in high definition (1080p) and the ability to stream on up to two devices at once, costs £10.99 a month.
Prime Video | Quick Review
Best Bit
A growing selection of original series and movies such as The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Borat: The Next Movie and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and live sports! Plus, when you subscribe to Prime Video as part of your Amazon Prime membership, you get a truckload of other perks, including next-day delivery, free Kindle books, music streaming, and more.
Worst Bit
Prime Video allows users to rent and buy discs that aren’t part of a subscription, meaning you have more options than any other steamer, but it also means you can’t leave the remote unattended when younger viewers are around. This may interest you : What’s up for Amazon Prime Video in August 2022?. can accidentally buy unlike Netflix.
Price
Prime Video standalone is £5.99 a month, Amazon Prime is £8. To see also : Everything Coming to Netflix, Hulu & Prime Video Week 11 July 2022.99 a month or £95 a year from 15 September (currently £7.99 a month or £79 a year)
Netflix
Netflix is easily the biggest name in streaming. The Californian company revolutionized TV viewing when it arrived in the UK in January 2012, dropping entire series all at once so subscribers could binge watch hours of TV.
Since the arrival of House of Cards in 2013, the streamer has launched a number of colossal hits exclusive to the platform, including Bridgerton, The Crown, Stranger Things, Sex Education, Squid Game, You, Queer Eye, BoJack Horseman, Ozark, For Sale Sunset, GLOW , Orange Is The New Black, Mindhunter, Black Mirror, The Haunting Of Hill House, Too Hot to Handle, Midnight Mass, Love Is Blind, Master of None, 13 Reasons Why, Lupin, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and many, many more other.
Over the years, you’ve probably heard friends, family, or coworkers discuss one (or more) of these shows. Netflix has launched some of the most talked-about shows of the past decade … and continues to churn out new hits every few months.
And it’s not just boxes either. Netflix is also consistently releasing original movies, with one new blockbuster every week this year.
Netflix has launched some of the most talked-about shows of the past decade … and continues to churn out new hits every few months
Netflix invests heavily in original content to keep up with the insatiable appetite of its legions of viewers. However, this comes at a price – the price of a subscription has steadily increased over the years.
The latest price hike began earlier this year in the UK, with the Basic and Standard plans increasing by £1 per month, while the Premium package increased by £2 per month.
Netflix’s Standard plan is its most popular, unlocking access to 1080p high-definition streaming (a must if you’re going to watch on TV) and the ability for two people to watch with the same login credentials (useful if you want to share costs with a loved one or flatmate). At £10.99 a month (and no discount available for those who want to pre-order for an annual subscription…unlike both Amazon Prime and Disney+), this Netflix plan is the most expensive option in this article.
This may not be the case for much longer. Netflix plans to launch a cheaper ad-supported plan in the coming months, but unfortunately the price has yet to be confirmed. It’s also being countered by Disney+, which is launching a similar ad-supported subscription plan to make streaming more affordable soon.
Netflix | Quick Review
Best Bit
One of the slickest streaming apps out of the subscription services on this list, Netflix offers a huge library and endless streaming that you don’t need to use (and exclusively). If your friends or family are excited about a new series or documentary they can’t watch fast enough, it’s probably on Netflix.
Worst Bit
All of this content is paid for, and constant price increases have left Netflix’s Standard plan as the most expensive subscription on this list…and it’s not even the most expensive subscription level Netflix offers! Until the much talked about ad supported level in the near future, Netflix is not for those looking to save money every month!
Price
The Netflic Basic plan offers non-HD streaming from £6.99 a month, the Standard plan, which lets you stream in HD (and on two screens at the same time), costs £10.99 a month, while 4K Ultra HD picture quality is locked behind the most expensive plan , priced at £. 15.99 per month. That’s £191.88 for a whole year’s worth of 4K box set consumption, which comes standard with Disney+ and Prime Video!
Disney+
Disney+ is one of the newest kids on the streaming block, but it already has a massive library of some of the biggest blockbusters and critically acclaimed movies of all time.
The House of Mouse streaming service only launched in March 2022, but has already gained millions of subscribers in the UK. It will take advantage of Disney’s unparalleled arsenal of intellectual property, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lucasfilm, Pixar Studios, National Geographic, exclusive movies and shows from US-only streaming service Hulu, and classic Walt Disney animated films.
For a flat monthly fee, subscribers can watch all the Star Wars movies, as well as universe-exclusive shows like The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi, all 29 MCU movies, and shows like WandaVision. and Loki, reporting directly on the next Marvel blockbusters slated for release, every episode of The Simpsons (and new episodes as soon as they air in the US), movies released by 20th Century Fox (acquired by Disney in 2019), National Documentary series and films from Geographic and all films released by Walt Disney and Pixar.
If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it really is.
To keep up with rivals like Netflix and Prime Video, Disney+ is also investing heavily in original content, such as the critically acclaimed Dopesick, The Rescue, The Dropout and The Beatles: Get Back, all produced exclusively for the platform.
As movie theaters closed their doors during the global pandemic, Disney+ quickly became home to the latest theatrical releases. As the world begins to open up again, Disney+ is bringing movies to the streaming service in record time. For example, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was exclusive to multiplexes in May 2022, was recently added to the Disney+ library, while Pixar’s Lightyear, which opened in theaters nationwide on June 17, arrived on Disney+ on August 3. It’s only 47 days.
Even better, the wealth of content available through Disney+ can be accessed at a great price. Disney+ membership costs £7.99 per month or £79.90 per year. That’s cheaper than the new Amazon Prime price and the regular price of a Netflix subscription. However, it is more expensive than a standalone Prime Video subscription.
Disney+ | Quick Review
Best Bit
For less than the cost of one Walt Disney movie on DVD, you can stream every animated classic, a Pixar movie, and all 29 entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plus, you can watch every episode of The Simpsons, the complete Star Wars saga, National Geographic documentaries, and a constant stream of original series exclusively for streamers.
Worst Bit
Unless you’re heavily invested in Walt Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ll find yourself scrolling through many libraries looking for something to watch. While Disney+ continues to add titles to its mature, focused Star brand, it can’t yet match Netflix’s arsenal of adult boxes.
Price
Disney+ costs £7.99 a month, but it also offers an annual plan for £79.90 a year, which equates to 12 months for 10 months.
Netflix vs Disney+ vs Prime Video: Final Verdict
At the end of the day, we can talk about how much each service costs per month, how many exclusives are coming out this year, and how many price increases have been introduced recently… but whether a service is value for money is a matter of personal taste.
Netflix is conveniently the most expensive streaming service in this article, but it’s also the only way to watch the final season of Stranger Things, The Crown, and Squid Game. Fortunately, since the streamer drops all episodes on the same day, it’s possible to pop in and out whenever there’s something you know you want to watch. It’s a great way to save money, and it’s not always possible with Prime Video and Disney+, both of which tend to release new episodes of their biggest shows on a weekly basis.
If you’re a prolific Amazon shopper, an annual Amazon Prime membership is a great deal, with tons of great shows and movies – be sure to check out Clarkson’s Farm, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Sound Of Metal – great bonus. fast shipping, free photo backup and music streaming included as part of your order.
And if you want the biggest collection of content for the most affordable subscription, look no further than Disney+, which is a must-have for anyone with young kids at home (a monthly subscription costs less than buying one Walt Disney animated movie on DVD) and, thanks to recent efforts to bolster its mature content Star banner, it has a number of adult shows that also give Netflix a run for its money.
If you’re deeply invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars, you really can’t afford not to miss out on the latest exclusive series set in the same universes coming to the House of Mouse streamer.
Ultimately, the best thing you can do is look at the content available in each app, what new releases are on the horizon, and decide which app library you like best. All of the streaming services listed in this article are available on the most popular hardware, including iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Fire TV, Chromecast with Google TV, Roku streaming set-top boxes, Sky Q, Sky Glass, Samsung Smart TVs and the latest game consoles ( other than Nintendo Switch) … so there’s no way you can’t watch on almost every device in your home. Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video also offer the ability to download titles to your phone or tablet so you can watch when you don’t have an internet connection, such as during your morning commute or long-haul flight.
And don’t forget, you can always subscribe to one for a few months, cancel one, and switch to another streamer to catch up on what you’ve missed to keep costs to a minimum.
