Which Streaming Service Is Best?

    comparing streaming services

    Enjoy our unique, industry-best features, updated regularly:

    • Comparing Streaming Service Library Sizes
    • Comparing Streaming Service Value
    • Comparing Streaming Service Subscriber Totals
    • Comparing Streaming Service ARPU
    • Comparing Streaming Service YouTube Subscribers
    • Comparing Streaming Service Features
    • The Temperature of Streaming: Power Rankings

    Comparing Streaming Service Value (Cost to Content Ratio)

    PRICE (Lowest to Highest*)TITLES (Most to Fewest)VALUE (Best to Worst)
    1. 🍎 Apple TV+ ($6.99)1. 🟫 Prime Video (11,936)1. 🟫 Prime Video ($0.0008 per title / month)  👍👍
    2. 🟫 Prime Video ($8.99)2. 🟥 Netflix (6,832)2. 🟥 Netflix ($0.23 per title / month)👍
    3. 🦚 Peacock ($11.99)3. 🟩 Hulu (4,530**)3. 🦚 Peacock ($0.27 per title / month) 👍
    4. 🗻 Paramount+ with Showtime ($11.99)4. 🦚 Peacock (4,400)4. 🗻 Paramount+ with Showtime ($0.29 per title / month)
    5. 🟦 Disney+ ($13.99****)5. Paramount+ with Showtime (4,104)5. 🍎 Apple TV+ ($0.36 per title / month)
    6. 🟥 Netflix (15.49)6. 🟪 Max (3,729) 6. 🟩 Hulu ($0.40 per title / month) 👎
    7. 🟪 Max ($15.99)7. 🟦 Disney+ (1,939)6. 🟪 Max ($0.42 per title / month) 👎
    8. 🟩 Hulu ($17.99****)8. 🍎 Apple TV+ (193)7. 🟦 Disney+ ($0.73 per title / month) 👎👎👎👎
    *for lowest ad-free tier **Hulu includes 1,833 Hotstar titles, so number is grossly inflated ***The disgusting price increases at Hulu and Disney+ take effect October 12 || Data current as of August 10, 2023
    <iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRW5KrgdhKDfmrF310IiAfXqVv6m4rW2w0VX2qHTDFWbywF9ey2Yf9cGKUm-IT86G97il0Hkoq2qrk_/pubhtml?widget=true&amp;headers=false"></iframe>

    Comparing Streaming Service Library Sizes

    #STREAMING SERVICETITLESPRICE (per month)
    1🟫 Prime Video11,9368.99
    2🟥 Netflix 6,8326.99 / 15.49 / 19.99
    3🟩 Hulu4,5307.99 / 17.99*
    4🦚 Peacock4,4409.99 / 14.99
    5🗻 Paramount+ with Showtime4,1044.99 / 11.99
    6🟪 Max3,7299.99 / 15.99
    7🛹 MGM+ 2,2145.99
    8🌍 Discovery+1,9804.99 / 6.99
    9🟦 Disney+ 1,9397.99 / 13.99
    10😱 AMC+ 1,8018.99
    11⭐ Starz9668.99
    12🃏 Hallmark Movies Now6825.99
    13🛟 Lifetime Movie Club2674.99
    14⬛ BET+2329.99
    15🍎 Apple TV+1946.99
    16🪃 Boomerang1485.99
    Source: JustWatch and APIs || Data current as of August 10, 2023

    Comparing Streaming Service Subscriber Totals

    inset chart here

    STREAMER (Launch Order)SUBSCRIBERS (m)REPORTED
    🟥 Netflix238.39July 19
    🟩 Hulu48.3August 9
    🟦 Disney+ (& Star+ & Disney+ Hotstar & Hotstar 👎 – Cheating)146.1August 9
    🟪 Max (& Discovery+ & HBO)95.8August 3
    🦚 Peacock24July 27
    🗻 Paramount+61August 8
    Prime Video has ~200m, but most analysts don’t count because it’s a perk for 2-day shipping to most people.

    Comparing Streaming Service ARPU

    ⬇️ STREAMER / YEAR ➡️2020202120222023
    🟦 Disney+4.524.123.917.31 (so far)
    🟩 Hulu 12.5912.7512.2312.39 (so far)
    🟪 Max11.7211.1511.3311.39 (so far)
    🦚 Peacock49.59.75
    🗻Paramount+599.25
    🟥 Netflix10.9111.6711.7616 (so far)
    Data current as of May 10, 2023

    Comparing Streaming Service YouTube Subscribers

    Most Popular Streaming Service (by YouTube Subscribers)

    RankingStreaming ServiceCurrent YouTube SubscribersSubscribers Quarter 2 2023Subscribers Quarter 1 2023Subscribers Quarter 4 2022Subscribers Quarter 3 2022
    1Netflix26.9 Million26.3 Million25.6 Million24.7 Million24 Million
    2Hulu2.27 Million2.23 Million2.2 Million2.17 Million2.1 Million
    3Prime Video⬆️2.22 Million1.88 Million1.71 Million1.61 Million1.47 Million
    4Max ⬇️1.98 Million1.89 Million1.73 Million1.61 Million1.44 Million
    5Apple TV+1.51 Million1.41 Million1.29 Million1.22 Million1.14 Million
    6Disney+1.36 Million1.28 Million1.18 Million1.11 Million1 Million
    7Peacock⬆️1.12 Million882,000780,000665,000537,000
    8Showtime⬇️1.06 Million1.03 Million1 Million965,000944,000
    9Paramount+961,000779,000676,000553,000475,000
    10Starz797,000763,000 735,000707,000693,000
    11Boomerang280,000275,000271,000268,000266,000
    12Discovery+189,000181,000173,000162,000139,000
    13AMC+151,000131,000122,000105,00091,100
    14MGM+63,70059,60054,70051,400Hidden
    Data current as of April 30, 2023

    Most Popular Streaming Service (by YouTube Subscribers) Line Graph

    Coming Soon

    Streaming Service YouTube Success (By Channel Launch Date)

    OrderYouTube Channel LaunchStreaming ServiceYouTube Subscribers
    1November 16, 2005Starz797,000
    2June 21, 2006Showtime1.06 Million
    3February 6, 2014Prime Video2.22 Million
    4August 13, 2012Netflix26.9 Million
    5March 12, 2008Hulu2.27 Million
    6April 15, 2009MGM+63,700
    7January 24, 2017Boomerang280,000
    8November 12, 2018*
    *Launched as CBS All Access    		Paramount+961,000
    9May 4, 2020Peacock1.12 Million
    10March 25, 2019Apple TV+1.41 Million
    11June 26, 2019AMC+151,000
    12August 23, 2019Disney+1.36 Million
    13April 21, 2020Max1.89 Million
    14December 21 2020Discovery+189,000
    Data current as of April 30, 2023

    Our Take

    Peacock is moving up, Paramount+ looks very pathetic. It’s a pity they can’t merge the Showtime and Paramount+ YouTube channels… Max has fallen below Prime while Disney+ continues to flounder in the wake of Apple TV+.

    Comparing Streaming Service Features

    The Temperature of Streaming

    Power Rankings For Quarter 3 2023

    We judge and rate based on multiple things including: hype for upcoming titles, recent successes, feature and UI progress, and personal biases as to what makes a “good streaming service.”

    🟥 Netflix = 11/10

    Recommendation: KEEP FOREVER FOR CONSTANT STREAM OF ORIGINAL MOVIES AND SERIES – STRIKES BE DAMNED

    • 👍Unbeatable. Unstoppable.
    • 👍XO Kitty happened.
    • 👍Keeps growing.
    • 👍Password sharing crackdown actually worked out!

    🗻 Paramount+= 7/10

    Recommendation: CANCEL UNTIL CONTENT FLOW RETURNS UNLESS YOU LIKE TO WATCH THE MOVIES IN PAY 1

    • 👍Showtime is mostly merged, merger will complete this fall when Showtime network rebrands and standalone app stops working.
    • 👍Plans to sell majority stake in BET+ and Noggin show how much they properly prioritize (but they’re taking too long to sell)
    • 👍iCarly happened.
    • 👍So did Beavis and Butthead, Rabbit Hole, and School Spirits
    • 👎The year+ of constant UI upgrades seems to have stopped. Still waiting on like / dislike and collections.
    • 👎Very slow rollouts of missing catalog including an obsession with providing partial series that rarely fill out.
    • 👎👎Worst cable windowing in the industry with no signs of improvement in 2023. Nick, MTV, VH1 episodes take 1.5 -2 years to stream. More than a YEAR longer than any competitors.

    🦚 Peacock = 7/10

    Recommendation: CANCEL UNTIL CONTENT FLOW RETURNS UNLESS YOU LIKE TO WATCH THE MOVIES IN PAY 1

    • 👍Twisted Metal = insanely good.
    • 👍Mario is here… plus tons of other great recent Universal / Focus films.
    • 👎 Missing features never arrive. Where is “remove from continue watching”? “Like / Dislike?”
    • 👎 Price increase

    🟫 Prime Video = 6/10

    Recommendation: KEEP FOREVER WITH 2-DAY SHIPPING

    • 👍Gen V is coming!
    • 👍 The Summer I Turned Pretty is popular
    • 👍 Jenna Coleman has a new show soon…
    • 👍 The Boys Season 4 is coming regardless of strikes cuz it’s in the can

    🟪 Max = 4/10

    Recommendation: CANCEL UNTIL HACKS S4, CONAN O’BRIEN MUST GO S1, HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S2, LAST OF US S2 or SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS S3 ARE STREAMING

    • 👍👍 Sports tier is coming
    • 👎Max is a terrible name
    • 👎 Purple was the best color for the UI
    • 👎Discovery+ still exists
    • 👎👎Monthly removals of classic series throughout 2023 as AVOD becomes their priority

    🟩 Hulu = 2/10

    Recommendation: CANCEL AFTER ONLY MURDERS

    • 👍 Only Murders and Futurama are happening
    • 👍 The Great S3 happened
    • 👎Regular addition of Nat Geo
    • 👎Weekly unpromoted international Disney+ originals that should be on Disney+
    • 👎👎👎 Disabled the “Expiring” section on the app and removed it from the desktop version – Holy shit. You assholes.
    • 👎👎👎👎 The jackasses are pushing the price above Netflix and Max to an absurd $18 despite not being worth more than 13. October 12.

    🟦 Disney+ = 1/10

    Recommendation: CANCEL AND PIRATE AHSOKA

    • 👍Ahsoka is coming!
    • 👎👎👎The jackasses are jacking the price up again, despite refusing to add any content
    • 👎 One app experience taking WAY too long to launch
    • 👎👎👎👎The catalog has been ignored the entire #Disney100. Only 27 “shorts” are coming.