Which Streaming Service is right for you?

Retail giant Amazon has recently announced a new offer for its streaming service: Prime Video. As part of the early ‘Prime Day Deals’, new and existing members can enjoy 50% off selected TV and film rentals, as part of their monthly Prime subscription.

Earlier in the year, personal finance experts at money.co.uk compared each streaming service to find out which was the best value per hour for users. However since then, each service has grown in size, offering new and exclusive pieces of content, often for the same monthly fee.

James Andrews, senior personal finance editor at money.co.uk, said: “When it comes to comparing deals offered by streaming services, you have to weigh up both the catalogue sizes, and the style of content available, not just the monthly cost.

“Even though the price of Prime Video remains the same as it was earlier in the year – £7.99 as part of your Amazon Prime subscription – the amount of content on the platform has increased since then.

“Currently, Prime Video has the largest catalogue size of all the streaming services, at around 20,000 films and TV shows total. However, it’s important to remember that not all of those titles are free to watch, meaning you might have to pay extra to rent or buy your favourite film or TV show. The new 50% deal will help to bring this cost down, but it won’t last forever.

“When it comes to the other services, the relatively new Disney+ (also priced at £7.99 a month) has grown massively since it was launched, adding high profile exclusive shows such as Marvel Studios’ Loki and Wandavision to its offering, while massively expanding its back catalogue thanks to the arrival of STAR, letting viewers access more than 75 American TV shows and more than 250 movies at no extra cost.

“Similarly, despite being the new kid on the block, Apple TV has recently increased its catalogue size, jumping from just 19 TV shows in January to more than 50 as of June, all for the very reasonable price of £4.99 a month.

“When it comes to the more established streaming services, Now TV and Netflix, both platforms are working hard to hold value against their new competitors by expanding their own catalogues with unique content.

“In the past few months, Now TV has increased the number of titles included in the ‘Entertainment Pass’ to nearly 2,500. However, this does come at an extra cost – £9.99 a month instead of the standard £3.99 package. The subscription service also received a big boost just a few weeks ago, with millions tuning in to watch the one off special, Friends: The Reunion.

“Finally, if you’re a Netflix user (arguably the most well rounded of the streaming giants), you’ll be pleased to know that you now have access to more than 4,220 films for the same monthly price of £9.99, an increase in catalogue size of almost 10% since the start of the year. As well as bespoke Netflix exclusive shows, the brand is also widening its selection of both domestic and international films and TV.