Photo: Glenn Carstens-Peters
By: Nick Gambino
At one time streaming was seen as a great way to cut the cord on cable, allowing you to save money and access what you want on demand. The problem is as humans and corporations are naturally competitive, every network and studio wanted in on the streaming game.
You have so many streaming services available to you now, all with great “content,” but if you go all in on every one, you’re going to spend hundreds of dollars a month, putting you once again in the clutches of these multi-billion dollar corporations.
Until we have some sort of bundling option that allows us to get the top streamers for a reasonable price, we have to pick and choose. Here’s a list of the top 5 streaming options to guide you.
- HBO MAX
HBO Max launched in 2020 and has had a bit of a rocky road ever since. Some missteps can be chalked up to growing pains, while others point to poor decision making. Despite all that I personally think it has one of the best libraries out there. It’s chockful of classic cinema, blockbusters, indies, the entire Warner catalog, all past HBO movies and shows and even classic TV like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Boondocks and Friends.
There are some complaints of the service being glitchy. I found this was also true of their former streaming service, HBO GO. It just depends what device you’re on. I’ve had no problem on my Apple TV, but some problems on a Fire TV cube.
Price: $9.99 a month (ads) or $14.99 a month (no ads)
- HULU
Hulu is one of the original streamers, breaking out the gate alongside Netflix. Like any of the options on this list, they’ve gone through their share of growing pains, but they’ve come through it stronger than a lot of their competitors. Hulu is where you’re going to go if you want to watch all the great FX shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Dave as well originals like Pam and Tommy. They’ve also got next-day TV and a robust movie library.
I think most complaints would be about the ads on the service. I also hate ads and that’s why I have the ad-free plan. Trust me, it’s worth the extra few bucks.
Price: $6.99 a month (ads) or $12.99 a month (no ads)
- PRIME VIDEO
Amazon has a lot of things on lock and their Prime Video streaming service holds its own against other big streamers. A sizable library of licensed movies and shows is nice, but they’ve got a solid originals offering as well. This is where you’ll find popular shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Reacher and The Expanse. They’re currently dropping $1 billion on production of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power which arrives in September 2022.
They also allow you to add channels like HBO and Starz right in their app so you don’t have to jump around to other locations to watch your favorite stuff. I can’t really think of a con that would prevent you from signing up for Prime Video, other than maybe moral reasons if you don’t like Amazon.
Price: Comes with your Prime membership (!) which is $14.99 a month
- APPLE TV PLUS
Apple was never going to sit on the sidelines while everyone else launched a streaming service. Apple TV Plus doesn’t have the biggest library of titles, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality. They have the stellar Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon series The Morning Show and the gift from the gods Ted Lasso.
They don’t really have much licensed content, so you’ll mainly just come here for the originals. Apple keeps the price low so that makes up for it.
Price: $4.99 a month
- NETFLIX
Honestly, no matter what angle you look at it from, Netflix is the king of the streaming hill. They have been at it the longest and so have the largest library of licensed content and original movies and shows. If you need one reason to sign up for Netflix, here it is – Seinfeld. All nine seasons of the iconic sitcom arrived to Netflix just a few months ago.
Netflix routinely raises their prices which might be a turn-off if you’re looking to clamp down on your finances. But if you want plenty of viewing options, Netflix is your best bet.
Price: $9.99 or $15.49 or $19.99 a month (price influences number of devices and resolution)
There are a ton of other streamers out there, but this list makes up the best ones. In case you were wondering, I only had five slots, but Disney Plus definitely deserves an honorable mention.
