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. 🟫 Prime Video ($8.99)1. 🟫 Prime Video (11,074)1. 🟫 Prime Video ($0.0008 per title / month)  👍👍
    2. 🟥 Netflix (9.99)2. 🟥 Netflix (6,470)2. 🟥 Netflix ($0.15 per title / month)👍👍
    3. 🦚 Peacock ($9.99)3. 🟩 Hulu (4,518**)3. 🦚 Peacock ($0.25 per title / month)
    4. 🗻 Paramount+ ($9.99)4. 🦚 Peacock (3,988) 4. 🗻 Paramount+ ($0.31 per title / month)
    5. 🟦 Disney+ ($10.99)5. 🗻 Paramount+ (3,220)5. 🟩 Hulu ($0.33 per title / month)
    6. 🟩 Hulu ($14.99)6. 🟪 Max (3,073) 6. 🟪 Max ($0.52 per title / month) 👎👎
    7. 🟪 Max ($15.99)7. 🟦 Disney+ (1,939)7. 🟦 Disney+ ($0.57 per title / month) 👎👎👎
    *for lowest ad-free tier **Hulu includes 1,833 Hotstar titles, so number is inflated ***Paramount+ will incorporate Showtime totals this fall || Data current as of May 15, 2023

    Comparing Streaming Service Library Sizes

    #STREAMING SERVICETITLESPRICE (per month)
    1🟫 Prime Video11,0748.99
    2🟥 Netflix 6,4706.99 / 9.99 / 15.49 / 19.99
    3🟩 Hulu4,5187.99 / 14.99
    4🦚 Peacock3,9889.99 / 14.99
    5🗻 Paramount+3,2204.99 / 11.99
    6🟪 Max3,0739.99 / 15.99
    7🛹 MGM+ 2,0885.99
    8🌍 Discovery+1,9874.99 / 6.99
    9🟦 Disney+ 1,9397.99 / 10.99
    10😱 AMC+ 1,8358.99
    11⭐ Starz7958.99
    12🃏 Hallmark Movies Now6335.99
    13🛟 Lifetime Movie Club2684.99
    14⬛ BET+2249.99
    15🍎 Apple TV+1586.99
    16🪃 Boomerang1485.99
    Source: JustWatch and APIs || Data current as of May 16, 2023

    Comparing Streaming Service Subscriber Totals

    Streaming Service Subscriber Numbers as of May 11 2023
    STREAMER (Launch Order)SUBSCRIBERS (m)REPORTED
    🟥 Netflix232.5April 18
    🟩 Hulu48.2May 10
    🟦 Disney+ (& Star+ & Disney+ Hotstar & Hotstar 👎 – Cheating)157.8May 10
    🟪 Max (& Discovery+ & HBO)97.6May 5
    🦚 Peacock22April 27
    🗻 Paramount+60May 4
    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+4.524.123.914.44 (so far)
    🟩 Hulu 12.5912.7512.2311.73 (so far)
    🟪 Max11.7211.1511.33
    🦚 Peacock49.59.75
    🗻Paramount+599.25
    🟥 Netflix10.9111.6711.76
    Data current as of May 10, 2023

    Comparing Streaming Service YouTube Subscribers

    Most Popular Streaming Service (by YouTube Subscribers)

    RankingStreaming ServiceCurrent YouTube SubscribersSubscribers Quarter 1 2023Subscribers Quarter 4 2022Subscribers Quarter 3 2022
    1Netflix26.3 Million25.6 Million24.7 Million24 Million
    2Hulu2.232.2 Million2.17 Million2.1 Million
    3Max1.891.73 Million1.61 Million1.44 Million
    4Prime Video1.881.71 Million1.61 Million1.47 Million
    5Apple TV+1.411.29 Million1.22 Million1.14 Million
    6Disney+1.281.18 Million1.11 Million1 Million
    7Showtime1.031 Million965,000944,000
    8Peacock882,000780,000665,000537,000
    9Paramount+779,000 ⬆️676,000553,000475,000
    10Starz763,000 ⬇️735,000707,000693,000
    11Boomerang275,000271,000268,000266,000
    12Discovery+181,000173,000162,000139,000
    13AMC+131,000122,000105,00091,100
    14MGM+59,60054,70051,400Hidden
    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, 2005Starz763,000
    2June 21, 2006Showtime1.03 Million
    3February 6, 2014Prime Video1.88 Million
    4August 13, 2012Netflix26.3 Million
    5March 12, 2008Hulu2.2 Million
    6April 15, 2009MGM+59,600
    7January 24, 2017Boomerang275,000
    8November 12, 2018*
    *Launched as CBS All Access    		Paramount+779,000
    9May 4, 2020Peacock882,000
    10March 25, 2019Apple TV+1.41 Million
    11June 26, 2019AMC+131,000
    12August 23, 2019Disney+1.28 Million
    13April 21, 2020Max1.89 Million
    14December 21 2020Discovery+181,000
    Data current as of April 30, 2023

    Our Take

    Netflix has so much of a lead that it seems impossible any other service will ever catch up. Disney+ is growing slower than HBO Max, Prime, Hulu, and Netflix. It surprises us that Prime and Hulu are outpacing them… but then we remember Disney+ disrespects most audiences and is solely a babysitter.

    Comparing Streaming Service Features

    Comparing Streaming Service Features April 2023
    Data current as of April 30, 2023

    The Temperature of Streaming

    Power Rankings For Quarter 2 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 = 10/10

    • 👍There is never a break. It’s nonstop. TV for everyone. Ginny & Georgia Season 2, Wednesday Season 1
    • 👍Special props to Night Agent for coming out of nowhere to captivate my mom (and me).
    • Renewed Arrested Development AND Miraculous Ladybug. Good for Netflix, bad for Disney+.

    🗻 Paramount+= 8/10

    • 👍Constant stream of quality television, including new bangers like School Spirits and Rabbit Hole heavily influence the score.
    • 👍Merger with Showtime imminent
    • 👍Plans to sell majority stake in BET+ and Noggin show how much they properly priortize
    • 👍Yellowjackets Season 2, Beavis and Butthead Season 2, Picard Season 3, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Season 1… something for EVERYONE…
    • Constant UI upgrades have appeared to slow. Still no rollout for the thumbs up / down feature that tested over a year ago, one of the few remaining features still missing.
    • 👎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.
    • 👎Very slow rollouts of missing catalog including an obsession with providing partial series that rarely fill out. CSI was renewed on Hulu rather than bring the missing seasons to Paramount+

    🦚 Peacock = 7/10

    • 👍Poker Face tremendous.
    • 👍Continued UI revisions / improvements
    • 👍SNL next day episodes are valuable

    🟪 HBO Max = 6/10

    • 👍Solid HBO originals like Barry and The Last Of Us heavily influence the ranking
    • 👎Discovery+ no longer shutting down
    • 👎Horrible new name, Max
    • 👎Will not include full Discovery+ library on Max
    • 👎CNN not mentioned in Max presentation
    • 👎Boomerang streaming service remains active
    • 👎4K will be a premium tier now.

    🟫 Prime Video = 5/10

    • Nothing much of note in Q1

    🟩 Hulu = 2/10

    (Remember, we rank Hulu based on its relationship with Disney+, not as an individual service since we do not think it’s appropriate for Disney to have 2 services)

    • 👍How I Met Your Father Season 2A was nice and The Great Season 3 in May will be… great
    • 👎Became preferential location for Nat Geo titles, disrupting existing marketing and hoarding titles
    • 👎Regular addition of Disney+ originals
    • 👎Weekly unpromoted international Disney+ originals

    🟦 Disney+ = 1/10

    • 👍Prom Pact the most “mature” film they’ve released… felt like Netflix or Paramount+ could have streamed it.
    • 👍 Mando season 3, even though viewership and buzz dropped hard
    • 👎Confusion about recent theatrical films streaming timeline… Now the worst wait of all competitors with no answers yet for Ant-Man 3 or Avatar 2.
    • 👎Massive layoffs to hit Disney+ this week, despite the team already struggling to “do their job” 😬 doesn’t bode well for rest of year unless Hulu is sold.
    • 👎Cancelled Willow
    • 👎Cancelled National Treasure
    • 👎Shifted to binge drops for all non-Marvel / Star Wars originals
    • 👎Most no-shows in one month: March 2023
    • 👎Most removals in one month: April 2023
    • 👎Removed most of the Nat Geo added November – February in April
    • 👎Unreliable content lists
    • 👎No longer “Streaming Home of Nat Geo”
    • 👎Could go on for ages…
    • 👎NEW May 16: Disney will be purging content this quarter, including Disney+ Originals… INCLUDING WILLOW