It’s 2025 and the streaming wars continue to be ongoing. Who will win the battle for ultimate streaming supremacy? Can one of these digital giants reign supreme and leave the others behind, along with the world of cable television? Time will tell. With ever rising costs of cable and the immense amount of digital competition, companies are scrambling to compete for those precious eyeballs. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing every type of streaming service and have provided my pros and cons of each platform. I’m going to rate them by how well they work, content availability, and cost. I realize that what you think is the best and what other people think is the best is objective, but I think I can narrow each down to what platform provides the best customer experience. I have chosen 6 different streaming platforms, being Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, and Apple TV. I’ll be referencing this article, which goes into numerous aspects like regional restricted content and price. Well let’s get started shall we!
Netflix
The big kahuna! The original gangster of the streaming world. I am going to begin with Netflix as it is one of the most successful streaming services. I feel Netflix overall offers great and well run service, and rarely glitches. Content is Great but quite limited in some genres. For instance its crime and documentary series are the best of the best. The platform also has an incredible library of horror movies and tv shows. But it does lack big franchises like DC/Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. I’m going to be grading Netflix’s cost per month using their standard (with ads) subscription of $7.99 per month. Netflix is so far the cheapest option as other streaming service standard costs are around $9.99.
Disney+
While Disney World may be known as the “happiest place on earth,” it may truly be the Disney+ catalog that is the happiest place on Earth. Looking more closely at Disney+, to start things off, its overall content overall is great. You simply cannot compare with the large catalog of selection from original disney content, to star wars, marvel movies, as well as pixar. Where Disney+ misses the mark is the technology of the app itself, which is very glitchy. Glitchy to the point where it’s annoying enough to take away from all the great library content. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not a dealbreaker. I still want Disney+ in my rotation, and you should too. But….c’mon. It’s Disney. A company like Disney should not be having a glitchy app, especially with the associated price tag. Coming back around to the positives, another big pro for Disney+ is its huge library of iconic movies are not just limited to Disney animated movies, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel but also unique options such as National Geographic. It surpasses all competition. Now it’s time to talk cost. Disney+ is around average as a standard starting cost is $9.99. I do believe that because the content is so great, it’s arguable that $9.99 is justified.
HBO MAX
HBO MAX is next on my list. It has content consisting of DC Comics, Animation, Game of Thrones, Scooby Doo, The Sopranos, and The Last of Us. Its system is kind of lacking when it comes to having multiple apps open more so than other platforms. A big pro for HBO max is its animated series which have multiple genres including anime, superhero, horror, and fantasy/adventure. Price is very similar to Disney+ at $9.99 per month with the standard bundle. I would say MAX is pretty good all things considered.
Peacock
Next is Peacock, which has the best comedies and sitcoms including Parks and Rec, The Office, and Brooklyn Nine Nine. Its platform is really good and operates well. I enjoy that it asks you for content you prefer. I feel like this is the best platform that does content suggestions. My favorite show on Peacock is Brooklyn Nine Nine, and I like the convenience that it automatically goes to the next episode. The price now is $8.00 per month and that’s fair, due to the limited content compared to other streaming platforms like Disney+ and Netflix.
Hulu
What’s Hulu got going for it is live streaming for sports games. It also can be put into bundles with Disney+ and ESPN. Hulu also has docudrama series which I don’t really care about but could be a draw for other people. The current cost for just Hulu is $9.99 per month which is the standard rate for streaming platforms. Hulu does have some glitches especially when watching live content. I would say Hulu isn’t for everyone but for people who like watching live sports, it’s kind of a must have.
Apple TV
Currently Apple TV is a heavy hitter, due to its exclusive content and overall popularity among viewers. Apple TV has numerous great qualities to its name. It’s again very average when it comes to prices at $9.99 per month. Popular TV series included, The Walking Dead, Ted Lasso, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Severance. It includes multiple different live channels like CNN and ESPN. Apple TV does give users an array of different kinds of content and with its quality it really provides a seamless watching experience.
This was a really good breakdown of each streaming service, this post honestly made me think about what each one offers and why there are so many of them. This post felt super engaging and personal which I really enjoyed.
I have the teenage privilege of having my parents pay for our streaming services, but I know that once I am a broke adult I will have to make executive decisions about which streaming services I will choose to buy. I appreciate how your blog post feels personable—like we're just having a conversation with each other about streaming services. I appreciate all the points you brought up and will be referencing this post in the future.
This is very in depth analysis of these streaming services. I'm not sure how into movies and TV you are, but I would recommend checking out Tubi. It's free with ads, and the service is a little glitchy sometimes, but it has a very large library of a bunch of random movies and TV shows.
This is a very nice informative post. This reminded me just how many streaming services there are, personally, I think it's getting a little out of hand. The post is structured well and gives a very clear comparison between the various streaming services. For me, I really like Peacock since it has all of the shows that I watch, including some sports. It just sucks because we used to be able to get everything from one place (Netflix). I also love how you call out Disney+ on their app. If you're gonna make us pay money for your service, at least provide us with a good experience.
I like the way you organized everything, and it was very informative. Including both the prices, showing you did your research, and your own personal opinion on each of the options was a perfect mix. I don't use these streaming services; I only really watch YouTube in my free time. So, it was interesting to see what is deemed as important to some people. Such as what platforms have what shows and whether or not the price is worth it.