The Best Video Streaming Services for 2023

Why We Picked It

Netflix is the standard-bearer for streaming video services. It hosts an impressive selection of content, with new titles being exchanged for older ones on a monthly basis. And then there’s Netflix’s constantly growing library of premier original programming, which still outclasses every other streaming service. Netflix’s impressive catalog includes Altered Carbon, Black Mirror, Bojack Horseman, Dead to Me, Mindhunters, Orange is the New Black, Russian Doll, Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, The Witcher, and even original anime. Unfortunately, Netflix has lost top titles such as Friends (to HBO Max) and The Office (to NBC’s Peacock). Apart from its original movies, such as El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and The Irishman, Netflix also currently offers the most high-quality movies(Opens in a new window) of any streaming service, eclipsing Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and Hulu.

Who It’s For

Netflix is a premium service for people willing to pay premium prices. Netflix recently raised the price of its two, higher-end subscription plans. For $9.99 per month, you can stream unlimited standard-definition content on a single device. The Standard tier, which now costs $15.49 per month (up from $13.99), unlocks HD content and supports streaming on two devices simultaneously. The top-of-the-line Premium plan costs $19.99 per month (up from $17.99). This tier gives you four concurrent streams and access to 4K content where available. Netflix also offers a cheaper, ad-supported tier for $6.99 per month. Besides lacking premium perks, this budget tier doesn’t include every show in Netflix’s library. Notably, Netflix no longer offers a free trial option, but says that it is not cracking down on password sharing.

You can download Netflix apps on a variety of devices, including your Chromecast, game console, PC, and tablet. And, yes, you can finally disable the obnoxious auto-playing previews. Other new Netflix features include Screen Lock on Android devices, which prevents unintentional screen taps, and more parental control settings that let you better restrict content and profiles. Alongside Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Disney+, Netflix is one of the few streaming services that supports both offline downloads and 4K and HDR streaming (now on Macs, too).

Surprisingly, Netflix’s DVD mailing service still exists if you want newer, physical releases, though streaming is clearly the company’s primary business.

Why We Picked It

Hulu is one of the best, all-in-one options for cord cutters, given its diverse set of streaming options. In addition to a strong library of classic shows, and a good selection of movies, Hulu offers a robust live TV option (more than 70 channels of news, sports, and entertainment programming). Still, Hulu trails some top competitors, given its lackluster original content and limited selection of 4K content. After adding 14 Viacom channels to its lineup, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Hulu recently announced that NFL Network and NFL RedZone will be available on the platform before the next NFL season begins. It is unclear, however, these NFL-centric channels will increase the subscription cost.

Who It’s For

Hulu works great for anyone seeking streaming convenience without abandoning traditional live TV. Hulu’s basic on-demand streaming plan currently costs $6.99 per month, while the ad-free version is $12.99 per month. College students can get Hulu’s ad-supported version for $1.99 per month. The Hulu + Live TV plan costs $64.99 per month, and combines Hulu’s live TV service with the ad-supported streaming plan. You can add Enhanced Cloud DVR (increases the available DVR storage to 200 hours from 50) or the Unlimited Screens package (allows an unlimited number of concurrent device streams in your home, and up to three outside of it) to your plan for $14.99 per month each or $19.99 for both. If you want even more options, you can add HBO or Showtime for $14.99 and $8.99 per month, respectively.

Hulu supports an impressive range of gadgets(Opens in a new window), and you stream on up two devices simultaneously. Note, however, that you can now stream Live TV on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 with Hulu (though not on PlayStation 3). Hulu’s support for 4K content is limited; only some of its originals can be streamed at that resolution and only on the Apple TV (5th gen or later) and Chromecast Ultra.

Hulu’s latest redesign brings the service into the modern age. Interfaces are now consistent across platforms and feature elegant navigation menus and a media-first aesthetic. None of the apps we tried suffered from performance issues. Recently, Hulu added the ability for premium subscribers to download content for offline viewing. Although it launched on iOS, this feature is now also rolling out to Android users. Eligible subscribers can download up to 25 titles across five devices; downloads are available for up to 30 days, or two days after you begin playback. Not all Hulu shows support this feature, but Hulu’s originals are among those that do.

Why We Picked It

NBC’s Peacock offers three tiers: an ad-supported Free plan with about 13,000 hours of content; a Premium tier with 20,000 hours, some live sports, and clips-based channels; and a Premium Plus option that builds upon the Premium tier by removing ads when you stream on-demand titles. Although you can’t stream some of NBC’s biggest hits on-demand (Friends, Seinfeld), you can watch other popular past and current entries from NBC, such as 30 Rock, Cheers, Chicago Fire, Friday Night Lights, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, Will and Grace, Law & Order: SVU, Superstore, and This is Us. Peacock doesn’t yet have many original shows, but it still offers a decent number of popular movies for free.

Who It’s For

Who doesn’t appreciate quality, free content? Peacock is also slowing expanding its live sports content and now lets paid users watch Sunday Night Football games. Other sports programming on Peacock includes Premier League soccer, IndyCar coverage, and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) content.

Peacock doesn’t support 4K streams, which is disappointing, but it lets you stream on up to three devices per account. Only Premium Plus users can download shows for offline viewing on mobile devices. You can download the Peacock app on mobile platforms (Android and iOS), media streaming devices (Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku), and gaming consoles (last-and-current-generation PlayStation and Xbox systems).

Why We Picked It

Amazon offers access to its video content in one of two ways: a standalone Amazon Video subscription or an Amazon Prime subscription. An Amazon Video subscription costs $8.99 per month and only includes access to Amazon’s streaming video library. An Amazon Prime account, which includes Prime Video content and many other shipping and shopping perks, costs $14.99 per month (or $139 per year). Amazon refers to its video streaming service as Amazon Prime Video in most of its support documentation.

In recent years, Amazon has focused on curating high-quality original shows, such as Bosch, The Boys, Catastrophe, Fleabag, Hanna, Hunters, Tales From The Loop, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Patriot, Undone, and Upload. The long-rumored, $416 million Lord of the Rings series is still on track, too. Many of these shows are excellent and on par with Netflix’s offerings, though the latter has a much deeper content library. One advantage that Prime Video has over Netflix, however, is that it broadcasts Thursday Night Football games, select MLB matchups, and most recently, WNBA games.

Who It’s For

Although it has a subscription option, Prime Video is also for people who want to buy or rent shows or movies a la carte. Amazon’s video library also includes tons of popular and classic movies available for streaming at no additional cost. Amazon’s purchase of MGM for $8.45 billion should considerably improve the movie selection.

Prime Video is notable in that it supports 4K and HDR streaming, as well as downloads for offline viewing. Amazon’s video service works on a web browser, plus Android and iOS devices, game consoles (PlayStation, Xbox), Smart TVs, and media streaming devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Nvidia Shield, TiVo). With Prime Video, you can stream up to three titles at the same time from the same account, but it limits you to streaming the same title to two devices simultaneously. Prime Video also lets you create multiple viewing profiles per account, a fairly recent addition.

Why We Picked It

HBO Max’s greatest strength is its catalog of prestige original shows, including Barry, Big Little Lies, Chernobyl, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Sex and the City, Silicon Valley, Six Feet Under, Succession, The Sopranos, The Wire, and Westworld. Recently, HBO Max made pilot episodes of 13 original shows available to stream for free via the HBO Max mobile apps.

The service acquired the streaming rights to several other popular shows, such as Friends (including a reunion show), Rick and Morty, and South Park. Babylon 5 Remastered is also now available for streaming. HBO Max includes select content from other sources within the greater WarnerMedia universe, including CNN, Crunchyroll, DC Comics, and Looney Tunes. Read our feature on everything coming to HBO Max this month to find out what you can watch.

In addition to all those TV shows, HBO Max bundles an impressive collection of popular movies from other WarnerMedia properties (Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema ) and other sources (such as The Criterion Collection and Studio Ghibli). Multiple Warner Bros. movies, including Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Matrix Resurrections, and The Suicide Squad launched on HBO Max the same day as they debuted in theaters. However, Warner Bros. returned to the standard theatrical release model in 2022, albeit with a shorter exclusivity window.

Note that the Warner/Discovery merger will lead to even more dramatic changes for HBO Max than just losing some shows. The service is set to merge with sibling streaming service Discovery+ some time in 2023.

Who It’s For

HBO is arguably the biggest name in quality TV, and you can only stream it with HBO Max. If HBO Max’s $14.99-per-month plan is too expensive for you, a cheaper, ad-supported version is now available for $9.99 per month. This tier does not include access to the aforementioned Warner Bros. same-day releases, nor does it let you stream in 4K or download titles for offline viewing. The ad-experience is reasonable, however; HBO Max says the total play time of ads will not exceed four minutes per hour, and that ads will not play during its own content.

HBO Max has all the top features found in other video streaming services, including offline downloads on mobile devices, support for multiple viewing profiles (up to five), simultaneous streams (up to three), audio descriptions, and modern apps. However, only a few titles currently support 4K streaming. Check out our tips for HBO Max story to get the most from your subscription. The service is available on mobile devices (Android and iOS), TVs (Apple, Android, and Samsung), and current-and-last-gen gaming consoles (PlayStation, Xbox). It now supports Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku media streaming platforms, too.

Why We Picked It

Disney+ packages a ton of Disney’s media properties, including content from Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar, and Star Wars, into a full-featured streaming service. In addition to classic Disney content, you can also watch originals such as Encore!, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Marvel’s Hero Project, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, The Mandalorian, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, WandaVision, and What If…? Note that most of the content Disney acquired from its 21st Century Fox takeover is missing from the service, though a lot of those shows are on Hulu.

Who It’s For

If you have even a passing interest in just one of the many beloved properties under the Disney corporate umbrella, Disney+ is for you. Aside from all the Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars movies already on Disney+ (although not all Marvel movies are available here), Disney continues to debut its latest films on this service too, including Cruella and Raya and The Last Dragon. However, for early streaming access to many releases, you need to pay for Premier Access (a one-time fee on top of your subscription rate that’s typically between $29.99 and $34.99).

Disney+’s monthly price is reasonable relative to the rewatch value of its content, but its basic tier now comes with ads. To remove adds and download videos for offline viewing, you must pay for a more expansive tier. You can save money by opting for an annual plan. Disney also offers various plans that bundle Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu.

Disney+ supports top capabilities, such as 4K streaming and offline downloads (on mobile). The service’s support for four simultaneous streams and seven customizable profiles features makes it a compelling option for families, though we wish its parental control options allowed for more flexibility. Our Disney+ tips and tricks feature helps you leverage all that the service offers. The streaming channel is available on the web; Android and iOS devices; media streaming platforms such as the Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku; and gaming consoles.

Why We Picked It

YouTube TV offers an excellent selection of live sports and news channels, as well as many popular entertainment options. A few of the top networks available include ABC, AMC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, Fox, FX, and NBC. It now features channels from the Discovery network and ViacomCBS, plus local PBS channels. Of course, this channel variety doesn’t come cheap; YouTube TV’s latest price hike raised the monthly subscription cost by $15.

Who It’s For

YouTube TV is your best option for replacing cable. If YouTube TV’s library still doesn’t meet your needs, you can add other packages, such as Acorn TV, CuriosityStream, and NBA League Pass to your subscription. The Entertainment Plus package bundles HBO Max, Showtime, and Starz for $30 per month. YouTube TV’s most recent 4K Plus add-on ($19.99 per month) unlocks 4K streaming, support for an unlimited number of simultaneous streams, and offline viewing of DVR content.

With YouTube TV, you get unlimited cloud DVR storage. The service will keep your recordings for nine months and you can stream your content from anywhere in the US. One YouTube TV membership supports up to six accounts, so you can share with family or roommates, though you can only simultaneously stream from three accounts. YouTube TV’s apps look and work great across a variety of platform, including Fire TV devices and the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X consoles.

Why We Picked It

Tubi is a free video streaming service with a claimed collection of 20,000 movies and TV shows, (though we aren’t sure if it counts episodes individually as part of that number). Regardless, its catalog includes popular films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence; Black Hawk Down; Donnie Darko; Legally Blonde; Memento; Minority Report; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Rain Man; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Its TV library is less impressive, but some notable entries include 3rd Rock From the Sun (season 1-5), Degrassi: The Next Generation (seasons 1-14); Hell’s Kitchen (seasons 1-14), Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures (seasons 1-4), Naruto (seasons 1-4), and V (seasons 1-2). Note that Tubi’s library regularly changes. Tubi may soon produce its own original shows and movies.

Who It’s For

Tubi is for people who want a free service that doesn’t feel cheap. Tubi’s web interface and mobile apps have clean designs, and organize everything neatly into descriptive categories. One limitation with Tubi is that the streaming resolution is capped at 720p. That wouldn’t be a major problem, except for the fact that many movies are only available in 540p. As expected, Tubi does not support offline downloads for mobile devices either. However, the service keeps track of the content you’ve watched, and lets you manage a watchlist. The parental control tools are a bit limited, but at least they’re an option.

Tubi is available on the web, as well as for mobile devices (Android and iOS). Supported media streaming devices include Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, and TiVo. Tubi also supports gaming consoles (PlayStation and Xbox), as well as select smart TVs from Samsung, Sony, and Vizio.

Why We Picked It

FuboTV is a great option for any cord-cutting sports fans. Its base subscription plan, called fubo Starter, costs $64.99 per month and grants you access to about 120 channels, with the exact number depending on your location. For the national sports events, there’s CBS, FOX, NBA TV, NBC, and NFL Network. For international sports, you get channels from the beIN network and Univision. Fubo has added Disney-owned channels (including ESPN), but it will no longer carry CNN and other WarnerMedia channels. Most recently, fuboTV dropped six A&E-owned channels: A&E, History Channel, FYI Channel, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, and Vice TV.

If you’re ever not in the mood for sports, fuboTV offers a wide variety of entertainment channels, such as AMC, The Food Network, FX, National Geographic, SYFY, and USA. After adding Viacom channels a few months back to the Standard plan, fubo now bundles channels form the Discovery network, such as Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and TLC, too. You not only get to watch live events and programs from the included channels, but there’s also a ton of on-demand shows and movies.

Who It’s For

Sports are massively popular but also deeply personal, so sports fan need customization options to follow exactly which teams and games they want to see. Fortunately, you can supplement the base fubo Standard plan with add-ons, including the Sports Plus with NFL RedZone ($11.99 per month) and fubo Extra ($4.99 per month) options. The latter adds 35 channels to the lineup.

To top it all off, fuboTV offers excellent DVR capabilities (250 hours of storage by default that can be increased to 1,000 hours) and supports three simultaneous streams (this limit expands to 10 via an add-on). The Lookback feature lets you watch anything you may have missed up to 72 hours after it first aired, while the Startover capability enables you to watch currently airing events from the beginning no matter when you tuned into the program. Aside from watching fuboTV on the web, you can download apps for Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, iOS, Roku devices, and smart TVs. The service is available on Xbox consoles, but not PlayStation ones.

Why We Picked It

Crunchyroll is one of the most complete anime streaming services, with more than 1,300 titles in its library. Popular shows on the service include Attack on Titan, Death Note, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Hunter X Hunter, One-Punch Man, several Naruto series, and Yuri!!! on Ice. Crunchyroll also has some original series, such as A Place Further Than the Universe, In/Spectre, and The Rising of the Shield Hero. Upcoming titles include Onyx Equinox, which is set in Meso-America, and Meiji Gekken: Sword & Gun, which takes place in Japan during the 1870s. It also maintains a respectable lineup of about 40 simulcast shows. You can even purchase relevant merchandise, manga, and more from the Crunchyroll shop.

Who It’s For

Crunchyroll gives anime fans a convenient (and legal) way to watch shows that years ago would never have come to the West. Crunchyroll supports HD streams for both free and paid accounts, but you must opt for the premium tier to get rid of ads. We would like to see Crunchyroll clean up some of its interfaces. Most of Crunchyroll’s content supports subtitles, but after absorbing Funimation (along with VRV) its dubbed library is also now much stronger.

You can download the Crunchyroll apps on media streaming devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku), mobile phones (Android and iOS), and several gaming consoles (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X). Crunchyroll supports as many as six simultaneous streams, depending on your price tier, as well as offline downloads.

Why We Picked It

CuriosityStream offers a massive collection of informational and entertaining documentary features in numerous categories, including History, Kids, Lifestyle, Nature, Science, Society, and Technology. David Attenborough and Sigourney Weaver are among the hosts of the top-notch titles on CuriosityStream. There’s also a kid-specific section on the platform. Make sure to check out our roundup of the best online learning sites if you are interested in expanding your knowledge potential.

The service offers two pricing tiers that offer the same documentaries. The only difference is that the more expensive plan ($9.99 per month) unlocks 4K streaming. CuriosityStream supports offline downloads on mobile, and doesn’t display ads. You can download the app on mobile devices (Android and iOS), gaming platforms (PlayStation 4, Xbox One), streaming media devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku), and smart TVs.

Who It’s For

Many streaming services offer the mindless comfort of watching reruns of your favorite shows. That gets tiring, eventually. CuriosityStream is for people who want to learn about a topic whether they’re on the couch or on the go.

Why We Picked It

This streaming service offers a huge collection of high-quality films and documentaries from distribution giants, such as A24, Bleecker Street, HBO Documentary Films, Paramount, PBS, and Samuel Goldwyn Films. Kanopy also has a dedicated section for kids ages two and older. The one main drawback to Kanopy is that it limits the number of titles you can watch each month. This restriction doesn’t apply to the content in the Kanopy Kids section.

Who It’s For

Kanopy is especially useful for students and library visitors. If you have a library card or a current university email address, you can access Kanopy for free. Kanopy also supports an unlimited number of simultaneous streams per account and does not show ads, but it does not support offline downloads on mobile devices. In a nice touch, Kanopy lets you record content clips for sharing on social platforms. Kanopy is available on the web, mobile platforms (Android, Fire OS, iOS), and media streaming devices (Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, and Roku), but not game consoles.

Why We Picked It

PBS Documentaries, as its name implies, is an excellent source for documentary film fans. It includes entries from numerous distributors, including American Experience, American Masters, Frontline, Independent Lens, Nature, Nova, POV, and other independent producers. PBS Documentaries is also home to Ken Burn’s entire collection of documentaries. Some examples of films you can watch on the service include Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Academy Award-Nominated films such as For Sama and Last Days in Vietnam, and nature documentaries, such as Your Inner Fish.  

Who It’s For

While PBS is for the public, only certain users can access PBS Documentaries. PBS Documentaries is only available as a Prime Video channel, but that’s not a huge strike against it, since Prime Video is available on nearly every platform that supports offline downloads on mobile devices. The service features the IMDb-powered X-Ray overlay, too. Despite its low price, it does not show any ads. One drawback of PBS Documentaries is that none of its titles currently support audio descriptions. Still, PBS Documentaries edges out fellow PBS streaming apps PBS Videos and PBS Passport.

Why We Picked It

If you enjoy watching documentaries, particularly those about ancient civilizations or military history, then History Vault may be right up your alley. This affordable, on-demand streaming service boasts popular titles from the History Channel too, such as American Restoration, Ancient Aliens, Ice Road Truckers, Modern Marvels, and The Universe, plus biopics of famous historical figures. If you already get the History Channel via a cable or live TV subscription, you can also access many of that channel’s reality show offerings via the free History app.

Who It’s For

Either you are a history buff, or you’ll grow into one, so might as well embrace it now with History Vault. However, the service could use a few more modern touches. History Vault does not support 4K streaming, but most titles are available to watch in either 720p or 1080p. Unfortunately, History Vault’s other drawbacks are that it doesn’t let you download titles for offline viewing on Android devices, and it has limited accessibility options. You can get the app on mobile platforms (Android and iOS), media streaming devices (Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku), and on the web, but not on game consoles.

Why We Picked It

KweliTV is your destination for films and shows from Africa and beyond. The service features more than 600 total curated entries, including Africa United and Black Enuf, along with other documentaries and titles you might find at an indie film festival. You can check out the full list of KweliTV’s award-winning content(Opens in a new window), even without a subscription. There’s also a free, live streaming component (not available on the web) that plays KweliTV content, albeit with some ad breaks. You can rent individual films and shows from the service, too.

Apart from access to KweliTV’s streaming library, a subscription grants you discounts at more than 35 Black-owned brands, plus invites to members-only events. KweliTV also maintains a merchandise store, where you can purchase KweliTV-branded apparel and accessories.

Who It’s For

KweliTV is for anyone who celebrates the fact that incredible art exists outside their own borders. KweliTV supports streams up to 1080p resolution, though not every entry meets this standard. The service currently lacks any parental control tools, and is inconsistent in terms of subtitle support. However, it lets you download titles for offline viewing on mobile platforms. KweliTV offers apps on all major mobile and media streaming platforms, though console owners can only access it via the web.