If you’re looking for blockbuster movies, compelling originals, and classic TV, Paramount+ and Max are some of your best choices. But if you could only choose one, which would it be?
We’ll consider price, features, and, of course, content. In the end, you’ll decide the best fit for you.
Price Comparison
Max and Paramount+ each offer ad-supported and ad-free versions.
Ad-Free
If you want to avoid ads entirely, Max costs $15.99 / month, but you can save with an annual plan for $149.99 / year.
The ad-free tier of Paramount+ is $11.99 / month or $119.99 / year.
Ad-Supported
Max with commercials costs $9.99 / month or $99.99 / year.
The ad-supported version of Paramount+ is $5.99 / month, but you can save with an annual plan for $59.99 / year.
Alternative Subscription Methods
If you’d like, you can add Paramount+ and Max to your Prime Video subscription so you have a single interface. This is the only way to get a 7-day free trial of Max.
If you have Hulu or Hulu Live TV, you can add Max to that service. Just click “manage plan” on your account page.
Max can also be added through live TV streaming providers like YouTube TV.
There’s typically no price advantage to subscribing through these portals. You get one bill, which is convenient.
Add-Ons
Paramount+ allows you to add Showtime at an incredible price. Here are the tiers available.
| Essential | Premium | Essential + Showtime | Premium + Showtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5.99 / month | $11.99 / month | $11.99 / month | $11.99 / month |
| Just Paramount+ | Just Paramount+ | Paramount+ and Showtime | Paramount+ and Showtime |
| Has ads | No ads except live TV | Paramount+ shows have ads | No ads except live TV |
| No downloads | Downloads available | No downloads | Downloads available |
| Includes NFL and soccer like Champions League live | Adds more sports | Includes NFL and soccer like Champions League live | Adds more sports |
| Watch local CBS live | Watch local CBS live |
Max doesn’t offer any add-ons at the moment.
Live TV and Sports
This factor alone may make the decision for you. If you subscribe to Paramount+, you’ll be able to watch any NFL games that appear on your local CBS affiliate. You’ll also get UEFA Champions League soccer. That’s true of both the ad-supported and ad-free plan.
However, if you subscribe at the Paramount+ Premium level, you’ll be able to watch everything on your local CBS channel within the Paramount+ app. Premium subscribers also get SEC Football, The Masters, March Madness, PGA TOUR and The PGA Championship, women’s soccer, and Combate Global MMA.
HBO was once famous for boxing, but it no longer airs any fights. The best sports programming on Max is “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” but you won’t find many live contests.
Movies
Both services feature an incredible library of films that go back 100 years. That’s the benefit of having the Warner Bros. and Paramount vaults at your fingertips. Each service has some all-time great movies. While the library of each service fluctuates a bit, most of the titles we’ll cite will always be on the platform.
Action
Max comes ready for a fight with the superheroes of DC Comics. You’ll find the adventures of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman here.
Max also has standouts like “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and “The Matrix.” You could make a case it’s the very best streaming service if you like action.
Paramount+ battles back with action landmarks like the Transformers and Mission: Impossible franchises. While you won’t find many superheroes on Paramount+, it’s the home to the high-flying sci-fi adventures of Star Trek.
Comedy
Max always has a good stable of comedies like “Office Space,” “Step Brothers,” “Airplane!” “Dumb and Dumber,” “Talladega Nights,” “Dodgeball,” “Tommy Boy,” “Neighbors,” and “Time Bandits.”
Paramount+ delivers the laughs with movies like “My Cousin Vinny,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “School of Rock,” “The Other Guys,” “Anchorman,” “Zoolander,” “Galaxy Quest,” and “Beverly Hills Cop.”
Horror
You’ll find a lot to like on Max with scary flicks like “The Shining,” “IT,” “The Exorcist,” “The Witch,” and “The Blair Witch Project.”
Paramount+ delivers an equally spooky slate with thrillers like “Scream,” “A Quiet Place,” “Smile,” “The Ring,” and the “Paranormal Activity” franchise.
Drama
Paramount+ has award-winning films like “Forrest Gump,” “Gladiator,” “Titanic,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Interstellar,” “There Will Be Blood,” and “The Fighter.”
Max counters with some all-time greats like “Unforgiven,” “Blade Runner,” “Spotlight,” “The Green Mile,” “Rain Man,” “Network,” and “Moon.” Max also has most of Martin Scorsese’s filmography like “GoodFellas,” “Raging Bull,” and “The Departed.”
Classics
Do you prefer the silent comedies of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin? If Keaton is your man, head to Paramount+ for “The General” and more. Chaplin camps out at Max with “Modern Times,” “City Lights,” and “The Great Dictator.”
Max has an envious slate of all-stars like “Gone With the Wind,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Casablanca.” ‘You’ll also get Stanley Kubrick standouts like “A Clockwork Orange,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Max is home to Akira Kurosawa masterworks like “Rashomon,” “Seven Samurai,” and “Yojimbo.” You’ll get Ingmar Bergman’s filmography with movies like “Cries and Whispers,” “Through a Glass Darkly,” and “Wild Strawberries.”
In fact, 7 out of the 10 best films of all time according to the British Film Institute's 2022 Sight and Sound poll can be found on Max. Paramount+ only has three of the top 100, while Max has nearly half the entire list.
Max is also home to a huge number of great films from the Criterion Collection and a good number of Roger Ebert's “Great Movies.”
Paramount+ counters with classics like “Sunset Boulevard,” “Sabrina,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Paper Moon,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “His Girl Friday,” “Guys and Dolls,” and “Cabaret.”
Paramount+ is also home to a huge, huge selection of old westerns, headlined by “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “Shane,” and “True Grit.” But you also have more obscure titles like 1958’s “The Proud Rebel,” 1941’s “Saddle Mountain Roundup,” and 1925’s “Tumbleweeds.”
If you love stars from the dawn of cinema, Paramount+ will be your choice. You’ll find films from Mary Pickford, Hedy Lamarr, Harold Lloyd, Claude Rains, John Barrymore, and Gene Autry.
TV Shows
Max is home to some of the most important TV shows of the last 30+ years. You’ll find modern HBO classics like “The Sopranos,” “True Detective,” “Euphoria,” “Succession,” “The Wire,” “Deadwood,” “Game of Thrones,” “Sex and the City,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The miniseries genre is especially strong for Max, with all-stars like “Chernobyl,” “John Adams,” “The Pacific,” “Watchmen,” “Station Eleven,” “Band of Brothers,” and “From the Earth to the Moon.”
Max also has some shows you might not expect, like “South Park,” “Friends,” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
While Max probably wins on quality, Paramount+ easily wins on volume. When you subscribe to Paramount+, you’re getting almost every show from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Smithsonian Channel.
For originals, Paramount+ is leaning heavily on “Yellowstone” co-creator Taylor Sheridan with “Tulsa King,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” and the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1883” and “1923,” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.
You’ll also get the full runs of every “Star Trek” show on Paramount+.
Paramount+ also has virtual “channels” that show 24/7 reruns of hits like “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “Beavis and Butt-head,” and “I Love Lucy.”
Kids Content
The battle is pretty lopsided here. Paramount+ has the Nickelodeon library with “PAW Patrol,” “Spongebob Squarepants,” “Digby Dragon,” “Rugrats,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Peppa Pig,” and much more.
For movies, Paramount+ offers “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Mouse Hunt,” “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” and the animated “Addams Family” movies.
Max has been throttling back on its kid-focused library, dumping hundreds of episodes of “Sesame Street” and “Looney Tunes” off the platform. You will find “The Lego Movie,” a few seasons of “The Flintstones,” and animated Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman adventures. Older kids might enjoy “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” or “Rick and Morty.”
Compatible Devices
You can watch Paramount+ with Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, Android TV, iPhone/iPad, Android Phone/Tablet, Mac, Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, and VIZIO Smart TV.
For Max, you can use Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, Android TV, iPhone/iPad, Android Phone/Tablet, Mac, Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, and VIZIO Smart TV.
What the Future Holds
The future for both services is uncertain to some degree.
Max recently reeled in several shows from discovery+, which means subscribers have access to many popular unscripted shows. However, Warner Bros. Discovery management has made many financial decisions that have angered subscribers. Previously approved projects have been canned before seeing the light of day, and several shows have disappeared from the platform entirely.
We also know that ownership frowns on direct-to-streaming movies, so it’s unlikely Max will see exclusive films. Warner Bros. movies will get a run in theaters before going to Max.
We expect Max subscribers may see a price increase in the near future to reflect the added value from the discovery+ shows. Warner Bros. Discovery leadership is also making noise about an upcoming free streaming service, so that may provide a good option.
Paramount Global seems absolutely focused on building its streaming brand. Its new originals have been popular with subscribers, and its price point is appealing. The company got burned by letting streaming rights of some of their biggest shows (“South Park” and “Yellowstone”) go to competitors, but that’s a mistake they won’t make again. Thanks to its wide array of channels, Paramount knows how to create franchises and shows the audience will love.
The movie side of Paramount+ does seem a bit weaker. While popular IP like “Top Gun,” “Transformers,” and “A Quiet Place” can be found on the platform, those properties don’t lend themselves to the sprawl of Marvel or Star Wars. There’s a lot to love for “Star Trek” fans, however. The upcoming Paramount Pictures slate leans heavily on those existing franchises, which may mean growth could stagnate.
Ultimately, these services are extremely evenly matched, and you’re likely to enjoy both. Given that you can try both services for free, it’s worth trying both and seeing which service works best for you.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. The lineup includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.