Canceling Netflix After Price Hikes? 5 Cheaper Options to Stream TV and Movies
Netflix announced they will be increasing the price of their plans for most U.S. subscribers. Their Standard tier will increase to $14 a month (currently $13), while their Premium tier jumps to $18 (currently $16). Their Basic tier will remain $9 a month.
New subscribers will see the price hike immediately, while current subscribers will see it on their next billing cycle.
The Basic tier offers streaming on a single device in SD, while their Standard tier offers HD streaming on two devices, and their Premium tier offers 4K streaming on up to 4 devices.
If you’re willing to give up Netflix originals, there are now great options to stream on-demand movies, TV shows, and originals series from other services.
We compared the full list of content of five cheaper alternatives to Netflix. If you want to compare all streaming services, check out or on-demand streaming guide.
You can also use our Movie Finder and TV Show Finder find out where any movie or TV show is streaming across 50 different services.
Five Cheaper Alternatives to Netflix
1. Hulu ($5.99 | $11.99)
One of the earliest of streaming services, Hulu will bring you one of the largest libraries of streaming TV.
Hulu is home to original series like The Handmaid’s Tale, Little Fires Everywhere, The Act, Shrill, Love Victor, Ramy, Mrs. America, and Academy Award winning films like “Parasite.”
You will be able to watch most shows on-demand from networks like ABC, NBC, Fox, and cable channels like Bravo, USA Network, HGTV, and more. They recently launched FX on Hulu, which means you can watch all current episodes on FX, FXM, FXX right after they air (and their entire library of past seasons).
This includes shows like This Is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, Empire, Family Guy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Saturday Night Live, Bob’s Burgers, Law & Order: SVU and more. For kids, there are shows from Boomerang, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, as well as exclusive shows like Shrek, Shark Tale, and Kung Fu Panda.
The service has a Limited Commercials plan for $5.99 a month, or you can upgrade to their No Ads plan for $11.99 a month, both are available with a 30-Day Free Trial.
2. Peacock (Free | $4.99 | $9.99)
NBCU’s Peacock gives access to up to 15,000 hours of content including original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series.
While there is a free tier, you can upgrade to Peacock Premium ($4.99) for access to original series, double the content, and live sports (Premier League). If you are an Xfinity Internet customer, Peacock Premium is free.
If you want to remove ads, Peacock Premium Plus is $9.99 a month, or $4.99 if you are a Xfinity Internet customer.
Just like Netflix, Peacock has their own original series including a reboot of Save By The Bell coming in November. They are also the home of re-runs of Law & Order, Parks and Recreation, Yellowstone, Mr. Mercedes, and starting next year, “The Office”.
3. Disney+ ($6.99)
Disney’s streaming service has been a major hit. At half the price of Netflix, you get full access to nearly every Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars movie ever made. You’ll also get TV episodes from Disney Channel and National Geographic.
Just like Netflix, they have their own original series like the hit Star Wars show “The Mandalorian.” Later this year they will be debuting the Marvel series WandaVision.
They bringing even more Marvel original like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), Loki (2021), Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk in the next 18 months.
The streaming series also has High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, based on the Disney Channel film and the docu-series The World According to Jeff Goldblum — in addition to a few others.
The service will also be bringing additional Star Wars shows like an Obi-Wan Kenobi series, a Cassian Andor series, and a new season of Clone Wars.
4. Apple TV+ ($4.99)
Over the last year, Apple has been adding hit original series of their own on Apple TV+. When the service debuted, the most popular series was “The Morning Show” starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
Most recently though, they have had a hit with “Ted Lasso”, starring former SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis, from the creator of Scrubs.
With your subscription you also get access to hit movies that are exclusive to the service like Tom Hanks’ Greyhound.
They even have content for kids like “Helpsters” by Sesame Workshop and “Snoopy in Space” from the Peanuts gang.
5. Amazon Prime Video ($8.99)
While most people get Amazon Prime Video included in their Prime subscription ($12.99 a month / $119 per year), you can also subscribe to it separately for $8.99 a month.
The service includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Homecoming, and more.
Amazon Prime Video also includes live access to NFL’s Thursday Night Football and the ability to subscribe to third-party services like HBO, Showtime, and Starz with Amazon Prime Video Channels.