The Best Video On Demand (VOD) Streaming Services in 2024

Disney+ has one of the most popular original shows with The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star War series. They also have 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.

You will see heavy emphasis on Marvel shows with The Falcon and the Winter Solider, Loki, WandaVision, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk.

The Star Wars universe expands on Disney+ with Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and Andor.

For the younger crowd, they are working on a revival of Lizzie McGuire, a show based on Love, Simon, and Monsters at Work based on the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc.

While Disney+ has a deep film library, one of the big draws to the service is that it has every episode of The Simpsons. They also will have 90’s animated Marvel series like Spider-Man and X-Men, as well as the Star Wars animated series, Clone Wars.

Joining those will be a deep library of shows from Disney Channel like Tangled: The Series, DuckTales, Fancy Nancy, Vamparina, and Phineas and Ferb. It will also have Disney Channel classics like That’s So Raven, Hannah Montana, and Even Stevens.

If you’re a fan of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, or Star Wars — Disney+ is a must-have. The service includes the entire Disney animated library known as the Disney Vault. This means you and your family can watch movies like Frozen, Snow White, Aladdin, The Lion King anytime you want. You can also watch nearly every Pixar film ever made like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, WALL-E, and more.

You’ll see almost the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), minus a small handful of films. For Star Wars fans, you can stream every Star Wars film from A New Hope through The Rise of Skywalker.

Disney movies released in theaters are typically available on Disney+ about 45 days after they hit theaters.

There is no better streaming service for kids than Disney+. Not only does it include the entire library of Disney and Pixar animated films, but also many shows from the Disney Channel.

Since the service offer a Kids Mode, your child can have their own profile that only shows content appropriate for them. When you’re traveling, you can even download movies and shows offline to keep your kids occupied on long car rides or flights.

Hulu’s most popular original series is the dystopian show The Handmaid’s Tale. You’ll also find Only Murders in the Building, The Act, Castle Rock, and comedies like Shrill and PEN15.

The service is majority-owned by Disney, so it is expected to add original programming at a more aggressive pace. They have ordered a new Marvel series called Helstrom to go with Marvel’s Runaways.

Hulu has a unique set of TV content, in that it not only has shows like Fargo, Archer, Atlanta, and What We Do in The Shadows, but also gets access to some in-season episodes of shows from networks like ABC, NBC, Fox, and major cable channels.

Hulu has films from Lionsgate and Dreamworks, and is the home of adult-themed 20th Century Fox films, now that Disney owns that studio’s catalog.

Disney is focusing on Disney+ for their kids content, so there’s not much here. You will find a few odds and ends, but it’s nothing compared to Disney+.

Prime Video has had a lot of critical success with their original series including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag. They’ve also have popular originals like Jack Ryan, The Boys, Invincible, and Homecoming.

As more streaming services have popped up, Prime Video has lost some of its luster in this department. You will find some gems like The Americans or Bosch, but most studios have yanked their best shows for their own services.

Amazon Prime Video is pushing further into original films with “Sound of Metal,” “One Night in Miami,” “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Coming 2 America,” and “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.”

Beyond those originals, you’ll find an enormous selection of movies including blockbusters and low-budget fluff. The frustrating navigation can make it hard to find something worth watching, however.

Amazon Prime Video is the home for PBS Kids series like Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Arthur. To get more than one season, however, you will need to upgrade your subscription.

You can also add subscriptions to other kid-focused services that live within your Prime ecosystem.

With the service spending $15 billion on content, the sheer amount of original series on the service is astounding. They have scripted series like Stranger Things, Black Mirror, and The Crown, as well as unscripted shows like Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and Nailed It!.

Netflix has historically had a deep library of some favorites from the past few decades including Breaking Bad, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Seinfeld, Peaky Blinders, Downton Abbey, and Arrested Development.

The Netflix movie library churns dramatically from month to month. You’ll find classics, new favorites, documentaries, and foreign films coming and going over time. The streaming service also makes its own original films like Red Notice, Bird Box, Roma, and The Irishman. Steven Spielberg will also make original films for Netflix in the coming years.

Netflix is creating a lot of original programming for kids from animated series to live-action. They have series like Ask The Storybots, Carmen Sandiego, Beat Bugs, and Chip and Potato. They’ve also partnered with DreamWorks to create new shows like Dragons Rescue Riders (based on How to Train Your Dragon) and Go, Dog. Go!.

Paramount Plus has invested heavily in Star Trek. The service has the popular Star Trek: Discovery, as well as Star Trek: Picard, and an upcoming spin-off of Discovery with Michelle Yeoh.

You’ll also see Yellowstone spin-offs like 1883 and 1923 with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

Other popular shows on the service include The Twilight Zone and The Good Fight, which is a spin-off of the CBS show The Good Wife.

Paramount Plus is the home to the library of most shows that have aired on CBS in recent years. This includes those like NCIS, Blue Bloods, and Hawaii Five-0, as well as reality series like Survivor and The Amazon Race.

For those looking for a little nostalgia, the service is the home of Twin Peaks, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I Love Lucy, and Cheers.

Paramount Plus has a small library of ~150 films that change every month.

Paramount Plus is making a big push into content for kids. In the next year, they will add more than 1,000 episodes of kids programming including Danger Mouse, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Inspector Gadget, The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Madeline, and Heathcliff.

Apple TV+ currently has a handful of original shows including Ted Lasso with Jason Sudeikis, The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, See with Jason Momoa, For All Mankind by Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore. They will be adding additional shows every month.

Apple TV+ offers very few shows that aren’t Apple TV+ Originals. They include Fraggle Rock and the Ewan McGregor travel series Long Way Round and Long Way Down.

Apple TV+ does offer a small slate of original films including Greyhound with Tom Hanks, Cherry with Tom Holland, Palmer with Justin Timberlake, the animated Oscar nominee Wolfwalkers, and the documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.

The service is making sure that there are shows for kids too. Apple has partnered with Sesame Workshop to create Helpsters, a series designed to help kids solve problems. They also offer the animated series Snoopy in Space and a reboot of Ghostwriter.

HBO Max will include all originals shows that air on HBO like Westworld, Succession, Euphoria, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and Watchmen.

The service will also add shows that you can only get on HBO Max including a TV series based on Dune, an Anna Kendrick comedy Love Life, and The Flight Attendant starring Kaley Cuoco from The Big Bang Theory.

HBO Max has a deep library of shows you know and love, including Friends, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, The West Wing, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Pretty Little Liars.

HBO Max has an amazing lineup of films stretching back 100 years including landmarks like Gone with the Wind, Modern Times, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and more. You’ll find all the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman films here. The service is The Streamable’s choice for the best comedy and best action movie libraries. HBO Max is also the exclusive home to also Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away.

HBO Max offers exclusive access to select archival episodes of Sesame Street, along with first access to the newest episodes.

The service also offers a late-night talk show called The Not Too Late Show with Elmo, as well as a spin-off of Sesame Street called Mecha Builders.

The service will also be the home of Esme & Roy, including a new season of the show.

Showtime includes originals shows like Billions, Shameless, Homeland, Ray Donovan, Black Monday, Kidding, and On Becoming a God in Central Florida.

In addition to new originals, you’ll also get access to their full catalog of shows that the channel has ever released. That means you can stream series like Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, House of Lies, Californication, Queer as Folk, and The L Word.

While their movie catalog isn’t as deep as Netflix, HBO, or Prime Video — the service receives new release films from CBS Films, Amblin Partners, and IFC. This joins hundreds of older movies that come to the service from major studios every month.

Showtime doesn’t have specific kids shows, but they do have family-friendly movies as part of their subscription every month.

The NBCU-owned service is doubling down on nostalgia for their original shows. You’ll find reboots of Saved By The Bell, Battlestar Galactica, and Punky Brewster.

Other Peacock originals include Rutherford Falls with Ed Helms, Dr. Death with Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater, and a behind-the-scenes docuseries about Saturday Night Live.

For late-night fans, you will be able to watch full episodes of The Tonight Show and Late Night starting at 8 p.m. ET daily.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock is the exclusive home of The Office and Parks and Recreation, Law & Order, and Two and a Half Men. Many shows that stream on Hulu, will also stream on Peacock like 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Fraiser, Cheers, House, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

One unique feature of the platform is that it will have linear feeds of both live and on-demand content, similar to Pluto TV.

Peacock Premium subscribers will also get access to Premier League games not available on linear TV, as well as a 24/7 feed of The Olympic Channel.

Peacock is the home of films released by Universal, Focus Features, and DreamWorks Animation. You will find Universal classics like Jurassic Park, A Beautiful Mind, and The Blues Brothers.

Peacock will have a lot of family-friendly content that airs on NBC. It’s expected to have additional shows from Dreamworks Animation. There is very little exclusively for children on this service, however.