Netflix al­tern­at­ives: the best online streaming portals

Netflix has become syn­onym­ous with online streaming in many languages today. The US company has long-since turned their hand to in-house pro­duc­tions across many genres, helping to solidify their position as the number one streaming format – strides ahead of other services in pursuit. But these al­tern­at­ives to Netflix are making efforts to close the gap through their own original pro­grammes and unique payment models. And with some big players like Amazon entering the market, things have become a little confusing for the consumer. So which streaming services are actually al­tern­at­ives to Netflix? Which is the most expensive and which is the best value for money? We’ll assess all the options for you in our guide to Netflix al­tern­at­ives.

The streaming market is sometimes very confusing and the number of different services out there is really in­com­plete thanks to differing broad­cast­ing rights and a growing trend towards original pro­gram­ming. This is further com­plic­ated by the fact that new platforms are con­stantly joining the com­pet­it­ive market, often just to disappear again a few months later. The abundance of different providers means that it’s important to look into the dif­fer­ences between them. We’ll compare the four big platforms: Amazon Prime, Netflix, Google Play Movies & TV, and iTunes. But we’ve decided not to include any free portals like YouTube – even though it offers a number of legally uploaded films and series. In fact, we’ve dedicated an entire article to dis­cuss­ing the best al­tern­at­ive video platforms to YouTube. Our com­par­is­on of Netflix al­tern­at­ives will of course look at the films and TV shows that each platform has to offer, but will also include other aspects like the avail­ab­il­ity of a mobile app, added features, and the terms and con­di­tions of a sub­scrip­tion package. We’ll also make the dis­tinc­tion between original content and general, third-party content.

One look at the market share demon­strates the strong position that Netflix holds. Recent figures show that almost a quarter of all UK house­holds owned a Netflix sub­scrip­tion in 2016, with roughly 500,000 people sub­scrib­ing to Amazon Video, the highest com­pet­it­or.
Although Netflix might have quite a limited movie col­lec­tion, missing many classics, cult films, and in­de­pend­ents, the platform more than makes up for this with its many high quality series and exciting original pro­gram­ming. Some of the most notable ‘Netflix Originals’ include high-budget smash hits like ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Orange is the New Black’, ‘Narcos’, ‘House of Cards’, and when you throw the Marvel series ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘Luke Cage’, and ‘Daredevil’ into the mix, there’s hundreds of hours of top draw en­ter­tain­ment to enjoy. Such is the success of Netflix’s original content that the label ‘Netflix Original’ has almost come to be con­sidered as a quality guarantee. But there’s more to Netflix than just its original TV shows. Popular series like ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Modern Family’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and ‘Breaking Bad’ are also available for viewing. But the wait can often be a few months after their original airing on US TV that the latest season of shows like this are available on the online streaming service. The same is true for the latest block­busters. And some big-hitting series like ‘True Detective’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ are nowhere to be found. But new content is added regularly: Netflix updates its back catalogue with both classic series and Netflix Originals several times every month. Lastly, there are plenty of other types of show available, including doc­u­ment­ar­ies like Planet Earth and cartoons. One of the best things about Netflix is its flexible customer sub­scrip­tion model and many extra bonus features: the initial trial month is free and an online sub­scrip­tion package can be cancelled at any time, meaning signing up is basically risk-free. And if you decide you’re not enjoying Netflix during your trial month, you can just switch to another provider once it’s over – meaning it doesn’t cost you a penny! Netflix is also popular among many commuters: along with its native apps for smart TVs, computer consoles, Apple TV, Chromecast, and the classic browser website, Netflix offers mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. And better still, the iOS and Android versions of the app feature a practical download function that allows you to store your favourite pro­grammes for offline viewing, meaning it won’t cost you your data package in streaming. The volume and subtitle controls are also easy to operate. Netflix offers HD and ultra-HD content, but only at the more expensive Standard and Premium sub­scrip­tion packages. This wouldn’t be such a dis­ad­vant­age, but for the fact that there’s quite a large gap between price and extra features with the more expensive tariffs. The additions offered for the extra pounds per month are often not worth it for many users. HD is a bonus that many users can enjoy with the Standard package compared to the Basic package, but the only other benefit of the extra price per month jump to Standard is the advantage of being able to stream Netflix on two different devices at the same time. The Premium package offers ultra HD on 4 devices, but this is only worth it for families who have the ap­pro­pri­ate 4K/UHD devices and superfast internet speeds.

The films and series platform Amazon Prime Video can do everything that the market leader, Netflix, can: along with high-quality original pro­gram­ming like ‘The Man in the High Castle’, ‘Goliath’, ‘Trans­par­ent’, and ‘Red Oaks’, it also offers new and often exclusive third party content regularly too. In fact, Amazon Prime Video actually has a broader selection on offer: It’s diverse range includes exclusive block­busters like the ‘Hunger Games’ movies with Jennifer Lawrence, suc­cess­ful series like ‘Downton Abbey’, and beloved children’s pro­grammes like the popular ‘Bibi & Tina’ films. Amazon Prime Video also generally keeps up with Netflix when it comes to broad­cast­ing new seasons of huge TV shows like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ or ‘The Walking Dead’. And it’s also possible to buy or rent content as you please with ‘Amazon Video’, a slightly different service that doesn’t require a sub­scrip­tion. The sub­scrip­tion model for Amazon Prime Video differs slightly from Netflix: there’s still a regular trial month, but along with the monthly access through the regular monthly sub­scrip­tion, there’s the option to purchase the full Prime package for an entire year. This annual package may be a more con­sid­er­able outlay to make, but over the course of the year it means that Amazon Prime Video is a more fin­an­cially viable Netflix al­tern­at­ive: When you calculate the cost of a yearly sub­scrip­tion to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video works out as about two-thirds of the price. There are no no­tice­able dif­fer­ences in quality and range of features between the two platforms, with both offering programs in SD, HD, and 4K, with subtitles and good sound quality. Apps are available for iOS and Android as well as for all current gaming consoles and the in-house set-top boxes Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick. Another advantage is the download function for many mobile devices that enables viewing playback without a direct internet con­nec­tion. Un­for­tu­nately, Amazon Prime Video is less common on Smart TVs, Blu-ray players, and home cinema systems, while parallel viewing is only available on a maximum of two devices at present. The Premium package from Netflix, by com­par­is­on, offers sim­ul­tan­eous playback on up to four devices – but it’s sig­ni­fic­antly more expensive.

The pricing model for Google Play means it doesn’t compete directly with Netflix in many ways. But one field where it can compete is for selected block­buster high­lights. While the film selection is re­mark­able, offering almost all new releases and many selected classics, the col­lec­tion of current TV shows lags a little behind. Ad­mit­tedly, big high­lights like ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Sherlock’, and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ are available, but there’s nothing in the way of exciting original pro­gram­ming or exclusive content. And when you factor in the pricing structure, series junkies who regularly watch the latest shows all weekend and sit down on the sofa through­out the week probably don’t want to have to pay in­di­vidu­ally for every season or episode they want to watch. To put it simply, catch-up TV show marathons are difficult and expensive with Google Play Movies & TV.

When it comes to extras, user comfort and tech­no­logy with Google Play are just as good as you’d expect from such a big name. If you have a Google en­vir­on­ment at home, then you can take advantage of the offline mode and download your purchases or rentals to your Android and Chrome­book apps. Google Play Movies & TV does also offer an app with a download function for Apple iOS devices too.

Un­for­tu­nately, Google Play’s streaming service doesn’t work on other mobile devices. Ad­di­tion­ally, the app is rare to find in other places too: the tech­no­logy is only supported by the in-house streaming stick ‘Chromecast’, Android TV, Roku, and a handful of selected Smart TVs from LG and Samsung (though it’s always possible to connect the browser version on your laptop to a TV screen using an HDMI cable). Users of other Smart TVs, consoles, and Blu-ray players have to settle for this option.

If your device and content is com­pat­ible, you can enjoy the huge 5.1 sound offered by Google Play. And when it comes to image quality, there’s both standard defin­i­tion and high defin­i­tion versions of many films and shows – plus the recent addition of 4K/UHD as well. To take advantage of the 4K/UHD, you’ll need a bandwidth of 15Mbit/s, Chromecast Ultra, and a cor­res­pond­ing 4K screen.

Those who have tried iTunes Video will all agree that there’s one big dif­fer­ence between the Apple service and the other Netflix al­tern­at­ives we’ve in­tro­duced: There’s currently no web player for viewing pro­grammes in your browser with iTunes Video. Instead, you’ll need to download and install the iTunes client on your device of choice. But your efforts will be im­me­di­ately rewarded with a huge col­lec­tion of films that’s really second to none – from classics to block­busters, Apple has every genre fully stocked with content. iTunes Video also offers big-hitting series too: ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘House of Cards’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and many other popular shows can be down­loaded season by season or as in­di­vidu­al episodes.

One-time viewing of course will always offer the same pros and cons: users who want the latest releases or a number of different things to watch will usually end up paying a higher price for less content than they would with a sub­scrip­tion package deal for another provider. The Apple service does offer a great selection of bonus material for movies and series though, in a similar way to DVDs or Blu-rays – perfect for anyone who’s in­ter­ested in in­ter­views, ‘making-of’s, and other back­ground in­form­a­tion on various pro­grammes. The image and sound quality of the movies on iTunes Video are also very re­spect­able: HD is available and some films come with 5.1 sound – provided that you can meet the necessary speaker re­quire­ments for your home cinema system. Un­for­tu­nately, 4K movies are not presently available.

Similarly to Google, iTunes Video makes a great Netflix al­tern­at­ive for users who already have an Apple en­vir­on­ment at home. This is because iTunes is only available on a limited number of apps and supported platforms: At present, you can use iTunes Video on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch as well as on Mac, PC, and the in-house set-top box ‘Apple TV’. So as long as you’re not planning to watch your shows on a Smart TV, a Blu-ray player, a games console, or any other of the devices that aren’t currently supported, then you can also enjoy the benefits of offline viewing with Apple’s al­tern­at­ive to Netflix. This works in­tu­it­ively: You can simply download your chosen film, or wait until its fully streamed and then enjoy it offline on the iTunes media library. The user interface is also intuitive and practical, making iTunes Video easy to use. Lastly, the service offers numerous different language and subtitle options, allowing you to enjoy content from around the world.

Now TV is a paid internet tele­vi­sion service, offering a variety of bundles with different prices to suit user needs. A sub­scrip­tion to Now TV En­ter­tain­ment will set you back £7.99 per month, Sky Cinema comes in at £9.99 per month, Kids TV costs £2.99, and you can also get Sky Sports for £7.98. Now TV offer a 3-month free trial and frequent offers and deals when you select channel sub­scrip­tions in bundles. The appealing aspect of Now TV, however, is that there is no contract. This makes the service appealing to customers who are trying to move away from getting stuck in tele­vi­sion sub­scrip­tion contracts, but still want access to the same great content they are ac­cus­tomed to. Now TV does not offer pay-per-view or rentals through their platform. Now TV has apps available for Android an iOS, which can be down­loaded from Google Play or the app store. Their platform is com­pat­ible with over 60 devices, ranging from mobiles, tablets, computers, consoles, and smart TVs (or TVs fitted with a smart TV stick). For a full range of device com­pat­ib­il­ity options, please refer to their device list. Now TV do not currently offer offline viewing on their apps. The maximum image quality for Now TV streaming currently stands at 720p. They also offer subtitles on some films and TV shows on the Sky Cinema and En­ter­tain­ment monthly passes, and viewers will be able to identify subtitled films by the ‘S’ symbol in the in­form­a­tion de­scrip­tion. This al­tern­at­ive to Netflix does feature an im­press­ive range of films and TV shows, but is con­sid­er­ably pricier than the com­pet­i­tion, and is a little lacking in some technical aspects.

Each of the different Netflix al­tern­at­ives that we’ve looked at have their own separate ad­vant­ages. They’re aimed at different user groups and have different strengths and weak­nesses: binge watchers will be able to keep them­selves en­ter­tained for the whole month long with Amazon Prime Video, thanks to the fabulous original pro­gram­ming and organised sub­scrip­tion model. But if you’re more of a film buff and care most of all about seeing the latest releases in the best quality rather than settling for what the sub­scrip­tion platforms have to offer, then Google Play Movies & TV or iTunes Video will be perfect for your needs. And for those who are really into the extra bonus features that come with DVDs and Blu-rays, iTunes Video also offers a full range of ad­di­tion­al delights.

So while Netflix remains the un­dis­puted queen of the online streaming market at present, some of these al­tern­at­ives to Netflix match or even exceed the standards set by the market leader. Which streaming service is the right one for you? This decision will ul­ti­mately come down to your personal pref­er­ences and what it is that you want from your streaming portal, whether it’s Netflix or an al­tern­at­ive.