Streaming apps battle: Which ones offer the best bang for your buck?

As each month passes, new streaming apps seem to pop up taking some of our most beloved content away from us and to its exclusive subscribers. From Disney+ to Paramount+ to Peacock TV, new streaming apps have been sprouting like weeds as studios take back cult favorites we once thought would always have a home at Netflix.

With the streaming wars raging around us, it’s becoming clearer & clearer it’s time for us to take a side. Few people can afford to play nice & break the bank, giving their hard earned bucks to every streaming app on the block just because they want to watch both The Office & The Simpsons. So which streaming apps give you the best bang for your buck? Here’s what we came up with.

Netflix 

There’s no denying Netflix is the big daddy of streaming apps, spearheading the streaming movement and becoming a household name to even the least tech-savvy boomer. However, what’s the famed streaming app done for you lately?

Not only has Netflix gone consistently down in quality in terms of content options, but we also think the Coca-Cola of streaming apps has gotten a little too big for its britches. Netflix no longer offers its prospective users a free trial to test the app out, and now its basic plan for eight dollars a month only allows you to watch your shows & movies on one screen. Fourteen dollars a month allows you a whopping two screens for viewing. 

Thanks Netflix, but you can keep your plethora of B movies & straight-to-streaming buzz series. Not worth it.

Paramount+

While Netflix is the forefather of streaming apps, Paramount+ is the baby. Paramount+ dropped in early March, but the service is already on the rise. The Hollywood Reporter announced last week that ViacomCBS added 6 million global users in its first quarter thanks to Paramount+, and we can understand why.

Paramount+ is worth its six-dollar basic monthly fee and its ten-dollar commercial-free package, because it’s unearthed some of the hardest-to-find shows of the past twenty years, which millennials are shredding through like hotcakes. Moreover, the service makes live sports & events like The Grammy Awards & UEFA Champions League available in one click. Cheaper than Netflix and way more fun? Totally worth it.

HBO Max

HBO Max boasts a hefty price, charging users fifteen dollars a month for a subscription. With the highest monthly charge on our list, you must be wondering if HBO Max is worth the punch to your wallet.

First of all, ads won’t cripple your experience with HBO Max; no subscription offered comes with ads (be still our hearts). Next, we have to look at the content. HBO series have a higher standard of quality; the network single-handedly changed TV with shows like The Sopranos & The Wire, and has kept up in the 2000s with viral hits like True Detective & Insecure. 

Lastly, HBO Max has a diverse selection of some of the best movies ever made, from the early 1900s to today, from the high brow arthouse to the lowbrow pulp. We say you get what you pay for. Worth it.

Disney+

If you ask us, Disney+ is overrated (gasp!). Sure, with Disney+ you can watch nearly all the films from Disney’s precious vault, which has selfishly kept our childhood favorites from us for so long. Also, Disney+ gives you all of The Simpsons, which is a hard benefit to deny.

However, the eight-dollar per month price doesn’t seem worth it; how often are you really going to want to indulge in the magic of Disney? Disney fanatics need Disney+, and we get that. However, if you just like Disney, simply save four bucks for your yearly The Lion King rewatch on YouTube. For us, Disney+ ain’t worth it.

Then again . . . if you’re a Star Wars fan or a comic book geek, shelling out the monthly $8.99 might be a smart investment. Why? Disney+ is the only place you can get Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe content. The Mouse gets you from all sides, doesn’t he?

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Did we miss your favorite (or most hated) pick of all the streaming apps out there? Let us know in the comments!