We love streaming TV shows and movies, day or night, a hot day or cold day, we will be perched in front of our TVs pumping content. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of streaming platforms around with thousands of movies and shows to please everyone. Deciding which subscriptions are worthy of your money is half the battle (the other half is deciding what to watch).
With every service fighting to keep your attention and money, we thought we’d take a look at what each offers based on pricing, concurrent user offerings, display quality and content libraries to help you determine the best option available.
Price
The cost of a streaming service is probably the most important aspect, alongside having quality content. While Netflix, Stan and now Binge offer pretty identical pricing packages, other streaming services, such as Kayo offer completely different prices. Amazon Prime video keeps things simple with one plan, as do Apple TV and Paramount+. Disney+ and Shudder both offer a single plan, however also offer annual billing with a slight discount.
These days, having an account for every streaming service in Australia is probably identically priced to having cable back in the late 90s, but at least you get the choice of which services you want and don’t want.
We’ve put together what you can expect to pay for each streaming service below.
- Netflix: $7.99 (basic with ads), $18.99 (standard) or $25.99 (premium) per month.
- Stan: $12 (basic), $16 (standard) or $21 (premium) per month. Stan Sport add-on available for $15 extra per month.
- Binge: $10 (basic with ads), $18 (standard) or $22(premium) per month.
- Kayo: $25 (basic) or $35 (premium) per month.
- Foxtel Now: $25 per month. Optional add-on packs available.
- Amazon Prime Video: $9.99 per month. Includes Amazon Prime.
- Disney+: $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year.
- Apple TV: $12.99 per month.
- Paramount+: $11.99 per month
- Shudder: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year
Free trials
In the age of streaming, try before you buy is truer than ever. Most streaming services offer free trials before you need to start paying your subscription fee, however you’ll need to enter your card details before signing up anyway. If you just want the freebies, take your card information off your selected streaming service before it automatically renews.
Here are all the free trials for all the major streaming services in Australia.
- Netflix: No freebies.
- Stan: 30 day free trial.
- Binge: 7 day free trial.
- Kayo: 14 day free trial.
- Foxtel Now: No freebies.
- Amazon Prime Video: 30 day free trial.
- Disney+: No freebies.
- Apple TV: 7 day free trial.
- Paramount+: 7 day free trial.
- Shudder: 7 day free trial.
Screens
If you’re living in a house with multiple screens streaming content at any given time, start thinking about concurrent stream screens. Most streaming services allow you to watch shows on more than two devices at once, but some will need you to spend more money on that as an extra. Note that Netflix has begun an account-sharing crackdown (with Disney+ likely to follow), so you may run into issues if connecting from multiple IP addresses.
We’ve broken down concurrent streams information in the points below:
- Netflix: 1 for basic, 2 for standard, 4 for premium.
- Stan: 1 for basic, 3 for standard, 4 for premium.
- Binge: 1 for basic, 2 for standard, 4 for premium.
- Kayo: 2 for basic, 3 for premium.
- Foxtel Now: 2 concurrent streams.
- Amazon Prime Video: 3 concurrent streams.
- Disney+: 4 concurrent streams.
- Apple TV: 6 concurrent streams.
- Paramount+: 3 concurrent streams.
- Shudder: 1 concurrent stream.
Streaming quality
Streaming quality matters to a lot of people – and so it should! If you have a 4K TV, you should use its 4K features for all they’re worth. That being said, higher-quality streaming usually jacks the price up quite a bit. You should, of course, make sure your internet plan is capable of high-definition streaming before committing to a streaming quality type.
We’ve broken up the maximum streaming qualities available from each major Australian streaming service below. Be aware that some titles on some streaming services might not stream in the highest quality available through your plan.
- Netflix: SD on basic with ads, SD on basic, HD on standard, Ultra HD (4K) on premium.
- Stan: SD on basic, HD on standard, Ultra HD (4K) on premium.
- Binge: HD on basic, HD on standard and premium, 4K on premium.
- Kayo: HD on basic and premium.
- Foxtel Now: HD.
- Amazon Prime Video: 4K.
- Disney+: 4K.
- Apple TV: 4K.
- Paramount+: HD.
- Shudder: HD.
Content
The most important feature! All of these streaming services offer different content, with some focusing big time on original content. Other streaming services just exist to aggregate certain shows from some production houses or channels, such as with Binge and Foxtel Now. Worth noting, however, is that Marvel content will soon be leaving Netflix before living in its new Disney+ home.
You can find some of our picks of content from these earlier mentioned streaming services. To find specific titles quickly, you can head to sites like Just Watch to figure out where it’s showing.
Netflix
- Arcane: League of Legends
- Behind Her Eyes
- Stranger Things
- Squid Game
- The Crown
- The Witcher
Stan
- Better Call Saul
- Billions
- Bump
- RuPaul’s Drag Race
- The Office (US)
- Veronica Mars
- Wolf Creek
Binge & Foxtel Now
Both streaming sites share content and no exclusives to either are apparent just yet.
- House of the Dragon
- Barry
- Chernobyl
- Game of Thrones
- Sharp Objects
- Succession
- True Detective
- Veep
Kayo
Kayo is a sports-oriented platform, meaning you’re unlikely to find something to enjoy if you’re not after a particular sport.
- AFL
- Formula One
- The Supercars
- X Games
Amazon Prime Video
Although Amazon Prime Video has a wide selection of shows, users can add channel packs to their subscriptions, like Hayu, AMC+ and Starzplay.
- American Gods
- Fleabag
- Hanna
- Jack Ryan
- The Boys
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Wheel of Time
Apple TV+
- For All Mankind
- Morning Wars
- Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet
- See
- The Elephant Queen
Disney+
- Frozen 2
- Loki
- The Book of Boba Fett
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- The Mandalorian
- Wandavision
Paramount+
- Evil
- iCarly
- Infinite
- Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years
- Star Trek: Discovery
- Star Trek: Prodigy
Shudder
Shudder specialises in horror content, perfect for a nerd who loves a fright.
- Creepshow
- Slasher: Flesh & Blood
- The Boy Behind The Door
- Superdeep
- Son
Supported Devices
Another thing to consider when choosing your streaming service is, do you have a device that can run it? Sure, pretty much every streaming service has an app these days, but not all of them are available on every smart TV or streaming box.
Here’s a breakdown of all the devices each streaming service is compatible with:
- Netflix: Apple TV, Google Chromecast, all major smart TVs, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Fetch set top box, Foxtel Now Box, Android devices, iOS devices, Windows phone, Laptop/desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Stan: Apple TV, Google Chromecast, all major smart TVs, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Foxtel Now Box, Android TV, Fetch TV, Telstra TV, Amazon Fire TV, iOS devices, Android devices, Windows Tablets, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Binge: Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV, Samsung TV, Google Chromecast, iOS devices, Android devices, PS4, PS5, LG TVs, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Kayo: Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV, Samsung TV, Google Chromecast, iOS devices, Android devices, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers, PlayStation consoles. See all devices here.
- Foxtel Now: Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV, Samsung TV, Google Chromecast, iOS devices, Android devices, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers, PlayStation consoles. See all devices here.
- Amazon Prime Video: Google Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, Telstra TV Amazon Fire TV, Echo Show/Echo Spot, all major smart TVs, Android devices, iOS devices, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Disney+: Google Chromecast, Android TV, LG TV, Samsung Tizen Smart TVs, Apple TV, Android Devices, iOS devices, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Desktop/Laptop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Apple TV+: Apple TV, Samsung/Vizio/Sony/LG Smart TVs, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, iOS devices, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Paramount+: Apple TV, Android TVs, Android phones and tablets, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, iOS devices, Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
- Shudder: iOS devices, Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, Samsung TV (2018 and newer models), Laptop/Desktop via web browsers. See all devices here.
The streaming services are all bound to be slightly different across devices so make sure to check the support pages of each to ensure the apps are on the device of your choice. If you can’t see it all hope isn’t lost. Check if AirPlay, casting or screen mirroring is available from your device to your TV.
I don’t think our wallets can handle any more streaming services in Australia. In case you were wondering, the minimum cost of all of these streaming services combined is $123.94 per month.
If you reckon we’ve missed a big one, let us know.
Image: Disney/Lucas Film
Want more entertainment news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and DC releases, what’s coming to cinemas in Australia this year, and everything streaming this month across all platforms. Check out our dedicated Entertainment tab for more.
This article has been updated since it was first published.