The streaming war: which service is the right one for you and your wallet?
(CNN Español) — The streaming war becomes more interesting, and complicated, with the continuous arrival of new options. On one side we have the big names like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max (which is owned by CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia), and on the other are more basic but much cheaper, if not free, options.
On the one hand, the increase in competition has given us more options of movies and series to choose from, but it has also increased subscription prices. Recently, Netflix, the leading platform in the market, increased its subscription prices.
The reason? Over the years the growth of companies like Netflix tends to slow down and attracting new subscribers becomes more difficult due to the great competition, and the income must come from somewhere. Raising prices to consumers is an easy way to do this.
Price increases, even when it comes to as little as $1, may be too much considering the influx of services in recent years as consumers often pay for more than one subscription, according to Statistical data.
Here’s what some of the most popular services offer and how much a monthly subscription would cost.
Netflix
Eleven in the third season of Stranger Things. (Credit: Netflix)
The world streaming leader is Netflix with more than 208 million global subscribers, and a huge amount of entertainment options. From a variety of documentaries, series and movies, to original productions that have managed to turn the world upside down, as happened in 2021 with “The Squid Game”. With its original productions, as was the case with “Roma” and “Missing” Netflix won several Oscars, and this year “The Power of the Dog” is positioned as a favorite.
Monthly subscription price: US$ 9.99 / 139 Mexican pesos / 16,900 Colombian pesos / 379 Argentine pesos
Amazon Prime Video
‘The Lord of the Rings’ arrives on Amazon Prime Video on September 2.
Amazon Prime Video is probably one of the best cost-benefit options if you usually make purchases through its e-commerce platform, since if you pay the annual membership to the Prime service, the video platform is included. If not, you can contract the streaming service independently. However, this option is not available for all countries.
In terms of content, Amazon Prime Video may not have as many options as Netflix, but it offers a good number of series, movies and original productions such as the upcoming prequel to “The Lord of the Rings”, which will be available later this year, as well as as well as award-winning series like “The Boys” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Monthly subscription price: US$ 8.99
Amazon Prime Monthly Membership: US$ 12.99 / 99 Mexican pesos / 17,900 Colombian pesos / 319 Argentine pesos
Disney+
Disney has managed to consolidate a huge empire with its old productions and relatively recent acquisitions of the PIXAR studios, the StarWars franchise, the Marvel heroes and the 20th Century Fox studios. Only in the last few months Disney + has launched exclusive series such as “What If” or “The Book of Boba Fett” and subscribers can enjoy blockbusters and streaming hits like “Encanto” and “Black Widow” from the comfort of their homes.
Monthly subscription price: US$ 7.99 / 159 Mexican pesos / 23,900 Colombian pesos / 385 Argentine pesos
Apple TV+
Cristo Fernández by Ted Lasso, one of the best series today.
Unlike other streaming services, Apple is committed to quality over quantity and its catalog is not as extensive as that of the competition, but some of its exclusive series have won several awards. A great example of the above is comedy “Ted Lasso” y el drama “The Morning Show”.
Monthly subscription price: US$4.99 / 69 Mexican pesos / 19,000 Colombian pesos / US$2.99 in Argentina
HBO Max
Zendaya and Hunter Schafer in HBO’s ‘Euphoria’.
Last year HBO Max officially arrived in Latin America and the Caribbean with a wide catalog that includes series, movies, documentaries, concerts and standup comedy presentations. HBO is the home of great productions such as “Game of Thrones”, “The Flight Attendant”, “Euphoria” and “Succession“.
Monthly subscription price: US$ 14.99 / 144 Mexican pesos / 19,900 Colombian pesos / 218.90 Argentine pesos
Hulu
Best Actress in a Drama Series: Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
If you live in Latin America, Hulu might not sound familiar to you, because this streaming service, creator of award-winning series like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Dopesick”, is only available in the United States. However, this service offers you not only a wide catalog of movies, series and documentaries, but also access to content from television networks such as CBS, ABC and NBC.
Monthly subscription price: $6.99 with commercials and $12.99 without commercials.
Like Netflix, but free
If you want to cut costs but still enjoy streaming movies and series, there are free options that could replace some paid subscription services. Being free options, their catalogs are usually limited and some of these options include commercials. However, in this case you literally have nothing to lose by trying them.
Free streaming entertainment services are:
- Pluto TV
- TV tubes
- Plex
- Peacock
- Sling TV
- Crackle
Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas of CNN contributed to this article.
Reference-cnnespanol.cnn.com