The phrase ‘Netflix and chill’ doesn’t just represent an activity, it has become a phenomenon. Video streaming and entertainment have become synonymous with one another. In the last four years alone, the industry has grown by over $10 billion with a 2018 valuation of $36.64 billion. This trend has given rise to some big players in the market. Netflix and Amazon Prime are the top two.
Although there is still a substantial difference between the size of both companies, the former is growing at a pace that they’ll soon catchup. The real question for someone who is new to the streaming scene is which service do they sign-up for? Amazon or Netflix? Here we compare the two based on three key categories to make the decision easier:
Content
Both Amazon Prime and Netflix have huge libraries spanning thousands of hours. However, since Amazon is relatively new in the market, its archive is smaller.
Amazon Prime
The official number of titles varies because different sources take several factors into account when making a calculation. According to one report, Amazon Prime has just over 36,000 movies in its archives but 31,600 of these are not rated. This can happen because the movies are too small or too old to qualify for the latest ranking standards. The service also has 6,133 TV shows both original productions and acquired ones.
Netflix
Although Amazon Prime is backed by the financial might of Amazon, Netflix still remains king in terms of content. The service has 5599 titles including both movies and TV shows. Some of the most popular shows like Peaky Blinders, House of Cards and Stranger Things are Netflix’s original productions. The company released more than 700 shows in 2018 and this number is only expected to grow in 2019.
Packages
Most of the users who buy a Netflix subscription say they did it because of cost-effectiveness. In reality, there is not much difference between the two.
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime initially had an introductory price of $5.99 but for a short time, it has been brought down to $2.99. After six months the price is $12.99 a month. Users may be charged at one time for the whole year depending on the package they choose. For this price, there are other benefits that people can avail while shopping on Amazon.
Netflix
Netflix offers three packages; basic, standard and premium. There are some differences between all these but the biggest one is the price. The basic package is $8.99 a month but it doesn’t offer HD content and allows only one screen at a time. The standard bundle costs $12.99 and offers 2 screens with HD but no ultra HD. The premium package can be used on four screens with both HD and Ultra HD at
$15.99 a month.
Conclusion
The final decision about which subscription to buy always lies with the users because it comes down to personal preferences in the end. Netflix is more popular and all leading shows feature on it. Amazon Prime doesn’t have that many popular shows but it still has great content which can keep viewers glued for hours.
Also Read: 6 Upcoming New Movies to Look out for in 2019
