As streaming services are taking over, popular content platforms including Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ compete to bring more subscribers. The Messenger took a look at what each service offers based on content, price and quality. 

Content

Netflix has been focusing on releasing shows that are Netflix Originals while gradually removing some viewers’ favorites such as “Friends” (removed late 2019) and “The Office” (removed late 2020). 

Disney + on the other hand includes content all of which is made and produced by Disney itself. Some of the biggest brands such as Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and National Geographic can all be found on Disney+ along seasons of childhood favorite TV shows for Generation Z: “Good Luck Charlie,” ”Jessie” and “Girl Meets World.” 

Because Disney+s’ content is family friendly and provides various childhood shows, Netflix has recently added elements of nostalgia to their own platform by adding Nickelodeon hits such as “iCarly” in early February and “Victorious” in late 2019. 

Hulu, however, focuses on content variety by incorporating popular age-appropriate shows along with content for a mature audience. Hulu offers shows that are more recent and adds new episodes the following day after running on air. In this feature, Hulu is much quicker in updating their platform compared to Netflix which waits for the full season to be completed before adding episodes. Shows like the sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” are available on this service.

Price

Netflix offers a basic, standard and premium plan which range from $8.99 to $17.99 a month. Each plan varies based on the quality of the content, the number screen that can simultaneously watch, and number of devices with downloads. All do provide the same unlimited content and accessibility to watch it on all devices. 

Disney+ offers a $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year subscription offer but also provides an exclusive deal of $12.99 per month for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. This streaming service allows for four screens to watch at once which is more than the basic plan for Hulu and Netflix. 

Hulu has the most package options available out of the other two platforms. It has a $5.99 per month deal or $11.99 per month deal with no ads. It includes two other packages that provide Hulu along with live TV which are more costly ranging from $64.99-$70.99 per month. A downside is that Hulu users have to pay more for no ads and the no ads plan does not include popular shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Additionally, only two devices can stream at once.

User Friendliness

Netflix divides their shows and movies into separate categories while additionally providing tabs for different genres such as anime, crime and Black history month. On the home screen, there is a display of the top 10 shows as well as what is trending. Netflix also presents a feature for users to make their own list of shows and movies they want to watch. 

Similarly, Disney+ has a watchlist which users can create and has a drop down feature to search content by genre. It also includes an alphabetized list of movies and allows the subscriber to customize their subtitles in various fonts and colors. 

Hulu, along with the favorite tab similar to a watchlist, also offers the personalization of subtitles feature. For awareness of children, both Netflix and Hulu have a kids mode, which filters the platform to only show kid friendly content.