Those who have cut the cord have found it harder to keep up with their growing subscription bills as streaming services continue to raise their prices. Disney+ and Hulu were the most recent to announce price increases.
Netflix has always charged more than its rivals; the most recent price increase occurred in January 2022. However, it’s possible that more customers will want to move over to the platform now that the ad-supported tier that Netflix has introduced is less expensive.
Despite price increases, both Hulu and Netflix have a lot to recommend them. However, it may be difficult for some subscribers to choose between the two. The reasons why we believe Netflix and Hulu are the best streaming services for your money are outlined in the following.
Since Netflix has been in the streaming business for fifteen years, it naturally has a substantial content library, with its original titles being the primary contributor to subscriber growth.
The options for entertainment are almost limitless, ranging from blockbusters like “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “Stranger Things,” “Bridgerton,” and “Ozark” to big-budget films starring a variety of A-listers like Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in “The Gray Man.” In addition, Netflix owns the distribution rights to the majority of film studios and television shows like “Good Girls” from NBC and “Shameless” from Showtime, among others.
The streamer has some originals that can be watched in one sitting, but its library isn’t nearly as big as Netflix’s.
Another important reason why Netflix subscribers enjoy the service is its binge-watching model. Unlike Hulu, which releases one episode per week, the streaming service uploads the majority of titles.
After being nominated for 105 Emmys, Netflix won 26 of them in 2022. Squid Game” became the first non-English series to win the Outstanding Drama category, making history. In comparison, despite receiving 58 nominations, a record for the streamer, Hulu only won 10 Emmys.
The availability of interactive series like “Bandersnatch,” “Cat Burglar,” “Trivia Quest,” and the most recent trivia series, “Triviaverse,” is another way that Netflix differentiates itself from Hulu.
Hulu has not yet completed its expansion into movie franchises, but Netflix is. Both a sequel and spinoff of “The Gray Man” and a spinoff of “Stranger Things” were confirmed by Netflix. Additionally, the streaming giant purchased the rights to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and “Knives Out 3” for $450 million, according to reports.
While we are on the subject of reality television, we would like to add that Netflix has consistently fallen short of expectations. Take, for instance, the unscripted television show “Is It Cake?
As a result, Netflix has been scrutinized for its reality TV offerings despite the fact that the streaming service produces addictive dramas, documentaries, stand-up comedy specials, and true crime series.
Hulu is better for fans of reality television. After Discovery+, Hulu arguably has one of the best reality television offerings. Hulu’s “The Kardashians” and “The D’Amelio Show” have done well for the streaming service, and the biggest draw is the large number of traditional television shows that Netflix does not have.
ABC, FX, Fox, Food Network, Freeform, TLC, and a slew of other content partnerships are to thank for Hulu’s extensive TV collection. When it lost its licensing agreements for next-day episodes of NBC and Bravo shows, the streaming service did suffer a serious setback; The only rights to access the following day for those are now owned by Peacock. On-demand episodes of shows like “The Voice” and “Saturday Night Live” had to be removed from Hulu. It still owns the rights to older shows like “Law & Order SVU,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “30 Rock.”
In addition to having to endure advertisements, the less expensive Netflix plan does have its drawbacks. In addition to the lower quality of the 720p video, viewers can only stream from one device at a time and cannot view the content offline.
Also, offline viewing is not supported by Hulu’s advertising plan. However, subscribers must pay $19.99 per month for the premium plan in order to view Netflix content in 4K, although it is possible to watch videos up to 1080p.
Additionally, Netflix’s “Basic with Ads” only allows one device to stream simultaneously, whereas Hulu’s ad plan lets users stream on two devices simultaneously.
Most notably, licensing restrictions prevent Netflix subscribers from accessing approximately 5 to 10 percent of its content catalog. The business stated that it is attempting to renegotiate with studios in order to include more content in the ad-supported tier.
One of Hulu’s ABC shows, “Grey’s Anatomy,” has licensing issues, so the show still has ads even on the ad-free plan. The ad-free tier of Hulu Live TV also shows ads for some on-demand titles.
The Disney Bundle from Hulu is a great deal because it bundles Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu at a discount. This bundle gives your entire family access to a wide range of entertainment options at a great price, including on-demand movies and TV shows, sports programming, and original content.
The Disney bundle that includes ad-free Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ will cost $19.99 per month as of the end of 2022. The bundle that includes ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu will cost $14.99 per month.