Alternative ways to watch movies and television

Fairly recently, the popular instant streaming service, Netflix, increased it’s monthly subscription price from $4.99 a month to $9.99 a month. While this is not a deal breaking increase by any means, it can still be fairly irritating for those who feel the price increase was unnessacary. Especially considering Netflix’s selection of titles for streaming can be lacking to say the least.

However, Netflix is by no means the only form of instant streaming available. Many alternative avenues exist for those who feel burned by Netflix, or simply want to try something different.

Among the alternatives, Amazon Prime/Instant Video is one of the noteworthy titles. The two services, run by Amazon as the name implies, offer slightly different perks. Instant Video allows a user to outright by a film off its market digitally (most often with prices around $14.99) and have permeant access to it, at least in theory. It also allows for one to quickly rent a film for 24 hours starting at 2.99. It offers a wide variety of films, both old and recent.

Amazon Prime is very similar to Netflix, though slightly cheaper. However, it’s library is even more shallow than Netflix. Both services are available, besides on TV, on all major gaming consoles, most tablets and web browers.

Hulu is another name familiar in the streaming market. Hulu Plus, it’s streaming service, is cheaper than Netflix’s current price, at 7.99 a month, but it also suffers from similar problems as Netflix. It’s library is constantly changing and shifting. That said, it offers it’s streaming at very high quality, and is also available on nearly any device you can think of.

iTunes is another easily available form of streaming. Not an actual subscription per say, rather it is an online catalogue of nearly every film and show one can imagine. Unfortunetly this comes at expense. Many films and shows are priced as actual copies; anywhere from 5 dollars to 60. However, it has the benefit of being instantly accessible and an incredibly throughough catalogue. For those wanting a movie to own but feeling lazy, it is a way to get said film without leaving home.

Something that might not be known to some viewers is that YouTube also offers instant streaming. A number of films and shows are available as direct streaming on the site if one is inclined.

There are many alternatives to Netflix when it comes to streaming, and these are simply a taste of them. Lesser known but acceptable services such as Vudu, Google Play, Crackle and Epix also offer further streaming options. Whether swearing off Netflix or simply wanting to try something different, these streaming options offer differences to worth considering.