8 Best Video Streaming Services of 2026

Netflix is the easiest subscription to recommend to a mixed household, because its three plans are simple and the entry price is low. Standard with ads costs $8.99 a month in the US and covers games and most movies and shows, with a lock icon on titles that are not available. It streams on 2 devices at a time in 1080p and allows downloads on 2 devices. Standard removes ads for $19.99 and lets you add 1 extra member who lives elsewhere. Premium, at $26.99, raises the limit to 4 streams, adds 4K with HDR and spatial audio, and allows downloads on 6 devices. Netflix bills monthly only and does not sell annual plans, so there is no way to lock in a lower yearly rate. The account is meant for one household, and sharing outside it costs $7.99 to $9.99 per extra member each month. The jump from the ad plan to the ad-free plan is large, so many families will be happy on the cheaper tier.

Prime Video is the service many households already have without thinking about it. Amazon's help pages list a standalone Prime Video membership at $8.99 a month, while the full Amazon Prime membership costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year and includes Prime Video alongside shipping, Amazon Music for Prime, Prime Gaming, Amazon Photos and more. Prime for Young Adults costs $7.49 a month, and recipients of EBT, Medicaid, SNAP and other select programs can qualify for Prime at $6.99. Prime Video Channels lets you add other subscriptions inside the same app and bill them through Amazon, which keeps payments in one place. The downside is the storefront: included titles sit next to movies you can only rent or buy, so it takes more care to find what your plan covers. Also note that the invitation-only Prime Shipping plan does not include Prime Video. For a household that orders from Amazon often, the annual Prime fee makes video close to free.

Disney+ is the obvious second subscription for families, and its US plans page explains the choices clearly. The ad-supported plan costs $12.49 a month and the ad-free Premium plan costs $21.49, or $214.99 a year, which Disney says saves over 16% against paying monthly. The catalog covers Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, and the app now includes a Hulu hub with a limited selection of Hulu titles and an ESPN hub with select live sports from ESPN Select. Disney also notes that ads are served in select live and linear content on all plans, so Premium is not entirely ad-free. The best value sits in the bundles. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads costs $12.99 a month, only 50 cents more than Disney+ alone, and a Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max bundle starts at $21.99. If your household would pay for two of those services anyway, the bundle is the cheaper way in.

Apple TV is a smaller catalog of shows and films that Apple makes itself, and that focus is part of the appeal. Apple says its originals are always commercial-free, with new movies and series added every Wednesday and Friday. The $14.99 monthly subscription now also includes live Formula 1 coverage of every Grand Prix in the US, MLS matches with no blackouts and Friday Night Baseball, which adds real value for sports households. Family Sharing lets up to six people share one subscription, and you can download Apple Originals to an Apple device for offline viewing. The app runs on Android, smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Vizio and others, game consoles and streaming sticks, so you do not need Apple hardware. The limits are the library size and the extras: rentals and third-party channels inside the Apple TV app cost more. Apple sells a bundle with Peacock for $17.99 a month, and Apple One starts at $21.95.

HBO Max carries HBO, the DC Universe, Warner Bros. and A24 titles and lays out its plans plainly on its US site. Basic with Ads costs $10.99 a month or $109.99 a year and streams on 2 devices at once in Full HD. Standard removes ads and adds 30 downloads for $18.49 a month or $184.99 a year. Premium, at $22.99 a month or $229.99 a year, streams on 4 devices, though only 2 for sports, in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Atmos where available, and allows 100 downloads. Live MLB games on TBS are listed on all three plans, which is a nice extra for baseball fans. Every plan offers yearly billing, which saves between $21 and $45 a year. The catch is the price of quality: the ad plan has no downloads, and 4K sits only on the most expensive tier. Households that also want Disney+ and Hulu can buy all three from $21.99 a month, which HBO Max says saves $13.98 a month.

Tubi is the best way to keep watching after you cancel a subscription. Fox Corporation, which owns it, describes Tubi as the most watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S., with a library of over 250,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of exclusive originals and over 250 live channels. You do not pay anything, and the service suggests titles based on what you watch. That makes it a strong partner for one paid service: keep Netflix or Disney+ for new releases and use Tubi for older films, classic series and background viewing. The trade-offs are what you would expect from a free service. The library leans toward back catalog titles rather than this season's hits, and the service is not available in every country. Our score reflects that: it is the best value on this list by a wide margin, but it cannot replace a paid service for viewers who want new series.

Hulu is the home of Hulu Originals and FX series, and its help center lists prices for new subscriptions as of September 23, 2026. Hulu with ads costs $12.49 a month or $124.99 a year and streams in up to 4K UHD with 5.1 audio on multiple devices. Hulu Premium removes ads, though a few shows still play ads before and after, and adds downloads and Watch Party for $21.49 a month. The bigger draw is flexibility. Hulu + Live TV plans start at $99.99 and include Disney+ and ESPN Select, and you can add HBO Max from $10.99, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for $13.99 or STARZ for $11.99 in the same app. The awkward part is pricing against the bundle: the Disney+ and Hulu bundle with ads costs $12.99, only 50 cents more than Hulu alone, so very few households should buy Hulu by itself. You must be located in the US to subscribe.

YouTube Premium is a different kind of subscription: it does not add a library of shows, it removes ads from the platform many households already watch most. Google's help pages say Premium removes ads before and during videos, along with third-party banner and search ads, on all devices with YouTube, including smart TVs, consoles and the YouTube Kids app. It also includes the YouTube Music app without ads, with offline downloads and background play. Video downloads and Smart Downloads let you watch offline, and background play keeps audio going with the screen off. Some ads remain, though: creators can still embed sponsorships, and ads or promotions may appear on Primetime Channels and during live events such as sports. Premium Lite is a cheaper membership that removes ads from most videos, but not music, Shorts or search. We could not load a USD price from our location, so check YouTube's page for the current US price before you subscribe.