It is a cold, dark, Sunday night and our main character has nothing to do. They decide to watch a new TV show before getting ready for school tomorrow and going to bed. On the TV, multiple streaming services are staring back at them: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Apple TV+, all awaiting the click of approval. The ridiculous amount of options overwhelms said main character, and they end up not watching anything because they spent their free time raking through the thousands of TV show and movie options on numerous streaming services. Do you relate to this main character? If you do, you are not alone.

While having multiple streaming services nowadays is typically seen as a positive, there are some negatives as well. The main one being, it is difficult to decipher which one is the best. But with a little compare and contrast, it can be decided which one reigns supreme.

Let’s start off with Netflix; it’s the first streaming service that everyone usually thinks of, hence making it one of the most popular. In addition, in a survey of a handful of students, 50% said that Netflix was their go-to streaming platform. But does this popularity mean it’s the best? Of course, unlike some other streaming services, Netflix doesn’t have ads, which definitely improves its standing. But recently, there has been some discourse whether Netflix has the best TV shows and movies to watch. They do have one of the most popular shows ever, Stranger Things, but as we all know, Stranger Things only has one more season in its queue. In addition, Netflix is notorious for canning additional seasons of shows that many people enjoy watching, and most of them are on a cliffhanger!

Moving on, let’s discuss Disney+. When first introduced, numerous people were upset because this Disney monopoly was taking favorite tv shows off already-owned platforms. But there really are some hidden gems in this controversial streaming service. To start, a not-so-hidden gem would be that practically every Marvel movie ever is on Disney+. In fact, Aiyana Candalario states that while Netflix is her favorite streaming service, “you can’t watch Marvel movies on it.” With them all in one place, it is easier to have a Marvel movie marathon, which Disney+ conveniently caters to, with the movies in order of release date and timeline. However, I think a lesser known positive of Disney+ is their National Geographic dedicated section. “Live-tv” is somewhat dead to our generation, so shows like Animal Planet and such are rarely watched, and even if you want to you first have to ask the question, “What channel is it on?” But with National Geographic on Disney+, you can get the same sort of animal/environment content you want, without having to figure out how cable tv works.

A final streaming platform I would like to touch on is a more recent one, HBO Max. HBO Max has tons of popular shows, ranging from Rick and Morty to Euphoria, and even has some recent blockbuster movies ready-to-watch, like Don’t Worry Darling. And while all of this is incredibly appealing, the most unfortunate downside is that they are also the most expensive service talked about in this article, starting at $10 a month.

Streaming TV and movies has changed the way media is consumed, positively and negatively. In the end, which streaming service is the best is a personal opinion, but hopefully the research and information presented will aid in deciding which one fits you, because as Samreen Goraya has said, “[What streaming service you like] depends on who you are as a person.”