Choosing Streaming Services – Which Is The Best?

Streaming services have come a long way in recent years. There are more options than ever. So, there's the dilemma of choosing which ones to subscribe to. What is the best streaming service? How many are too many to subscribe to? The costs can add up. And who has time to really get their money's worth with so many services?

I'm currently dealing with choosing whether I want to add another streaming service or not.  Right now, I have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I did have Apple TV for a while, but wasn't watching much, so I got rid of it. On top of that, I pay for cable service and have some streaming capabilities through that as well. But of course, there are certain shows you can only see on certain platforms.

I recently finished watching This Is Us. I'd started it a while back, and had taken a break simply because I'd gotten into other shows and also life just got busy. But the show had recently been added to Netflix, which reminded me that I hadn't finished it. Once I cried my eyes out over that emotional ending, I posted about finishing the show on Facebook.

Many people commented about the heart-wrenching ending... But it was my mom who commented and asked if I'd watched A Million Little Things. So, I had to look it up. What I found was that it was available to buy on Amazon Prime Video or through my cable service. Why would I purchase it, if I could just add another streaming service and watch that along with some other shows I've heard about?

And that's where I'm at right now. Should I add another streaming service? Should I cut the cord and just get rid of cable altogether since I rarely watch live TV? And if I add another, what is the best streaming service?

When I looked to see where I could stream A Million Little Things, Hulu was one of the options. Honestly, that's the one service I've considered subscribing to in the past because there have been quite a few things I'd like to watch on there. Someone recommended The Bear and I'd also be interested in checking out Only Murders In The Building.

I guess when it comes to the best streaming service, you have to consider what it is you're looking for. For example, a website called Tom's Guide has Max as the best streaming service overall. But then Hulu is considered the best when it comes to "new TV" and Peacock is the "best cheap streaming service."

According to Nerd Wallet, you should consider your content consumption. Do you like to watch more movies? Or do you prefer to catch up on the latest TV shows? Maybe you're more of a sports person, that's another thing to consider.

Honestly, from what I've looked at, I've got a great variety of things to watch based on the services I already have. So if I am going to add another, it's got to be something that has a lot of what I'd be interested in watching and it has to be affordable.  I don't want to waste money on a service I'll rarely or never use!

For me, from the research I've done, it looks like Hulu is going to be what I go with. If I pull the trigger on it. I'm still trying to decide if I really need to get sucked into more shows. Because I could use my free time for more productive things...

But if I do decide to subscribe, it's going to be Hulu's cheapest plan, which is $7.99.  It's the version with limited ads... but I can deal with that to save a few bucks. That's not too bad, I'll just have to cut out a few coffee runs each month to make up for it.

I did search around, and it looks like I might be able to get a free month of Hulu... so I guess it couldn't hurt to give it spin, right? But if I don't enjoy it, I'll just have to remember to cancel the subscription before it renews. That's what happened with Apple TV... I paid for it for months before finally saying enough and cancelling it!

This month of April is no joke, with a whole new batch of movies and TV shows going to be added to all of your favorite streaming services. As we saw in March, new television series like 3 Body Problem, The Regime, and The Gentlemen were highly anticipated. Spaceman, Ricky Stanicky, Damsel, Road House, and Wonka were among the new films that marched into streamers, giving a little bit of something for everybody.

Netflix, Max, Hulu, Peacock, AppleTV+, Paramount+, and Prime Video all have a slew of new additions set for April 2024, and we've compiled a list of all of those highly-anticipated shows and films that are noteworthy.

On AppleTV+, the second season of Maya Rudolph's comedy series, Loot, premieres on April 3. The sitcom follows the story of the aftermath of Molly Novak's (Rudolph) divorce from her tech billionaire husband (Adam Scott) of 20 years and what she wants to do with her $87 billion settlement. Season two will debut with two episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through May 29.

Over on Netflix, the second half of Zack Snyder's space opera Rebel Moon will be making its world premiere. In 2023's Part One: A Child of Fire, the story follows Kora (Sofia Boutella), a lone-wolf soldier who’s found community and connection on the quiet farming moon of Veldt. She’s a long way away from her former life fighting for the Imperium, the brutal interstellar royal empire bent on controlling the galaxy. But Kora’s violent past is dredged up when sadistic admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) comes to Veldt via a Dreadnought-class battle cruiser and stirs up deadly trouble on the orders of the Imperium’s tyrannical regent, Balisarius (Fra Fee). Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver is set to debut on April 19th.

Keep scrolling to see what new titles are coming to streaming in April 2024:

This black-and-white thriller series stars Andrew Scott as protagonist Tom Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling Tom Ripley novels. Set in Italy in the ’60s, the eight-episode limited series follows grifter Ripley in New York, who is hired by a wealthy industrialist to travel to Italy to try to convince the man’s dilettante son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Accepting the job is Tom’s first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder. Ripley premieres April 4 on Netflix.

Starring Colin Farrell, Sugar is a modern take on the classic noir detective story, set in California. Farrell plays John Sugar, a private investigator trying to track down the granddaughter of a Hollywood producer. As Sugar gets closer to the answers he needs, the case begins to unravel, as he uncovers deeply buried secrets certain powerful forces don’t what him finding out. The eight-episode drama debuts on AppleTV+ on April 5.

One of the most highly-anticipated video game adaptations is arriving mid-month. Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan has presented the series adaptation of Fallout, set to stream on Prime Video on April 11th. The series was first announced in 2020, set in post-apocalyptic US. Survivors are desperately trying to rebuild and salvage some semblance of civilization, while the barren wasteland of America is marked by radiation, mutated creatures and unfriendly encounters around every corner. All episodes of the first season are being released at once.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for Fiction, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen tells the story of a double agent in the wake of the Vietnam War. Max will begin streaming the HBO adaption of the political spy thriller. Set during the culmination of the Vietnam War in 1975, a French-Vietnamese spy (played by Australian Hoa Xuande), has infiltrated the South Vietnamese army but is forced to flee to the US as a refugee once the South falls. Xuande’s character must then decide between his loyalties to his political beliefs and his loyalties to his adopted community – which he continues to spy on. Robert Downey Jr. and Sandra Oh also make appearances in the series, which drops on Max on April 14.

Based on the best-selling 1997 true-crime book of the same name by the late Rebecca Godfrey, the series follows the story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta), who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Through the eyes of Godfrey (Riley Keough) and a local police officer (Lily Gladstone), the mini-series takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder — revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer. Under the Bridge will premiere on Hulu on April 17.