Paying for five streaming services? How to compare them and keep two

The average household now subscribes to four or five streaming services and watches two of them. Comparing services properly is not about which has the biggest library; it is about which ones you actually open. Here is the method behind our streaming service comparison hub.

Step 1: Price per hour you actually watch

Take last month's statement and your viewing history. A $17.99 plan you opened eight times costs about $2.25 per session; a $9.99 plan you opened once costs $9.99 per session. This single calculation usually identifies the subscription to cancel before you compare a single feature. Prices change often, which is why our tables use current US list prices and date-stamp them.

Step 2: Can you live with the ad tier?

Most major services now offer an ad-supported plan at roughly half the ad-free price. Ad loads are typically four to five minutes per hour, less than broadcast TV. If you mainly watch with a second screen in hand, the ad tier is the biggest saving available. If ads ruin films for you, compare ad-free prices only. The gap is visible in netflix vs disney+, where ad-free pricing differs by two dollars but ad-tier pricing differs by more.

Step 3: Simultaneous streams and household rules

A plan that allows four streams can be legitimately shared by a family; a two-stream plan cannot. Several services now enforce single-household rules, so the sharing arrangement that halved your cost in 2022 may no longer work. Check the stream count on the tier you would buy, not the premium tier.

Step 4: Resolution only if you have the screen

4K HDR is often locked to the most expensive tier. If your TV is 1080p, or 4K but in a bright room where HDR adds little, paying for the premium tier buys you nothing. Downgrade and bank the difference.

Step 5: Originals you will actually finish

Library size is a weak signal: a catalogue of 6,000 titles includes thousands you will never open. Flagship originals are the real reason to keep a service. Write down the three shows you are mid-way through or waiting for, note which service each lives on, and keep those. The comparison between max vs apple tv+ is a good illustration: one has a far bigger library, the other a shorter list of very highly rated originals.

Step 6: Rotate instead of stacking

Almost every service lets you cancel and rejoin without penalty. Subscribe to one for a month, finish the shows you wanted, cancel, move to the next. Rotating two services costs less than half of stacking five, and the catalogue is still there when you come back.

A worked example

A household paying for Netflix Standard, Disney+ Premium, Hulu No Ads, Max Standard and Prime Video spends around $85 a month. Switching Netflix and Disney+ to ad tiers, keeping Prime because it comes with shipping, and rotating Hulu and Max monthly brings the bill to about $35 while losing no shows. The savings over a year are enough to buy the TV upgrade that would actually make 4K worth paying for.

If you want to check the plan details before cancelling, every streaming service comparison on this site has the stream counts, download rules and current prices side by side.