Streaming services are a dime a dozen these days, and it’s getting harder and harder to know where to find the shows and films you want to watch let alone consider how much it will cost to be able to see everything on offer.
From giants in the industry like Netflix and Prime Video to the more niche streamers like Mubi or Viki, there’s services that cater to every person’s taste. Not to mention the possibility of upgrading to have premium access to linear TV channels like ITV and Channel 4 to avoid watching adverts
But how much will it cost a UK household to own every subscription service? Yahoo has crunched the numbers to offer readers a definitive guide.
How much are the biggest subscription services in the UK?
Netflix
Netflix has recently increased its subscription prices in the UK, and so that means that anyone hoping to catch the likes of Stranger Things or Squid Game’s final season will be subject to a higher fee.
Read more: What we know about Netflix’s price hike as UK subscription increase revealed
The Standard Tier, which offers Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games, now costs £12.99 a month. The Premium plan, which gives subscribers access to Watch in 4K amongst other things, has increased to £18.99 per month. For those hoping to cut costs, Netflix’s basic plan that allows viewers to watch content with adverts will now cost £5.99 per month.
Prime Video
Sign up to Prime Video
Prime Video offers subscribers access to an annual subscription, which is £95 per year (for students this costs £47.49). If you rather pay monthly then Prime Video’s lowest tier without adverts will cost £11.98, the basic plan that comes with adverts costs £8.99 per month, or £4.49 if you’re a student.
The streamer comes with the added bonus of giving users access to Amazon’s Prime service, meaning products they buy will be shipped to them faster. Meanwhile they will also have access to shows like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys, and Clarkson’s Farm, as well as an array of subscription channels — but more on that later.
Disney+
Sign up to Disney+
For those interested in Marvel, Star Wars and Disney titles then they will best be served with Disney+ which gives users access to everything Disney and its sister companies create. The company’s 2025 slate is looking quite packed with the likes of Andor season 2, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and more.
Subscribing to the streamer will cost £8.99 per month, or £89.90 a year for those wanting to access the lowest tier without adverts. A Premium subscription will cost £12.99 per month, or £129.90 a year, while the ad-supported tier costs £4.99 per month.
Apple TV+
Sign up to Apple TV
Apple TV+ offers its subscribers access to an array of original content including Severance, Slow Horses, Ted Lasso and the critically-acclaimed Pachinko. If you buy a new Apple product you can gain access to a free three-months access to the streamer, or there is a free 7-day trial if not.
Read more: The 10 best Apple TV+ shows to watch in a weekend
The subscription price for Apple TV+ comes to £8.99 per month, and the streamer doesn’t currently offer a yearly subscription tier.
Sky and NOW
Sign up to NOW
Sky and NOW are sister platforms, with users able to gain access to Sky channels, originals and shows from across the pond like The White Lotus and The Last of Us via both services. Both Sky and NOW have TV packages, film-only packages, and sports channel packages for whatever you need most.
For NOW, the lowest subscription tier for access to TV without adverts (not including movies or sports) comes to £15.99 a month, and with ads it costs £9.99 per month. NOW cinema costs the same, and it is important to note there are often offers on six month contracts for the streaming service.
Sky has multiple options available for users, there are linear TV packages like an Ultimate TV package that gives users access to Netflix as well, or a streaming-only option known as Sky Stream. For all of this a TV license is required, and in terms of cost for new users Sky Stream is £15 per month for a 24-month period, while the Ultimate TV package comes to £22 per month with a 24-month contract. There is also an option to have access to Sky cinema alongside TV which would cost £25 a month for a 24-month period.
Paramount+
Sign up to Paramount+
For those interest in Star Trek, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe or even the Mission: Impossible franchise then Paramount+ is the subscription service for you. The service costs £7.99 per month for its lowest tier without adverts, or £70.99 annually. The cheapest option, which comes with adverts, is £4.99 a month.
As well as accessing Paramount+ via its subscription service channel users can also access it through Prime Video’s channels where the cost is the same.
Linear TV costs
This brings us to linear TV, which refers to the likes of BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and more. While these can all be accessed for free users will have to pay for a TV license to access it, which costs £169.50 per month — if you’re 75 or over and get Pension Credit then you may be able to get this for free or a discounted price through the UK government.
Each of these TV channels has its own streaming service which can be accessed for free, but there are paid-for options as well. For example, ITVX’s premium subscription costs £5.99 per month while Channel 4’s subscription costs £3.99 per month.
Other subscription services
There is also, of course, the more niche subscription services that the public might want to use. Are you a fan of Korean dramas and want more? Viki is your best source for K-dramas and shows from other Asian countries like Japan, China and Taiwan, and it costs £3.99 per month.
Do you want to watch Outlander or shows like Power? You can access it on MGM+, which costs £4.99 per month, while movie-based streaming service Mubi —which is the home of The Substance, Queer and more— has subscriptions costing £11.99 per month, or £95.88 annually.
If reality shows are more your thing then HAYU is likely a streamer you will want to subscribe to, which can be accessed via Prime Video’s channels as well as its own service and costs £4.99 a month. This is the same price as cosy crime specialists Acorn TV, and for anime subscription service Crunchyroll — which gives users access to shows being simulcast with Japan, and a huge back catalogue of titles.
There’s also movie streamers like StudioCanal Presents (£4.99), BFI Player (£6.99) , Shudder (£4.99), and Arrow Video (£4.99). Curzon also has a subscription for users giving them access to tickets to screenings at any Curzon and access to Curzon at Home, the Classic subscription which gives users 5 free tickets per year costs £55 annually, and the Cult tier —which offers seven free tickets a month— costs £285 a year.
How much does it cost to own every subscription service?
If you want to access to every subscription service that Yahoo has named, and were paying for the lowest tier without ads for them all, then the total cost would set you back £193.92 per month.
If you just wanted to access the biggest subscription titles —those being Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, NOW Entertainment and Paramount+— then that will cost a total of £57.94 for the ad-free tiers. For the tiers with adverts the total for these subscriptions comes to £43.94 per month.
