Australian STREAMING SERVICEs that aren’t a complete waste of money
Gone are the days of jailbreaking your neighbours Foxtel box. We no longer need the Foxtel man to come and install ‘the dish’, thank god 🙏🏽. Today’s solutions to viewing your favourite shows are a bit more elegant and affordable.
Due to the emergence of streaming, Australian families have more options than ever before to keep up with the latest ‘must watch’ series or movies. But, which streaming services are worth the monthly fee and which are a complete waste of coin? Read on to find out our thoughts.
Foxtel
Foxtel started it all but the system was seriously flawed. For years, users needed a traditional pay-TV subscription. You would need to choose your plan, which would generally come with a stack of channels you would never watch, then the Foxtel technician would come over to install the box.
Thankfully, that has all changed. Foxtel Now offers a simple streaming solution to your required devise(s) but if you want access to all of the 70+ channels you are going to need to cough up some serious coin.
Foxtel Now offers a 10-day free trial after which you need to select your Pack. The trial comes with the complete selection. Their Essentials Pack (Pop and Lifestyle) is Foxtel Now’s base pack at $25 a month, featuring all the must-see Lifestyle, Comedy, Reality, Drama, News and Entertainment shows. If you are not happy with the base package then you will need to purchase Add On Packs starting at an extra $10 a month for Add On Drama, to $29 a month extra for all Sport. If you want to keep the kiddies entertained then you’ll need the $104 per month pack. Seems excessive to us.
Sports lovers will enjoy all Foxtel has to offer but if that’s not your jam then you’re better off going with Binge for your HBO dramas and Disney + for the kids.
NETFLIX
Orange Is The New Black, Stranger Things, Money Heist. The content is just so good… until you’re all caught up and you keep on scrolling ‘Recently Added’ over and over.
Netflix allows you to stream on most, if not all, smart devices and allows downloads so you can watch your fave shows offline. Plans range from $10.99 to $19.99 per month. For a service that offers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime, cartoons and documentaries sans ads, this is pretty great value. New content added weekly is also a nice little bonus.
The content isn’t as extensive as the American or Canadian catalogues but with a VPN you can access these if you wish, but we think the Australian version will keep you entertained well enough. Value for money? Yes, absolutely!
KAYO
If you’re an avid sports watcher and Foxtel is too pricey for you then Kayo Sports will be your go-to. 14-day trial, watch 50 sports LIVE, cancel any time. Easy.
$25 per month for their basic plan allows you 2 screens so you can share the service and the cost with a mate or spend $35 a month for 3 screens. We’re sold!
STAN
Everyone has that friend. The friend who is constantly raving about their favourite new show. It sounds interesting so you decide to give it a go until you discover it’s only available on Stan. But do you or don’t you?
Stan’s selling point is that it offers “the best new shows from around the world plus countless hours of complete series to enjoy.” Compelling? We think yes.
If you are an Aussie drama and film buff then you’ll come to like Stan. If you are a Rugby fan, you’ll also be sold. Stan is available on all the standard smart devices and also hosts a range of ‘Stan Originals’ so just like ‘Netflix Originals’, you’ll also get one-of-a-kind content here that you won’t find anywhere else.
The pricing is definitely affordable with prices starting at $10 a month for their Basic option to $19 a month for the Premium plan that allows you to view on up to 4 screens in 4K Ultra HD.
Stan also has a 30-day free trial which is awesome. There is definitely good value here.
BINGE
Binge is the new kid on the block having only launched in 2020. With it’s HBO content, Binge is a serious contender for the throne… Game of Thrones to be exact. Previously you could only view HBO’s most loved content on Foxtel which is a big selling point for Binge who claims to be “unturnoffable”.
A Basic plan will set you back $10 a month for 1 screen and their Premium plan is $18 a month for 4 screens making it great for families. Binge boasts over 10,000+ hours of content, you can cancel anytime, it’s ad-free on demand with Dolby Digital sound. Sounds pretty good to us.
Hot tip: The Undoing with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant is awesome and we’ve heard good things about Devils. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll be in heaven.
APPLE TV
For just $7.99 a month Apple TV+’s offering is a budget option in the world of streaming services. Apple also offers 1 year free if you buy an eligible Apple device which is most of us at some point.
Obviously, content can be streamed on any Apple device but, here’s the downside, not on any android devices and the selection is definitely a bit limited compared to its competitors. Apple TV+ offers ‘Apple Originals’ as Netflix and Stan do although there are no real big-time must-sees in the lineup. The price seems to be justified so if you are very price conscious then this is a good option for you but we think there are better streaming services out there to spend your money on. Sorry Apple.
Amazon Prime
Coming in as the cheapest option of the bunch at $6.99 per month, Amazon’s Prime Video allows users to watch exclusive Amazon Originals as well as popular movies and TV shows. A subscription also comes with a whole host of additional benefits in the Amazon world, such as free shipping on eligible items, exclusive access to deals and more.
Subscribers can download content and even watch 4K titles. They also host an impressive catalogue of TV shows and movies available for rent or purchase, however, Prime lacks in quantity top-tier shows and continues to lose its third-party content to other services. It’s a good option in terms of price, especially if you’re a big Amazon shopper, but we think there are better services out there.
If you are still unsure which service is the best option for you then you’ll find a pretty good comparison of all the products available here. No matter what service you end up going with, we’re sure you’ll find some entertainment value. And if your home viewing facilities aren’t up to par, we can help set you up with the audiovisual home theatre of your dreams so get in touch.
