Newsletter
After a brief stint in San Francisco mid week for Google I/O, It’s Friday and time for Epic App Battles. For our first battle a couple of weeks back we brought you two of the most popular streaming music apps in a head to head clash, this week we’re keeping the theme to streaming but taking the fight to two of the most popular streaming video apps instead, Netflix and Hulu Plus. Both services have been around quite some time and each has their niche, as well as loyal followers who swear by their services and features. So who wins in this Epic Battle for the top streaming video app?
Netflix
Netflix has long been the favorite among many streaming video goers. Offering up large libraries of Movies from all genres including documentaries and foreign films, Netflix got it’s start by sending out DVDs in the mail to users, that had no return time limit. Now some years later having moved mostly to streaming due to the popularity if the video watching medium , Netflix now has an even bigger library of films and TV shows than they ever have before, and has even in the last year or so started throwing up original programming much like we’d see from the networks such as HBO or Showtime. It isn’t quite on the level with a couple of the shows from those networks of course, but it does if anything prove that Netflix is becoming a tad bit more “like” a network for the content that they offer. Netfilx offers unlimited streaming for only $7.99 a month, which is the same price as Hulu Plus’s monthly fee for unlimited streaming. You can watch Netflix on tons of different platforms so you can stream pretty much anywhere any time, all without much effort other than the time it takes to set up your account, which also ends up being free for the first month if you’re a new member. No matter how you slice it, if you love films and enjoy a bit of TV now and again, Netflix is a pretty damn good option. The app also has a pretty amazing UI now thanks to plenty of app updates, and the Chromecast support is a thing of wonder.
Hulu Plus
Hulu Plus is probably the other most used streaming video service out there, offering up a fairly different library of content than that of its closest competitor Netflix. While Netflix revels in having a huge library of well known films that have been in theaters,(as well as those that haven’t like indie films, documentaries and foreign films)Hulu Plus prides itself on being the king of streaming video in the world network television. When it comes to TV shows that have been played on some of the most watched and popular networks here in the U.S. and in some other regions, like Fox, BBC, NBC and others for example, nothing else compares. Hulu Plus is also the best outlet for TV that is currently airing, often times having episodes of popular shows available in the library the night they air or the day after. They have a huge library of Anime for you fellow Anime fans out there that Netflix somewhat comes close to, but lets be honest Hulu is the clear winner in this area. Hulu Plus charges $7.99 a month, a move brought on some time ago when Netflix decided to lower their unlimited streaming price to compete. Hulu Plus is also available on a wide array of different platforms, making video watching simple and easy whether you’re at home or on the go. One of the downsides here is that Hulu Plus has ads(“commercials”) while Netflix does not, but if you enjoy current and past TV more than film, it’s still the way to go.
So, both streaming video services have their niche, as I stated above. The true value with either app lies in what you enjoy watching more. While Netflix has some TV shows available, they have a larger library of movies more than anything else, although they do have a few really great original series shows on their network, which seem to be more popular than the original series shows that can be found on Hulu Plus. However when it comes to Original series programming, Hulu still has a larger library of shows here too. Hulu Plus also has a larger Anime library as well as currently airing television programs that update almost immediately, but they also have ads which some people absolutely despise. Both are available just about anywhere the other is, so there’s no advantage there at all, and both now cost the exact same price for unlimited streaming of videos. Which video streaming service deserves the crown in this Epic App Battle?