Hulu vs Amazon Prime Video

Hulu vs Amazon Prime Video

The trend for the last decade has been moving from cable services to better and cheaper options, which are streaming services. The differences between the two modes of getting entertainment and TV services are many. With the advances in technology, streaming services now make it possible to pack a lot of value at very little cost.

These streaming services offer a lot of auxiliary services which allow users to take their entertainment wherever and to watch however they want. Linking subscription accounts with various devices, recording and watching live events, and lots more. The benefits keep coming better and better. This is the reason why most people no longer patronize cable services.

As the world continues to make the shift towards streaming services, comparing the services offered by the ‘big dogs’ in the streaming industry becomes pertinent. With the advent of many new streaming services been added, it can be daunting trying to find where one should invest money to get optimal satisfaction. Our attention in this article will be on comparing the services rendered, and how Hulu and Amazon Prime Video render these services.

One key thing to know is that no one streaming service can pack all of the goodness that people desire, there will always be something better which will only be offered by alternatives and vice versa. We will be comparing Hulu and Amazon Prime Video based on different criteria.

This is one important facet to consider when trying to choose between streaming services.

As of October 2022, Amazon Prime Video offers its services through two major pricing structures viz monthly and annual subscriptions. The full annual subscription goes at a cost of 100+ dollars, which can be broken down into monthly subscriptions at 13 dollars. The regular monthly subscription for just Amazon Prime Video goes for 8.99 dollars. The annual payment has a discount structure in place which gives students with valid student email addresses access at 69 dollars annually and a monthly payment structure of about 7.49 dollars.

The annual and the broken monthly subscription comes with all of the perks which include 2-day shipping, cloud storage, free e-books, and account sharing with friends and family amongst other benefits.

Hulu offers a pricing structure that takes a very interesting position as it presents two pricing schemes which are ad sensitive. Their monthly plan starts from 6.99 dollars for a subscription that has ads in it. This is the reason why it is advisable to purchase a Premium subscription which goes for 12.99. Though almost double the price of it, it is worth every dime for its lack of ads.

Hulu offers live streaming services which come at 65 dollars per month as of October 2022. This includes 75-plus live-streaming channels on top of its regular on-demand library.

When you compare the two on the basis of prices and benefits derived, it is safe to say that amazon has the upper hand. Though slightly higher in price, its additional benefits make it a better choice, especially when you add the discount it offers to students.

The comparison does not end here, we will be looking at another important aspect of the services they render.

For content, Amazon Prime Video stands at over 8000 titles as of 2022 which is a number greater than what Netflix and Hulu put together to offer. The titles alone are enough to keep one seated before even considering their premium options like Starz and Showtime.

Amazon Prime Video also continues to invest heavily in original content like The Boys, The Wheel of Time and The Tomorrow War. It also has a lot of extensive new releases that are available for rent or buying.

Hulu has a very vast collection of TV shows which is unmatched. In addition to the number of TV shows it has, it is owned partly by Disney which makes it a better alternative if you aim for something to replace Cable TV and still have access to major networks.

Interestingly, most shows are available a day after they have been aired live. It still has a good enough collection of movies added to its shows. Interestingly, most people get attracted to shows more than titles.

When all is considered in this respect, it is safe to say Hulu is a better choice if your major objective is content. It still does not end here.

As of 2022, Amazon Prime Video has a good number of devices that can support its Ultra HD & 4K Streaming Services. These devices are Roku, Android TV, Sony PlayStation 3/4 and Microsoft Xbox One consoles, Fire TV, Fire tablets, iPhones and IPads running iOS7 or higher and android phones running OS 4.0 or higher. Android tablet and phone users have to download the Amazon Video app from the Google Play Store.

Hulu can equally be accessed from a variety of devices. The devices that are compatible with Hulu’s Ultra HD & 4K Streaming Services are Android devices, iPhones (iOS 7 or later), iPad (iOS 7 or later), Apple TV (tvOS 10 or later), Roku devices (Using the Hulu app), LG Smart TVs and Sony, Amazon Fire tablets, Chrome cast, TiVo Premiere DVRs and TiVo mini boxes. Samsung Smart TVs or Blu-ray players use the internet (2016 and newer) and have access to the Samsung app store.

The issue of device compatibility is a matter of personal preference. This is because of the number of similarities and differences between them in this respect. The decision as to which of them is better is left to the users to choose based on devices they are familiar with, have access to and prefer.

In terms of the quality of content, I think that Amazon Prime Video fares better, and here is why.

Amazon Prime Video offers 4K Ultra HD resolution and HDR streaming support. Especially for those who stream to large screens (55 inches and above), the benefit is massive. Their audio quality is also on the high side as it offers 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos surround sound encoding on select content.

Hulu offers slightly lower content. In terms of video as of 2022, its 4K Ultra HD continues to grow but is only available to a selected number of devices. For audio, it still has a limited stereo sound as most of its shows which are presented lower are available at 5.1 surround sound at other streaming services.

In terms of accessibility, Amazon Prime Video is accessible from everywhere in the world except regions which include Mainland China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Syria. Its URL ‘primevideo.com’ is accessible to a good number of countries and services and products offered depends on the region of the subscribers.

Hulu on the other hand is restricted to the United States of America. It is only able to display content within the country and cannot operate outside of the US. This is because it was originally built to serve a homogenous audience, and the content it displays makes it so.

When it comes to accessing new content, Hulu tops the chart as most of the TV shows and live events are made available after 24 hours after their original airing. For those who operate on Hulu’s premium subscription, that means they get to have ad-free access to new releases, 24 hours after they get aired. While the others would have access to the same content, but with a stream of ads at half the price of the premium subscription.

Regardless, Hulu is still the hub when you talk about streaming new releases. It also has its Live TV available that goes for 65 dollars. Live TV allows subscribers to stream live sports and news.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video has what it calls Channels, which gives users access to add selected premium channels that offer newer content. The Channels come at a fee and also without the Channels, you can also purchase some of the new content at high prices.

According to statistics from wikipedia.com, Hulu as of 2nd of July, 2022 had a total of 46.2 million users. Viewership numbers for the site are measured by measurement firms such as Quantcast and Comscore.

Meanwhile, its rival Amazon Prime Videos stands at over 200 million subscriptions. A figure which is steadily increasing because of its wide reach and international expansion.

For parental controls, Hulu prefers to respect and go with whatever content settings are on the devices and it does not offer any specific controls.

Amazon Prime Video fares better here as it offers a comprehensive set of filters that separates content for viewers of different levels. It does this both on its Fire TV and also on Amazon Prime itself.

Before making this comparison, it is worth stating that none of these two streaming services can compare to Netflix in terms of original content. Netflix invests a huge ton of money to ensure it produces most of its content fresh.

Though the chances of Hulu doing better in the future of this category are higher with its control being taken over more and more by Disney. It really does not offer a lot of original content.

Amazon Prime Video on the other hand has been making a lot of efforts and investing seriously in a lot of original content. Prominent among them are The Wheel of Time, The Boys, Jack Ryan, and The Marvelous, Mrs Maisel. Amazon is currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars on its new Lord of the Rings series.

Amazon Prime Video has an interface that is still undergoing improvement. It is scattered among the different devices it operates on. While you can browse videos directly from its web page, it still is a little disorganized when you look at its interface across devices.

Hulu on the other hand has a user interface that is very intuitive and organized. Navigating Hulu is easier because of the categories and the features which allow users to easily add channels which will show on the primary interface.

The variables to consider are very numerous. Making a choice becomes technical as they have a lot of similarities and differences that make choosing between them a huge difficulty. But it is clear that if you are a lover of series and fresh content from a number of major channels, you might want to consider Hulu. And on the other hand, if you are after titles, then you should be on Amazon Prime.