Netflix vs Amazon Prime

NETFLIX VS AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

To say that home entertainment usage has skyrocketed since the start of the world pandemic is an understatement. Streaming services saw an advantage during the world pandemic and have continued to take advantage of the success they got during this time.

With the streaming world expanding at rapid speed and many more options coming to the limelight, the decision to choose the best streaming service becomes a bit more complicated.

The two biggest competitors in the streaming world today are Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. When compared, both seem to stand strong. They both offer great original content in addition to a library of third-party movies and series.

Knowing which to go to is easier once you know what you are looking for. There are different categories to review in order to decide your choice. Below is a comparison based on these categories.

First of all,

What is Netflix?

Netflix Inc is an American subscription-based streaming service and production company based in Los Gastos, California. It was founded on August 29, 1997, by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. It offers a film and television series library through distribution deals as well as its own productions, known as Netflix Originals. It allows members to watch TV shows and movies without commercials on an internet-connected device.

Netflix can be accessed through web browsers or through application software installed on Smart TVs, set-top boxes connected to televisions, tablet computers, smartphones, digital media players, Blu-ray players, video game consoles and virtual reality headsets on the list of Netflix-compatible devices. It is also available in 4k resolution.

The company is ranked 115^th on the Fortune 500 and 219^th on the Forbes Global 2000. As of February 2022, It is the second-largest entertainment-media company by market capitalization. In 2021, Netflix was ranked as the eighth-most trusted brand globally by Morning Consult.

What is Amazon Prime Video?

Amazon Prime Video is an American subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as a part of Amazon’s Prime subscription. The service primarily distributes film and television series produced by Amazon Studios and MGM Holding or licensed to Amazon, as Amazon Originals, with the service also hosting content from other providers, content add-ons, live sporting events, and video rental and purchasing service.

Amazon Prime Video offers a growing library of quality, original content and a decent collection of movies and TV shows to stream. Subscribers also have the option to download content for offline viewing and watch 4K titles. It also has an impressive content catalogue that’s available for rent or purchase.

Netflix vs Amazon Prime

Plans and Pricing

Netflix offers a variety of plans to meet every customer’s needs. The plan a customer chooses will determine the video quality and the number of screens you can watch at the same time. With these plans, you can watch unlimited TV shows and movies, and also play mobile games. The bad news about Netflix pricing however is that its price hikes and raises seem inevitable.

Netflix offers three plans; Basic ($9.99 per month), Standard ($15.49 per month) and Premium ($19.99 per month). Netflix’s most popular plan is the standard tier because people have trained their eyes to see the difference between SD (480p) and Full HD (1080p). Also, people may just not need the four simultaneous streams and 4K HDR quality in the premium plan. The proliferation of 4K TVs and 4K content isn’t going as fast as some may want.

Additionally, each Netflix plan lets you download movies and shows onto your device to watch when you don’t have internet.

In the U.S, Netflix still offers discs by mail at dvd.netflix.com. It has two pricing plans for this; Standard ($9.99 for DVDs and Blu-rays for one disc) and Premier ($14.99 for DVDs and Blu-rays for two discs).  With both pricing plans, Netflix sends you discs that you can keep for as long as you want. As soon as you return that disc, Netflix immediately sends you the next disc listed in your queue. There is however a limit on the pace at which you receive and return

As a Netflix member, you are automatically charged once a month on the date you signed up. You also have the freedom to change your plan or cancel online at any time.

Amazon Prime Video on the other hand comes bundled with Amazon prime, which offers incredible value for online shoppers. Amazon prime costs vary by country. In the U.S, it has an average price of $14.99 per month or $139 per year.

If you are not interested in shopping on Amazon, there is a cheaper subscription that only includes streaming in many countries. You can get access to Amazon’s Prime Video content by subscribing directly to Prime Video. Amazon Prime Video Standalone cost is $8.99 per month or $108 per year, offering you 3 simultaneous streams, HD (select 4K) video quality and offline viewing.

Amazon Prime Video also offers a 30-day free trial for new customers.

Reviewing the cost of each service, you notice that an Amazon Prime Video subscription is cheaper than even the least expensive Netflix plan at $8.99 vs $9.99. You also get more features for your money, including higher video quality and multiple streams.

To access similar features with Netflix, you’d need a Standard or Premium plan, which costs even more than the regular Amazon Prime Video. It is fair to conclude that Amazon wins in this category as it is the obvious choice in terms of sheer value for your money.

Netflix vs Amazon Prime Quantity and Quality of content battle

As for Netflix, the number of movies/TV shows varies by country and changes from month to month as new titles are added or removed.

In the U.S, Netflix currently has over 4000 movies. It has also produced over 1500 original titles since it began producing original content in 2013. Amazon Prime Video, by comparison, offers 26,300 free movies per subscriber and more than 2,700 TV shows. It has one of the world’s largest streaming libraries. Compared with Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video has over four times as many films available for streaming.

However, another more important consideration is based more on quality rather than quantity. With Amazon Prime Video, you get HD-quality content by default, with up to 4K quality content available in a higher resolution. However, this is not the same with Netflix as you are stuck with SD quality when on a basic plan. To get HD, you need to upgrade to the standard plan and if you want to enjoy content in 4k, you need to upgrade to the Premium plan.

It is important to compare based on their content as the content offered by a service is likely how most people will choose where to subscribe. However, since content preferences are relative to the watcher, this is not easy to compare.

Amazon’s Prime Video has a modest, but varied content catalogue. It has a decent amount of popular shows and movies, and a good number of older content which is one of its biggest appeals. Several of Prime’s shows have earned critical acclaim and awards. Alternatively, Netflix has a very large catalogue and like Amazon, Netflix has been focusing heavily on its original content, leading to its original content gaining popularity.

Also, Amazon Prime Video offers more titles, while Netflix shines when it comes to original programming. Both streaming services have won awards for their original shows and movies. Netflix tends to be a bit slow when it comes to licensing shows – it is typically a season behind. Amazon, however, gives you the option to rent or buy episodes of new content following the initial broadcast – an option not available by Netflix.

However, Netflix still has the edge in content over Amazon prime. What Prime Video has in quantity, Netflix has in quality. Netflix has produced significantly more original content than Prime Video. As of 2022, Netflix has over 200 original titles which have received 15 Academy Awards and hundreds of nominations. Apart from the awards, the popularity of some of Netflix’s content also speaks for itself.

In conclusion, Amazon Prime Video offers an incredibly large content library, and Netflix excels when it comes to the original content.

Netflix vs Amazon Prime – Number of Subscribers battle

As of the third quarter of 2021, Netflix had roughly 214 million global paid memberships, an increase of more than 16 million subscribers from the same time period the year before. Worldwide, Netflix viewership continues to grow. By the second quarter of 2022, Netflix approximately had 220.67 million paid subscribers worldwide. By 2024, the figure is expected to reach 670.7 million which is 8.4% of the population.

On the other hand, as of January 2020, there were 150+ Million Amazon Prime Video users. Around 65% of internet households subscribe to Amazon Prime services globally and around 45% of U.S internet households subscribe too. As of 2021, Amazon had more than 200 million prime members worldwide,

We notice that Netflix subscriber count beats that of Amazon Prime Video by a hair breath and despite the fact that both services have similar-sized potential audiences, Netflix accounts for a much larger share of time spent. Netflix movies and shows are more popularly known by people.

Amazon Prime vs Netflix – Accessible Locations battle

Currently, Netflix streams content in over thirty languages to 190 countries, and with 195 countries on the planet, this validates the company’s claim of worldwide status. The only countries Netflix is not currently available in are China, Crimea, Syria and North Korea.

Every country Netflix streams in has its own catalogue of licensed and original content. In some countries, the catalogue Netflix offers is limited and you may be unable to access some of your favourite shows or movies. Subscribers cannot change the country on their account unless they move to a new one. If you travel, you can access Netflix in your destination country with Virtual Private Network.

On the other hand, Amazon Prime Video is also available worldwide except in Mainland China, North Korea, Russia, Iran and Syria. In some countries where Amazon Video is available and movies/television shows can be purchased or rented, Prime Video is offered on the Local Amazon website. In other countries where Amazon video is unavailable and movie/television shows cannot be purchased or rented, prime Video is offered as a standalone service or a separate website.

As noticed, they both are available in 190 countries but Netflix seems like a better option here as its website can be accessed by every country it is currently streaming at.

Amazon Prime vs Netflix – Finances

In 2020, Netflix generated $24.996 billion in revenue, a 24.01% increase from 2019. Netflix’s total assets for 2020 were $39.28 Billion, a 15.61% increase from 2019. Netflix has been spending aggressively on building its original show portfolio. This is helping it sustain its leading position despite the launch of new services like Disney and Apple TV as well as existing services like Amazon prime video.

Netflix’s market capitalization as of August 29, 2022, is $99.87 Billion.

On the other hand, Amazon Prime Video Channels generated $3.6 Billion in revenue sharing in 2020. The platform’s long-term goal is to be in a position to compete against mainstream channels and attract new video-only members to join.

The company spends a lot of money on producing its original content every year. Amazon also continuously increases its selection of TV shows and movies. In 2020, the company’s video content budget was seven billion U.S dollars.

In 2021, Amazon’s net revenue from the subscription services segment amounted to $32 billion. Subscription services include Amazon prime, for which Amazon reported 150 million paying members worldwide at the end of 2019.

Netflix is still rated number one on world streaming services due to the statistics from its subscriptions, views and finances. However, when it comes to choosing personally, it is not so easy to come to a conclusion due to the fact that the decision boils down to preference and price.

Different people prefer different types of shows and even though Netflix has bigger and more popular shows, some people still prefer their old fashion shows.

It is also more cost-effective to pay for Amazon prime for those on a budget as it makes the TV service essentially free. However, Netflix’s monthly fee offers flexibility to join, stop the service, and rejoin if it is desired.

Conclusion

It is possible to choose to subscribe to these two streaming channels but when it comes to which one I would leave behind, the answer is obvious Netflix dominates the streaming industry in 2022.

As of 2022, the Netflix vs Amazon Prime battle favours Netflix.