Every Major Aussie Streaming Service Compared

Foxtel’s new entertainment platform, Binge, recently launched in Australia. This mean that the streaming market is busier than ever.

Each service will be fighting to keep your attention and money so we thought we’d take a look at what each offers based on pricing, concurrent user offerings, display quality and content libraries to help you determine the best option available.

Price

The cost of a streaming service is probably the most important aspect, alongside having quality content. While Netflix, Stan and now Binge offer pretty identical pricing packages, the other four offerings vary.

Foxtel Now, its set-top box-less streaming service, offers an entry package of $25 per month, despite Game of Thrones having already finished up (oh, sweetie). Amazon Prime Video is included with a monthly Amazon Prime membership of $6.99, which is a pretty sweet deal if you’ve already got it.

Disney+ will cost $8.99 per month (or $7.41 a month if you pay for a year up front when it lands in Australia in November) and Apple TV+ costs $7.99 a month.

Here’s a neat table to compare the prices.

Netflix Stan Foxtel Binge Foxtel Now Amazon Prime Video Disney+ Apple TV+ Monthly Pricing 3 plans: $10.99, $15.99, $19.99 3 plans: $10, $14, $17 4 plans: $10, $14, $18 $25 with optional add-on packs $6.99, included with Amazon Prime membership 1 plan: $8.99 a month or $89 for a year (which works out to $7.41 a month) 1 plan: $7.99 a month Fortunately, most of these services have a free trial. Stan can be found here, Binge here, Amazon Prime Video here and Apple TV+ here.

Screens

Simultaneous streaming is a big deal for many as it means you’ll be able to share your account (and hopefully, cost) with other people. Most of the streaming services recognise this with Netflix, Stan and Binge’s top tier plans offering four screens while Foxtel and Amazon Prime Video offer two and three, respectively.

Disney+ offers up to four screens for only $8.99, which is probably the best deal of the bunch. Apple TV+ is $7.99 and will allow up to six sharers on the same Family Sharing group. While this sounds amazing, the content is damn light but more on that later.

Netflix Stan Foxtel Binge Foxtel Now Amazon Prime Video Disney+ Apple TV+ Maximum Simultaneous Screens $10.99 for 1, $15.99 for 2, $19.99 for 4 $10 for 1 $14 for 3, $17 for 4 $10 for 1, $14 for 2, $18 for 4 Up to 2 Up to 3 Up to 4 Up to 6 with Family Sharing group

Streaming quality

Netflix was the first in Australia to break up the plans by streaming quality and when 4K streaming was introduced, it was only offered for those on the top plan, which is now $19.99.

Stan follows Netflix in only offering its top plan 4K streaming with the entry-level plan not even having HD and the middle plan having standard HD. Foxtel’s steeper entry-level package offers its on-demand content in HD and 4K where available along with Amazon Prime Video. Binge comes with no 4K offerings even on the top plan and representatives have said there are no immediate plans to introduce it.

Surprisingly, Disney+ is the service to stick its finger up at tiered pricing and offer just the one plan, including HDR and 4K for everyone who subscribes. Apple TV+ is also following Disney with this trend.

Netflix Stan Foxtel Binge Foxtel Now Amazon Prime Video Disney+ Apple TV+ Streaming Quality HD with $15.99 plan, 4K Ultra-HD with $19.99 plan HD with $14 plan, 4K Ultra-HD with $17 plan SD with $10 plan, HD with $14 and $18 plans Some content available in HD Selected content available in 4K HDR and 4K streaming included HDR and 4K streaming included

Content

Each service will have a few great titles and while some shows will appear on multiple providers, it’s the exclusives that allow you to whittle down your options. Netflix was really the first in the game so they naturally have the biggest quantity and most well-known titles like Stranger Things and Orange Is The New Black.

Stan’s original titles are a little more slim with the service relying more heavily on international partnerships with Hulu (Veronica Mars Season 4) and Starz (for e.g. Apocalypse Now) to fill out its content library with a few decent Originals such as Bloom and The Other Guy. Foxtel and Binge also come with quality HBO exclusives like Game of Thrones, Chernobyl and True Detective but there’s no word whether Binge will consider producing its own original content too.

Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ are also following the trend of producing original content, bucking the chance of losing content later down the track in licencing agreements.

Here are a few highlights from each service.

Netflix

Stranger Things

Glow

Making A Murderer

Bojack Horseman

Dark

The Crown

Stan

Veronica Mars

The Office (US)

Wolf Creek

Better Call Saul

Power

Billions

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Foxtel Binge & Foxtel Now

Both streaming sites share content and no exclusives to either are apparent just yet.

Chernobyl

Sharp Objects

True Detective

Atlanta

Veep

Barry

Game of Thrones

Pose

Amazon Prime Video

Carnival Row

The Boys

Jack Ryan

American Gods

Fleabag

Hanna

The Man In The High Castle

Apple TV+

Morning Wars

See

Dickinson

For All Mankind

The Elephant Queen

Helpsters

Ghostwriter

Snoopy In Space

Hala

Servant

Truth Be Told

Disney+

The Mandalorian

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

The World According to Jeff Goldblum

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Loki

Encore!

Lady and the Tramp

Noelle

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Frozen 2

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

To find specific titles quickly, you can head to sites, like Just Watch, to figure out where it’s showing.

Let’s hope that Binge is the last streaming addition to Australia. I don’t think our wallets can actually handle anymore.

READ MORE Foxtel Begins Beta Testing For New Streaming Service, Binge

This article has been updated since publication.