Netflix recently announced price hikes in the US. Fortunately, South Africans who pay for the service in dollars were spared from the increase.

A Netflix Standard subscription increased from $9.99 to $10.99. Netflix Premium, which includes UHD access, increased from $11.99 to $13.99.

But at $9.99 for the standard subscription in South Africa, is Netflix a good deal compared to competing services?

Content

JustWatch, a service which specialises in detailing films and series available in a country, lists the number of titles that Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon have in South Africa.

A comparison of the titles across the services from a MyBroadband report in December 2016 shows that Netflix and Prime Video have grown tremendously in the past year.

In recent months, Amazon Prime Video’s titles grew from 255 to 1,009 – a 296% increase. Netflix has grown from 1,417 to 2,660 titles – an 88% increase.

Showmax is listed on JustWatch as having 587 titles. However, Showmax told MyBroadband it has over 1,000 titles on the platform – counting films and the seasons of every show.

JustWatch was asked how it calculates the number of titles for each service, but did not respond.

A comparison of the services, and their SA pricing and content libraries, is shown below.

Streaming Services Service Price Titles Quality Screens Amazon Prime Video $5.99 p/m 1,009 UHD 3 Showmax R99 p/m 587 (Over 1,000) * 720p 2 Netflix Basic $7.99 p/m 2,660 SD 1 Netflix Standard $9.99 p/m 2,660 HD (1080p) 2 Netflix Premium $11.99 p/m 2,660 UHD 4 *Showmax said it is unsure how JustWatch calculates its title count. It has over 1,000 titles on the platform.

Now read: Netflix not hiking prices in South Africa