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Netflix now runs three tiers: an ad-supported plan, Standard at 1080p on two devices, and Premium at 4K HDR on four.
Nobody replaces Netflix with one service. The useful move is picking the two you will actually watch and rotating.
Tiers and free catalogues were checked on each service’s own pages on 14 September 2026. Prices differ by country, so check yours.
The best Netflix alternatives at a glance
One bundle that covers a family, one genuinely free service, and one that plays the films you already own.
Disney+
Best for households
Ad and ad-free tiersTubi
Free, no account needed
Free, ad-supportedPlex
Your own library, free
Free, optional PassDisney+
The family default
If there are children in the house this is the highest-value subscription in streaming, because the back catalogue is enormous and endlessly rewatched. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographic sit alongside it. The bundle with Hulu is usually cheaper than buying either alone, so check that before subscribing to one. Weakest on adult drama and on anything not made by Disney.
Free tier: Free tier: no. Ad-supported and ad-free tiers, often bundled with Hulu and ESPN in the US at a lower combined price.
Max
The prestige catalogue
The closest thing to a straight swap for someone who watched Netflix for grown-up drama: the HBO library, plus Warner films arriving after their cinema run. Fewer titles than Netflix, with a much higher hit rate. The 4K tier costs noticeably more, and the service has changed name and structure more than once, which has not helped anyone trust its interface.
Free tier: Free tier: no. Ad-supported, ad-free and 4K tiers.
Prime Video
You may already pay for it
The one most people already have and rarely open. Included with Prime, with a large catalogue, decent originals, and live sport in several countries. Two real annoyances: the interface mixes included titles with paid rentals, so you constantly find you cannot watch what you clicked, and ads now appear unless you pay the additional ad-free fee.
Free tier: Free tier: included with Amazon Prime. Ads now show by default, with an ad-free upgrade sold separately, and some content is rental-only.
Apple TV+
Small, and very good
A tiny catalogue by comparison, almost entirely originals, with an unusually high proportion worth watching and the best picture and sound quality in streaming. There is no ad-supported tier, which some people will count as a feature. It is the easiest service to subscribe to for one month, watch a series, and cancel, which is arguably how it is designed to be used.
Free tier: Free tier: no, though extended trials often come with new Apple hardware.
Tubi
Free, and larger than you think
Tens of thousands of films and television episodes at no cost, funded by ads, with no account needed to begin. The catalogue is deep rather than current: older films, back catalogue television and a surprising number of genuine classics. If your Netflix habit is having something on rather than watching a specific thing, this replaces it for nothing.
Free tier: Free tier: yes, everything, with advertising. No account required to start watching.
Plex
Play what you own
Two things in one. It organises films and television you already own on a drive and streams them to every device in the house, with posters and subtitles handled for you. It also carries a free ad-supported catalogue and free live channels. For anyone with a DVD collection or a hard drive of media, this is the cheapest and most permanent option here.
Free tier: Free tier: yes. The server and apps are free, plus free ad-supported films and live channels; the Pass adds offline sync and extras.
| # | Tool | Best for | Free tier | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Disney+ | The family default | No free tier | Ad-supported and ad-free tiers |
| 02 | Max | The prestige catalogue | No free tier | Ad and ad-free tiers, 4K on the top tier |
| 03 | Prime Video | You may already pay for it | Included with an existing subscription | Included with Amazon Prime |
| 04 | Apple TV+ | Small, and very good | No free tier; trials bundled with devices | Single subscription, no ad tier |
| 05 | Tubi | Free, and larger than you think | Yes, entirely free | Free, ad-supported |
| 06 | Plex | Play what you own | Yes, core features free | Free, with an optional paid Pass |
Why one service cannot replace Netflix
Worth saying first, because it saves a wasted subscription.
Netflix’s catalogue is broad rather than deep. You are not paying for a particular show, you are paying for the fact that there is always something on. Nothing else here reproduces that breadth, and the services that come closest do it by bundling.
So the realistic options are two: accept a smaller catalogue you will watch more attentively, or rotate. Rotating means subscribing to one service for a month, watching what you wanted, cancelling, and moving to the next. It is mildly annoying and it typically halves the annual cost, because nobody watches three services in the same month.
Most people who complain about streaming costs are paying for four things simultaneously and using one. Check your bank statement before you compare catalogues.
Netflix alternatives compared
What each tier includes and what you get free, checked against each service’s own pages on 14 September 2026.
Start with what you already pay for
Two of the services above may already be on your statement.
Amazon Prime includes Prime Video. If you have Prime for the delivery, you have a large streaming catalogue attached to it. Note that ads now appear by default and removing them is a separate charge.
Your mobile or broadband contract. Carriers routinely bundle a streaming service for six or twelve months, and people forget it exists. It is worth five minutes checking your account before subscribing to anything.
And the genuinely free tier deserves more attention than it gets. Tubi carries tens of thousands of titles at no cost with no account, and Plex adds free films and live channels. If what you want is something playing in the evening, that is already solved for nothing.
The ad tier question
Every major service now sells a cheaper plan with advertising, and the arithmetic is worth doing rather than assuming.
An ad tier typically costs less than half the ad-free one and shows a few minutes of advertising an hour. If you watch an hour a night, that is a few hours of adverts a year in exchange for a meaningful saving. Plenty of people take that trade happily.
What to check before choosing one. Ad tiers sometimes reduce resolution, limit simultaneous streams, restrict downloads for offline viewing, and exclude some titles for licensing reasons. Those restrictions matter more than the adverts for some households, particularly anyone watching on a good television or travelling with downloads.
Apple TV+ is the outlier with no ad tier at all.
What to do about password sharing
Netflix’s household rules, followed by most competitors, are a large part of why searches for alternatives rose. The honest position is that sharing outside your home is now either paid for as an extra member or blocked.
Two legitimate responses. Take the extra-member option where it is offered, which is usually cheaper than a second full account. Or split services within a household rather than across households: one person pays for Disney+, another for Max, and everyone watches on their own account in their own home.
The other structural answer is owning media. Plex exists because a film on your own drive has no household rules, no regional licensing and no expiry when a contract lapses.
How we test and price these tools
Tier structures and free catalogues on this page were read from each service’s own pages on 14 September 2026. We have deliberately not quoted monthly prices, because streaming prices differ substantially between countries and change several times a year, and a figure read in one market would be wrong in most others. Check the price on your own account page.
What we do compare is structural and stable: how many tiers exist, whether there is a genuinely free option, what an ad tier restricts beyond the adverts, and whether the service is already included in something you pay for.
We read current Reddit threads for each service, so the views here are from this year. No service pays for a place on this list.
01 Which is the best Netflix alternative?
Max if you watched Netflix for adult drama, Disney+ if there are children in the house, Apple TV+ if you want a small catalogue with a high hit rate. None matches Netflix breadth, which is why rotating two services usually works better than replacing it with one.
02 Is there a free alternative to Netflix?
Tubi, which carries tens of thousands of films and television episodes free with advertising and needs no account to start. Plex also offers free ad-supported films and live channels alongside playing media you already own. Both are genuinely free rather than trials.
03 How can I cut my streaming bill without losing much?
Rotate rather than stack. Subscribe to one service a month, watch what you wanted, cancel, move on. Almost nobody watches three services in the same month, so this typically halves the annual cost. Check first whether Prime Video or a carrier bundle is already on your statement.
04 Are ad-supported tiers worth it?
Usually, if adverts are your only objection. They cost less than half the ad-free plan for a few minutes of advertising an hour. Check the other restrictions first though: ad tiers can reduce resolution, limit simultaneous streams, block offline downloads and exclude some titles.
05 What can I do about password sharing rules?
Take the paid extra-member option where offered, which is cheaper than a second full subscription, or split services within one household instead of across households. Media you own, played through Plex, has no household restrictions at all.
06 Do I already have a streaming service without realising?
Quite possibly. Amazon Prime includes Prime Video, and mobile and broadband contracts frequently bundle a service for six or twelve months. Check your account pages before subscribing to anything new; it is the most common overlooked saving in this category.
07 Why do shows keep disappearing?
Because most catalogue titles are licensed for a fixed term rather than owned by the service. When a licence lapses the title leaves, sometimes mid-series. Originals stay, though even those have occasionally been removed. If a film matters to you, owning a copy and playing it through Plex is the only permanent answer.
Browse every alternatives guide, or start with the media category.