Best Streaming Services in the UK, Compared (2026)

No single streaming service currently covers everything a UK household wants, and prices keep moving: Netflix's cheapest Standard with adverts plan rose from £5.99 to £7.99 a month on 3 September 2026. Netflix remains the best all-round choice for most households, Amazon Prime Video suits anyone already paying for Prime delivery, Disney+ suits families, and subscribing to all five major paid services at once currently costs £30.95 a month combined, before any broadband bundle discount.

Streaming prices and line-ups change often, so treat every figure below as a snapshot verified on 20 September 2026, and check the provider's own pricing page before you commit.

Best streaming services in the UK at a glance

How we compare streaming services in the UK

Streaming services compared side by side on one factor alone can be misleading, so we weigh up four things together: the cheapest genuine monthly price, how deep and current the content library is, whether the cheapest tier carries adverts, and whether a broadband, mobile or pay-TV provider already bundles or discounts it. Netflix's price rise to £7.99 a month, reported by MoneySavingExpert on 8 September 2026, is a reminder that the cheapest option today is not guaranteed to stay cheapest, so revisit this comparison before renewing an annual plan.

Which streaming service is best for you?

• Best overall: Netflix. The largest and most talked-about original catalogue, now £7.99 a month on the cheapest ad-supported tier after the September 2026 rise.
• Best for families: Disney+. Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars content in one library from £4.99 a month, with parental controls built in.
• Best value if you already pay for Prime: Amazon Prime Video. Included with an existing Amazon Prime membership, so it can be effectively free on top of a subscription many households already hold.
• Best value factual and reality TV: Discovery+. The cheapest standalone paid tier in this comparison, at £3.99 a month for its Basic entertainment package.
• Best no-contract Sky-style entertainment: NOW. NOW's Entertainment Membership brings Sky-style channels and box sets without a Sky dish or long contract, at £9.99 a month with adverts.

What is the cheapest streaming service in the UK?

Among paid services, Discovery+ Basic is currently the cheapest standalone option at £3.99 a month, with Disney+ and Paramount+ close behind at £4.99 a month on their ad-supported tiers. If cost matters more than any single service, the genuinely free options, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and My5, cost nothing at all, though a TV Licence is still required to watch live television on any channel or to use BBC iPlayer.

The cheapest route for a multi-service household is often not paying for each app separately. Several services are effectively bundled with your broadband, mobile or pay-TV package: Sky Signature includes Netflix Standard with adverts, some O2 mobile plans include Disney+ for a limited period, and Sky Cinema customers can receive Paramount+ at no extra charge. Check our broadband and TV deals guide and broadband and mobile bundle guide before paying full price for a service your existing package may already include.

How many streaming services do you actually need?

Ofcom's Media Nations 2026 report, published 29 July 2026, found that 70% of UK households had at least one paid streaming subscription in the first quarter of the year, only two percentage points higher than in 2022. Ofcom describes household streaming take-up as having largely plateaued after its rapid pandemic-era growth, and separately found Netflix and BBC iPlayer are the two services UK viewers most often name as their first choice when they sit down to watch something.

Most households do not need every service running at once. A practical starting point is one broad entertainment service such as Netflix or Prime Video, plus one specialist service that matches a genuine household interest, such as Disney+ for young children or Discovery+ for factual and reality shows. Rotating a service on and off between key releases, rather than holding every subscription permanently, is a simple way to avoid paying for content nobody in the household is currently watching.

The true cost of subscribing to every major streaming service

Add up the cheapest ad-supported tier of the five biggest paid UK services, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Discovery+ and Paramount+, and if you subscribed to all five at once the combined bill is £30.95 a month: £7.99 plus £8.99 plus £4.99 plus £3.99 plus £4.99. That is before NOW, Apple TV+ or a pay-TV package are added on top, and before any broadband or mobile bundle discount is applied.

Seeing that £30.95 total written out in one place is the clearest way to judge whether a household is genuinely getting value from every subscription it holds, or quietly paying for four services while only ever opening one.

Streaming services bundled with your broadband and mobile

UK broadband, mobile and pay-TV providers increasingly fold streaming into their own packages rather than leaving customers to buy each app separately. Sky bundles Netflix into Sky Signature and offers Paramount+ free to Sky Cinema customers; Virgin Media's TV packages include access to several apps through its set-top box; and some EE and O2 mobile plans have included limited-time access to Disney+. Our broadband and mobile bundle discounts guide compares EE One, Vodafone Together and Virgin Media O2 Volt in detail, and our broadband comparison tool shows which providers serving your address currently bundle a streaming service.

Free ways to watch TV in the UK without a subscription

BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and My5 remain free to use and carry no monthly fee. A TV Licence is still required to watch live television on any channel or service, or to use BBC iPlayer, regardless of whether the picture arrives through an aerial or broadband. If your household is trying to reduce paid subscriptions rather than replace an aerial, our Freely TV explainer covers how free UK channels can be combined with on-demand catch-up over broadband instead of a satellite dish or extra set-top box.

Our recommendation

Start with one broad paid service, Netflix at £7.99 a month for the widest catalogue or Prime Video if the household already pays for Prime, then add a single specialist service that matches a genuine interest rather than subscribing to all five at £30.95 a month. Check whether your broadband, mobile or pay-TV package already includes or discounts a service before paying full price again, and revisit this comparison whenever a price changes, since Netflix's September 2026 rise shows the cheapest plan today will not necessarily stay that way.