The Best On-Demand Streaming Services in 2026, Ranked by Experts

Editor's Note: This story comes from CableTV.com.

After hours of in-depth analysis and a lot of number crunching, we’ve named Apple TV the best on-demand streaming service for 2026. I know, I was surprised too, and I was the one who made the call!

Other streaming services really impressed us this year, too. My personal favorite was Crunchyroll, which scored very well in our Customer Satisfaction Survey this year and puts out dozens of exclusive titles every year.

And like always, we’ve picked our favorites in other categories as well—keep reading to find out which streaming services won CableTV.com Best of the Best Awards this year.

Best of the Best: Apple TV

Price: $12.99/mo.

This review is about the service previously known as Apple TV+. It’s not to be confused with Apple’s TV streaming box, which is also called an Apple TV. Be careful when you’re researching, because Google often mixes them up!

• Why we love it: Excellent original content and customer-friendly policies.
• Why we hate it: Tied to the Apple ID ecosystem.

Apple TV is one of the last old-school streaming services. Its policies are right out of 2019: It only offers one, medium-priced tier, and doesn’t charge more to remove ads. There aren’t any ads at all, in fact, making good on the promise that streaming services made when they all convinced us to turn away from cable TV to begin with.

Apple TV has only increased its prices three times in the seven years since its inception, and although it’d be great if it still cost $4.99/mo., its (current) $12.99/mo. price looks reasonable next to its competitors’ ad-free prices.

I’ll admit that not everyone agrees with this designation. Apple TV actually received one of the lowest overall satisfaction ratings in this year’s Customer Satisfaction Survey. But when you look at the quality of its content and ease of use, it’s hard to pick any other service as the best, most premium experience.

Shareability: 

Apple TV is one of the most shareable streaming services on the market. There’s no restriction on how many households can be logged into the same account at the same time. You can even watch Apple TV on six devices simultaneously—the most of any streaming service.

The only downside is that your Apple TV account is connected to your Apple ID, and you can’t create profiles within it. Instead, you can add extra Apple IDs to your account, linking them here and in other places. It’s a pretty extreme measure just to separate your watch history from your family members’.

Exclusive content:

Apple TV has been cranking out some serious bangers lately. “Severance” and “Murderbot” were excellent, and “Pluribus” and “The Studio” are doing very well this award season. As a matter of fact, we’re giving Apple TV two awards this year. One for the Best of the Best (aka best overall) and one for the Best Exclusive Content.

Kids mode:

While Apple TV doesn’t have anything called “Kids Mode,” it does allow you to restrict access to each profile with a four-digit PIN. You can also restrict certain content, but both of these features are tied to your Apple ID. You’ll have to have your login on hand if you want to change them.

Bundles and trials:

Apple TV has a standard 7-day free trial, but you can also get up to three months of free Apple TV with certain new Apple devices (like an iPhone or iPad). To see if Apple TV is right for you, check out our full review.

Editor’s Choice: Crunchyroll

Price: $9.99–$17.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Massive anime library to satisfy all types of fans.
• Why we hate it: AI-generated captions don’t always hit the mark. (Hire real transcribers, please!)

If you’re into anime, you pretty much only have two options: Netflix and Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll ate its main competitor, Funimation, so it’s now the biggest catalog of anime on the web.

And while Netflix does boast an impressive amount of stellar original animation, it still can’t compete with Crunchyroll’s lineup of Japanese imports and simulcasts. That makes it the obvious pick for our Best of the Best for Anime award.

And we’re not the only ones who think so. Eighty-eight percent of Crunchyroll subscribers are completely or very satisfied with the service, making it the best standalone streaming service according to our annual Customer Satisfaction Survey.

But those aren’t the only accolades we’re giving Crunchyroll this year. It’s also my Editor’s Choice for the best streaming service. Yes, I know, I’m a bit biased—I am the animation writer here at CableTV.com. But I’ve used pretty much every other streaming service too, and Crunchyroll really provides the best experience to me. No ads, no household restrictions, and a wave of new shows every three months. Netflix and Disney+ could learn a thing or two.

Shareability:

Crunchyroll is great for sharing with friends and family. It doesn’t restrict password sharing based on location, and its premium tiers offer multiple simultaneous streams for long-distance viewing. If you’ve written Crunchyroll off in the past for its lack of user profiles, give it a second chance: The service finally added profiles as a Premium feature in 2024.

Better late than never, I guess?

Exclusive content:

Services like Hulu and Netflix also carry some of Crunchyroll’s most popular titles, but the vast majority of its content is exclusive. That’s exclusive, not original—Crunchyroll originals are another beast entirely. (They’re generally not as well-reviewed as the Japanese imports. You can’t win ’em all!)

Kids mode:

Crunchyroll doesn’t have a kids mode, although it does have a content restriction setting with decent customization.

I should say this for any parents just in case: Animation does not necessarily equal “kid-friendly.” Lots of anime is aimed at teens and adults and is too raunchy for young viewers, so keep an eye on what your kid is watching.

Bundles and trials:

Crunchyroll offers a seven-day free trial. Wanna know more? Check out my comprehensive Crunchyroll review.

Best Bang for Your Buck: MGM+

Price: $7.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Perfect for group movie nights on a budget.
• Why we hate it: Doesn’t appeal to all types of fans.

At just $7.99/mo., MGM+ provides access to a decent movie library with plenty of classic and contemporary titles.

Like Apple TV, MGM+ is one of the few streaming services left that offers one no-nonsense, ad-free subscription tier. You don’t have to upgrade to get more simultaneous streams or fewer ads. Even its “live” movie channel experiences minimal interruptions between programs. And you can share it with whomever you want, regardless of whether you live in the same house.

MGM+ is also fleshing out its own lineup of exclusive original content, so you won’t be missing out on cultural touchstones, either. The intense psychological horror of “From” will have you coming back week after week.

Granted, MGM+ isn’t for everyone. Its original titles span from Roman drama to Arthurian drama to WWII drama—so if you’re looking for some serious historical fiction about Europeans going to war, you’ll be satisfied. But it doesn’t have something for everyone the way that Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix do.

Shareability:

MGM+ allows four simultaneous streams, which is pretty good for such a cheap service. It also allows password sharing and would be perfect for sharing if it allowed users to create multiple profiles. Maybe it doesn’t make so much of a difference if you’re watching movies all in one sitting, but it can be a pain to find which “From” episode you’re on if the rest of your family is sharing your account.

Exclusive content:

Most of MGM+’s library is made up of movies that you can find elsewhere, but it’s pretty sweet that they’re all in one place for a low monthly price.

As for originals, it does have a modest lineup of historical dramas, like “Rogue Heroes,” “Domina,” and “The Winter King.” It also has the DC series “Pennyworth” if you’re interested in the backstory of Batman’s butler.

Kids mode:

MGM+ does not have a kids mode. It does have a small “Kids and Family” movie section, but it’s more of a “watch together” platform than a “give your kid an iPad and walk away” platform.

Bundles and trials:

Amazon currently offers Prime members a seven-day free trial of both MGM+ and AMC+ combined, with a discounted monthly price after that.

Non-Prime members can try a seven-day free trial of MGM+.

Best of the Best for Kids: Netflix

Price: $8.99–$26.99/mo.

• Why we love it: You’ll never run out of shows to watch ever again.
• Why we hate it: Unreasonably high prices and corporate hubris.

Netflix is stellar for must-watch event shows like “Bridgerton” and “The Witcher.” Despite its reputation for prioritizing quantity over quality, Netflix has produced some great shows—that is, on the rare occasion they last past the first season.

But this year we’re honoring Netflix for its kids content. It seems fitting—in 2025, Netflix brought us the global phenomenon known as “KPop Demon Hunters.” Its catchy songs and gorgeous animation made it the “Frozen” of the 2020s.

Netflix also has fantastic parental controls, which allow parents to target specific titles that they don’t want their kids watching if the built-in age rating system isn’t enough.

Shareability:

Netflix was the first streaming service to make it big, and it was also the first streaming service to kill the vibe by restricting password sharing. It costs an additional $7.99–$9.99 per month to add an extra member outside of your household, and that number is also limited by what tier you subscribe to.

Subscribers at the Standard with Ads tier cannot add additional members to their accounts.

Exclusive content:

One of Netflix’s biggest draws is its library of popular original content. “Squid Game,” “Stranger Things,” “Bridgerton,” etc.—Netflix Originals dominate social media discourse and Funko Pop lineups. If you don’t want to be caught out of the loop, you’ll probably want to subscribe at least once a year to catch up on those big titles.

Netflix used to be a lot better about animation but has slacked off in recent years. It even let its contract with DreamWorks lapse, meaning that a lot of its originals like “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” are leaving in 2026.

Kids mode:

Netflix offers the most customizable kids’ mode of any service I’ve tried. In addition to restricting content by rating, you can also choose to hide specific titles from your child’s account.

Netflix improved its selection in 2025 by purchasing the rights to stream “Sesame Street.” If you’re looking for an ad-free way for your kid to watch educational shows away from the distractions of YouTube, Netflix is a pretty good choice.

Bundles and trials:

Sometimes, internet or mobile service providers offer Netflix as a subscription perk. The two biggest ones we’ve seen have been Xfinity StreamSaver, which can save Xfinity Internet customers money on Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV, and Verizon’s mobile and home internet perk, which bundles Netflix and HBO Max at a discounted rate.

Just keep in mind that most promotional third-party bundles like this only offer discounts on ad-supported plans, not premium plans.

Like Disney+, Netflix doesn’t offer a free trial.

Best of the Best for Horror: Shudder

Price: $8.99/mo.

• Why we love it: The best experience for horror fans and a fan-favorite service.
• Why we hate it: No offline viewing and no love for 4K TVs.

Our horror expert, Randy Harward, is super impressed with Shudder’s hand-curated watchlists and impressive horror library. He’s been a loyal subscriber for five years and never gets tired of Shudder’s “exceptionally well-curated” lineup.

Shudder also gets bonus points from us for being completely ad-free and offering a smooth user experience.

Shareability:

While Shudder doesn’t restrict password sharing, it’s not the best when it comes to shareability. Shudder only provides one simultaneous stream, which is pretty dismal for a modern streaming service, especially when compared to the extravagant five streams from AMC+, Shudder’s parent company’s app. It also could use the option to create extra user profiles, which most modern services have.

But then again, isn’t it fitting to have to experience The Horrors alone?

Exclusive content:

We think that Shudder’s original titles are pretty good, including the V/H/S series, “Late Night with the Devil,” “The Ugly Stepsister,” “Exhuma,” “Fried Barry,” and “The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs.” It’s also incredibly prolific for a niche streamer—Randy estimates that about 200 out of 650 titles currently on the service are original.

Shudder offers a horror experience you won’t find anywhere else.

Kids mode: 

This probably isn’t the streaming service to give your iPad kid. But if it needs saying, Shudder doesn’t offer a kids mode.

Bundles and trials:

Technically, you’ll get most of Shudder’s library with an AMC+ subscription. It’s a pretty good deal, but the AMC+ app doesn’t function as well as the Shudder app, so you’ll be missing out on some of its cooler features.

Shudder offers a seven-day free trial.

Honorable mentions: Other top streaming services

Some streaming services don’t make the cut, but that’s okay. Here are some other services that we think are worth your consideration, too.

HBO Max

Price: $10.99–$22.99/mo.

• Why we love it: HBO content without a cable subscription!
• Why we hate it: High prices and constant brand identity fumbling.

We’ve been disappointed in how HBO Max has evolved since its inception when we had such high hopes for Warner Bros.’s ambitious streaming service. Sometimes, it feels like HBO Max and Netflix are in an arms race to see who can raise their prices higher.

But we can’t deny the sheer quality of HBO’s exclusive and original content. “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” continue to capture fans’ imaginations year after year, and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” is a must-watch after every major current event.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend HBO Max for kids and families. While it marketed itself as a home for animation in the past, it’s since removed most of its Cartoon Network content, and no longer carries new “Sesame Street” episodes (you can find those on PBS and Netflix). For more information about HBO Max, read our full HBO Max review.

Amazon Prime Video

Price: $8.99–$17.98/mo.

• Why we love it: Huge library of premium content.
• Why we hate it: Frustrating ads and poorly labeled VOD content.

Amazon Prime Video was our favorite streaming service of 2024 for its no-nonsense plans and ad-free policies, but it proved us wrong by the end of the year. Prime Video is still pretty good, but it’s kind of insulting to sit through ads on a previously ad-free service. And the interface isn’t always super clear about which titles will cost extra money and which titles are just carry-overs from Amazon’s now-defunct FAST service, Freevee.

But if you don’t mind back-to-back unskippable ads, you’ll probably be happy with the content that Amazon Prime Video has to offer. Its original shows are great for fantasy and animation fans, which are the genres that I personally care about the most. If you like Netflix, you’ll probably like Prime Video.

Disney+

Price: $11.99–$18.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Perfect for fans of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney classics.
• Why we hate it: Subpar child-proofing tools and greedy corporate decisions.

Most of Disney+’s originals come from Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. So if you’re interested in one of those sub-brands, Disney+ is your best bet.

The downside of Disney+ is that original shows don’t always stick around. The service has a habit of removing canceled shows, so if you’re interested in something, watch it fast.

But the upside is that with the Disney Bundle, you can access Hulu’s exclusive content through Disney+’s interface. So you’ll get popcorn movie originals from Marvel and Star Wars combined with prestige titles like “The Bear” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Unfortunately, Disney+ isn’t the best at childproofing, which you think it’d be great at. Its “Junior Mode” is way too restrictive and omits a lot of family-friendly titles, including “Frozen.” And you’ll have to set up 4-digit PINs for every non-kid profile. You can enable a “Kid-Proof Exit” in Junior Mode, but this is easy to bypass for all but very young children.

Hulu

Price: $11.99–$18.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Huge content library and next-day series streaming.
• Why we hate it: Frustrating user experience and subject to Disney’s whims.

One of Hulu’s greatest strengths is its ability to air new episodes of FOX, ABC, and cable shows the day after they air, but it’s also responsible for a lot of award-winning original content. “The Bear,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Only Murders in the Building” are all Hulu joints, after all.

This might be the last time we include Hulu in one of these roundups. Disney has slowly been taking it over since it bought out Hulu’s other shareholders, from adding the service to the Disney Bundle to adding Hulu shows right into the Disney+ interface. If Disney keeps its word, we expect the standalone Hulu app to shut down in 2026.

But we don’t even usually recommend buying Hulu as a standalone service. It’s a much better deal to subscribe to a version of the Disney Bundle, which combines Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN or HBO Max.

Paramount+

Price: $8.99–$13.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Great content library that doesn’t break the bank.
• Why we hate it: Even premium accounts are subject to long ads.

Paramount+ is our second choice this year for kids and families. It came pretty close to Netflix; we’re big fans of Paramount+’s parental controls and content library. If Paramount had bought the streaming rights to “Sesame Street” instead of Netflix, this might be a very different story.

Paramount+ hosts a library of Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. titles, plus all the Sonic the Hedgehog content a kid could ask for. And its robust content restriction system requires a PIN in order to exit “Kids mode” (rather than putting a PIN on each individual adult profile).

Parents can also choose whether to tailor content more towards older kids or younger kids, which is helpful if you’d rather your little ones embark on a “Paw Patrol” marathon without accidentally stumbling into the more intense “Legend of Korra” episodes.

Of course, Paramount+ offers plenty for adults, too.

Peacock

Price: $7.99–$16.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Best place to catch new movies and live sports.
• Why we hate it: Hit-and-miss when it comes to original content.

Peacock has been working hard over the last few years since its inception to grow its content library and be more than just a nice-to-have, scrappy little service.

To me, the best Peacock perks are the Universal Pictures films that stream soon after they premiere in theaters. I feel like I can stay up-to-date with theatrical releases in a way that its competitors don’t allow. It’s also popular for next-day NBC, Bravo, and USA shows on demand and marquee NBC Sports coverage. It’s a must-have during the Olympics.

STARZ

Price: $10.99/mo.

• Why we love it: A-list movies and original historical dramas.
• Why we hate it: Cluttered interface and no ad-free option.

If you can only pick one streaming service, it probably won’t be STARZ. It’s a bit of a pain to find your watchlist, and it doesn’t have the quantity or quality of original content that its competitors have. But like MGM+, it’s a decent place to find a collection of popular movies, and it tends to carry a lot of recent titles.

AMC+

Price: $7.99–$10.99/mo.

• Why we love it: Combines AMC and Shudder content for lovers of spooky, exciting entertainment.
• Why we hate it: Super glitchy TV app; we wish it would take notes from Shudder.

We really want to like AMC+ since it provides a library of AMC, BBC America, and Shudder content, which several CableTV.com team members love.

We’ve seen some reliability issues with the AMC+ app in the past—but if it works on your device, give AMC+ a try—especially if you love spooky content featuring vampires (“Interview with the Vampire”), zombies (“The Walking Dead”), or all manner of creepy ghouls.

What to look for in an on-demand streaming TV service

Does it have the content you’re looking for?

If you’ve quit cable and are looking for a replacement, check what channels each streaming service carries. For example, Discovery+ and HBO Max carry shows from Food Network, TLC, HGTV, HISTORY, and Discovery, while Peacock carries shows from NBC, Bravo, Hallmark, and Telemundo.

Does the service offer a free trial?

One of the best perks of streaming TV services is the free trial period. The trial windows are brief (seven days is common) but offer enough time for a dedicated viewer to pull off a marathon or two.

How many users does it allow?

When we talk about simultaneous streams, we mean how many users can watch content on the same account at the same time. This isn’t the same thing as the number of devices that can be logged in simultaneously, and a good plan will usually allow three or four streams.

Does it have ads?

While the whole point of streaming was originally to escape cable’s relentless ads, many services now offer a cheaper ad-supported alternative plan to their subscribers. It’s an obvious excuse to raise the price of the ad-free or premium tier, which used to be the norm and much cheaper.

What’s the best streaming platform?

This year, we think that the best streaming platform is Apple TV. It offers premium content at a reasonable price, and doesn’t try to lock users out of their own accounts for traveling.

I also personally like Crunchyroll—the anime streaming service—for its large content library. And if you’re looking for something cheap, check out MGM+. It’ll give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Of course, we always recommend Netflix, especially for kids and families. How else are you going to rewatch “KPop Demon Hunters” for the 50th time?