Netflix vs Showmax vs Disney+ vs Amazon

With streaming services booming in South Africa, Daily Investor compared plans for Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and Showmax to see which service offers the best value.

Streaming services are a staple in many local households today, and with their rising popularity, South Africans have more options than ever.

While Netflix used to dominate the market, Disney+, Prime Video, and homegrown Showmax are all notable names in the industry now.

For most South Africans, the choice about which service or services to choose boils down to three considerations: the cost, the quality of the content, and the number of titles.

While quality is a subjective requirement that can be hard to quantify, price and library size are more straightforward.

Daily Investor looked into the cost of different streaming services available in South Africa and the number of titles to determine which service offers the best value.

Price-wise, Amazon’s Prime Video offered the cheapest non-mobile service plan, at R79 per month. On the other hand, Netflix had the most expensive option, with its premium service costing R229 per month.

However, Netflix does have more affordable options available, with its standard plan priced at R179 and its basic plan priced at R99.

Many streaming services also offer mobile plans to make their services more affordable. Although Amazon technically has the most affordable plan, at R29 per month, Prime Video Mobile Edition is only available to Vodacom subscribers.

For the mobile-only plans open to everyone, Disney+ comes in as the cheapest option, at R49 per month. However, Showmax is close behind, at R50 per month. Netflix, again, had the most expensive service in this category at R59 per month.

Value for money

In terms of the number of titles available on every streaming service, numbers were used from JustWatch, which tracks movies and shows across different streaming services.

Although the number tracked by the service may not be entirely accurate, most companies were not able to provide Daily Investor with their current library size. Therefore, this metric was used for comparison purposes.

According to JustWatch, Netflix had the highest number of titles available, at 7,048. Prime Video followed, with 6,699 titles. Showmax confirmed that it currently has 5,469 titles available.

Disney+ is currently not tracked by JustWatch, but just as a reference, the streaming service had 2,277 titles when it launched in May 2022.

According to JustWatch, Disney+ in the United States currently has 2,218 titles. This means South African consumers can expect a library size around this range, which would make it the smallest library.

Based on the number of titles on Disney+ in the United States, this streaming service offered the least value for money, at 7.2 cents per title.

On the other hand, Prime Video had the best value, at 1.2 cents per title, followed closely by Showmax, which came in at 1.8 cents per title for its all-devices Entertainment plan.

Netflix followed, at 3.2 cents per title, for its premium service, which is its most popular option. Its standard plan, which is most comparable to the other companies’ streaming plans regarding the number of devices allowed, costs 2.5 cents per title.

These price differences are, ultimately, quite competitive. Most of these companies also offer options to make streaming more affordable for their customers, whether in the form of partnerships, occasional discounts or mobile-only plans.

Disney+ also offers an annual subscription option for R1,590, which essentially gives customers two months of free streaming.

Once again, the value a particular streaming service offers is largely dependent on the number of titles the company offers that a particular customer wants to watch.

Even though one company may offer the most viewing options, most customers would still be put off if they cannot find any titles they are interested in.

In this regard, every streaming service has its own strengths, which appeal to different consumers. Netflix has an extensive library, which includes its original productions, with popular titles like Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Squid Game.

Disney+ features movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars. Unlike the other services, Showmax boasts a range of local South African content and major blockbusters, DC films, and HBO originals.

Showmax also offers streaming for the Premier League, which can be added to its Entertainment plan or purchased separately for R99 per month.

Prime Video also offers Amazon original films and shows, with popular titles like The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Boys, and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel.

The table below compares the number of titles and the cost of some of South Africa’s biggest streaming services.