Foxtel may have long been the dominant force in pay TV in Australia, but the company saw the potential for internet streaming entertainment way back in 2013. Formerly known as Foxtel Play, Foxtel Now is the pay TV of the digital age. It offers subscriptions to more than 70 live television channels and thousands of titles on demand.
The online service allows users to subscribe to various channel packages based on their interests. Unlike BINGE, which offers access to the entire content library for a flat fee, what you can watch on Foxtel Now depends on what you're willing to pay for.
Customise your subscription and opt for TV shows (including HBO content), movies, live sport and more. You can pay on a monthly basis so you can cancel your subscription anytime.
10-day free trial of Foxtel Now
To get Foxtel Now, you need to subscribe to the basic Essentials pack for a month. After that, you can add other packs to your subscription. Each add-on pack incurs an additional monthly fee.
With all packs added on, Foxtel Now can cost up to a month.
Below is a full comparison of Foxtel Now plans and packages. Promotions are often running, so you might score a discount, but sometimes these will require a 12-month commitment.
Every channel pack expands your entertainment horizons even further. The Essentials pack, for instance, gives you access to Foxtel originals, HBO content, news and reality TV. You can watch popular shows like Succession, The Last of Us, Colin from Accounts, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and The Twelve.
The Sport channel pack offers 12 dedicated sports channels and enables subscribers to watch every game of the AFL, NRL and Super Netball, plus F1, Supercars, MotoGP and more. Meanwhile, the Movies pack grants you access to over 1,000 movies on demand and Drama Extra adds 7 more drama-heavy channels to your subscription. The Ultimate Bundle delivers everything mentioned above, as well as Kids and Docos content.
Technically there's a difference. Foxtel Now is its own standalone streaming service and Foxtel GO is a free add-on service you get for being a Foxtel iQ subscriber.
However, in 2023 they are exactly the same. In fact if you tried to download the Foxtel Now app on the App Store or Google Play Store you'll actually download the Foxtel GO app.
You can register up to 5 devices on a single Foxtel Now account. You can then watch content on any 2 of those devices at the same time. To stream on some devices, you need to use the Foxtel GO app, but the service is the same either way. Similarly, PS3 is only compatible with the older Foxtel Play app.
Check out the complete device list below:
You can also use Google Nest to control Foxtel Now. We have instructions on how to set up Foxtel Now on your device of choice.
Foxtel Now offers quality programming (hello HBO shows), but you have to pay a lot for it. Following the model of its pay TV parent, you sign up for different packs to watch certain things. If you want to watch everything on Foxtel Now, the cost is an eye-watering $104 a month, which in the era of monthly streaming packages available in the realm of $10–$15 doesn't compare price-wise, no matter how good the TV shows featured on it are.
The user interface is fine to use, but like most streaming services, it is hard to discover content, especially when teasers and previews are shown alongside actual shows and movies. There is the attraction of live TV, but outside of something like news or sport, live programming isn't that important unless you want to avoid spoilers. Device capability is an issue, especially when there are still devices that use a Foxtel Play app, which is confusing when it changed its name from that back in 2017.
If you prefer an a la carte option you could get Foxtel Now, but when there are cheaper, all-you-can-eat options available, you'd be better off with the latter.
Mark Neilsen
Streaming writer at Finder
Once the undisputed champ of Australia's pay TV scene, the arrival of streaming has threatened Foxtel's relevancy. Especially given the price of Foxtel Now is extremely hard to justify in 2023. But it still does have a use case.
If you want one app to rule them all, then Foxtel Now can give you a lot of the world's best TV, movies, sport, docos, news and kids' programming in one place. It's true some content has been corralled into rival platforms like Disney Plus and Paramount Plus, but there's still plenty of quality on offer.
What I enjoy most is the linear channels. Yes, you can watch content on demand, but being able to channel surf takes away the endless scroll discovery issue of other apps. I also like the dedicated Movie Premiere channel, which points you straight to the latest flicks rather than hiding them among legacy content.
Do these joys justify the price? Probably not. It's still only HD at best, and the audio quality is very poor. And I encounter more bugs with the Foxtel apps than any other. If nothing else, the lack of investment in improving the app is worrying.
Chris Stead
Finder innovations editor
Depending on channel packs, Foxtel Now comes with a generous library of live and on-demand content, including sport. Here's how it stacks up against Paramount Plus, Netflix, BINGE and Kayo Sports.
Compare even more streaming services using our table below.
Can I take my laptop with Foxtel Go and use it at a different IP address?
Hi Steve,
You certainly can. The only way Foxtel restricts the use of Foxtel Go is by the number of devices you have registered under the one account. You can download the app on three different devices, but can only stream Foxtel Go on two devices at a time.
Thanks,
Brodie