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Netflix Australia vs Prime Video: Price, content and features compared

We weigh up the two biggest streaming providers in the world and compare their performance in Australia.

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Adam Mathew
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We've got quite the matchup for you today. Two American streaming giants – only one victor. That said, the good news is that you're always going to be the winner, regardless (because there's nothing stopping you from signing up to both).

However, if money is a little tight right now and signing up to two service subscriptions is out of the question, you've got a decision to make. This is where we come in.

Price

Prime Video and Netflix do things a little differently when it comes to package pricing. The former takes a free trial approach that rolls into a single monthly fee when your time is up. The latter, Netflix, dispenses its services in three separate tiers: Basic, Standard and Premium, currently with no free trial available.

For Prime Video, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial but there's a catch. You still have to enter your payment details including credit/debit card number, and billing name and address in order to sign up.

Monthly debits start coming out once the trial period expires. However, there is a no-lock-in contract at play so you can opt out before that happens.

In Netflix's case, the Basic tier will get you Standard Definition (SD) and one concurrent stream, Standard gets you High Definition (HD) and two concurrent streams and Premium will get you the crème de la crème: 4K streaming and four concurrent streams.

Content library

While both providers offer their own quality originals like The Man in the High Castle, Jack Ryan and Bosch on Prime Video and Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things and Altered Carbon on Netflix, today we're just going to look at raw numbers. Pure library totals.

At last check (16 July 2019), Prime Video had 354 TV shows and 5,979 movies with a total of 6,333 titles whereas Netflix Australia had 1,332 TV shows and 3,476 movies with a total of 4,808 titles.

While Amazon Prime Video wins overall, it's worth noting the vast difference in TV show content specifically. Netflix has spent a lot of money investing in both its original series and established TV shows. Prime Video, on the other hand, bulks out its library with a greater range of older and lesser-known movies, some from as far back as the '50s and '60s.

TV on Amazon Prime Video

Amazon's lineup isn't as big as the competition, but is filled with exclusives.

TV on Amazon Prime Video

Movies on Amazon Prime Video

Looking for a cool movie to unwind with? Here's what Amazon Prime Video has on offer.

Movies on Amazon Prime Video

TV on Netflix Australia

Need a new show to binge watch? Here's a full list of shows on Netflix Australia.

TV on Netflix Australia

Movies on Netflix Australia

Whether it's a blockbuster or indie, you'll find it on Netflix Australia.

Movies on Netflix Australia

Kids programming

Prime Video has an exclusive Kids and Family channel that offers a mix of the latest movies and beloved classics including The Adventures of Tintin, The Flintstones and Babe. In terms of shows, there are some exclusive series to choose from as well as some solid go-tos like Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues.

Thanks to solid partnerships with various distributors, Netflix has a reputation for premium children’s content that has transferred over to their Australian line-up. Maybe the strongest content partnership Netflix has in the children's department is Dreamworks, which allows it to present quality original series like Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, The Boss Baby: Back in Business and The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.

Video quality

Both providers are leveraging technology that's more or less industry standard at this point. Automated bit-rate adaptation technology allows a movie or TV show to stream in line with your Internet speed.

You can also get SD, HD and Ultra HD (4K) on your television set with Netflix, depending on which package you choose. That said, the basic Prime Video membership lets you stream 4K content, no extra fees required. That's quite the deal.

Ready to get started?

No matter which service speaks to you, you can take advantage of Prime Video's 30-day free trial to go hands-on without spending a cent. With Netflix you must now head on over to the Netflix website and sign up as there's no longer a free trial. To begin your Amazon Prime Video trial, simply click the link below:

Store Discount
Prime VideoPrime Video

30 DAYS FREE: Sign up to Amazon Prime Video's free trial today

Prime Video's free 30-day trial will give you instant access to thousands of premium TV shows and movies. T&Cs apply.

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