Netflix vs. Amazon Prime Video: Which Is Better?
Learn why you might want both
Jan 22, 2026 | Share 
Streamer Comparisons (Versus)
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are two of the biggest names in streaming—but they don’t scratch the same itch. Netflix has all the can’t-miss shows and top-tier custom content, but Amazon has a huge library and a tiny-but-mighty list of originals worth the watch.
We’ll compare pricing, features, and content for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video so you can decide whether to get both, either, or neither.
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On this page:
Pricing | Content libraries | Originals | Streaming | User interface | Our take | FAQ
On this page:
Pricing
Amazon Prime Video: Free shipping with streaming on the side
Amazon built its brand selling books, then branched into both video streaming and selling other products. Today, the business is highly regarded for its massive shopping database and fast or free shipping options, but it still offers video streaming on its Amazon Prime Video platform. Customers can choose between Prime Video, Prime Monthly, and Prime Yearly, plus upgrades.
- Prime Video: This standalone subscription offers only Prime’s video streaming features, and it costs $8.99 per month.
- Prime Monthly: This gets you access to all of Amazon Prime, including video streaming and fast, free shipping. It costs $14.99 per month.
- Prime Yearly: This is the same as Prime Monthly but billed on an annual basis instead. It’s $139 per year, which is just over $40 cheaper than Prime Monthly over the course of twelve months.
- Ad removal fee: This $2.99 monthly upcharge lets Amazon Prime Video customers opt out of most ads on the platform, bringing total monthly costs to $17.98 or total annual costs to $174.88.
How to add streaming services to your Amazon Prime Membership
Just like old-fashioned cable TV subscriptions, Amazon lets you add channels to your Amazon Prime Video membership. However, they aren’t bundles. You pay a set price for each, but it’s billed with your Amazon subscription. Lucky for you, you can try most channels free for seven days.
Here’s a list of top content add-ons and prices:
- HBO Max: $10.99–$22.99/mo. (Basic with Ads: $10.99; Standard Ad-Free: $18.49; Ultimate 4K Ad-Free: $22.99)
- Fox One: $19.99/mo. (Includes live local Fox stations, NFL, MLB, and Fox News)
- Paramount+: $8.99–$13.99/mo. (Essential with Ads: $8.99; with SHOWTIME: $13.99)
- Apple TV+: $12.99/mo.
- MGM+: $7.99/mo.
- STARZ: $10.99/mo.
- AMC+: $6.99–$9.99/mo. (Monthly with Ads: $6.99; Ad-Free: $9.99)
- NBA League Pass: $16.99–$24.99/mo. (Single-team options from $13.99/mo).
- Discovery+: $5.99–$9.99/mo.
Netflix: The best shows, games, and movies in streaming
Netflix offers different membership tiers based on video quality and whether you see ads.
- Netflix Standard with Ads: This $7.99 monthly subscription includes HD streaming on two devices at a time, but there is no way to stream in 4K, no downloads, and no option to add extra members.
- Netflix Standard: This $17.99 monthly subscription is similar to the ads-based subscription, but there are no ads, you can download on up to two devices, and you can add members outside your household for an additional $7.99 per month.
- Netflix Premium: This $24.99 monthly subscription comes with all the perks of HD streaming, plus the option to stream on four devices at once and download on up to six devices. There are no ads, and you can add members for $7.99 per month.
You can’t get free trials of Netflix anymore, but no contracts or long-term or commitments are required. You can log in to cancel your subscription any time you want and your viewing privileges will remain through the end of the month.
The winner on price: Amazon Prime Video
Although Netflix’s pricing is competitive for how much content you can stream, the additional features and benefits you get with Amazon Prime make it a no-brainer in the value department. Video streaming coupled with free two-day shipping on anything under the sun is a convenience that’s hard to beat.
Content availability
Amazon Prime: Huge library, hit-or-miss quality
Amazon has the widest selection of available shows and movies among all three top streamers, and the library is growing all the time. Its best features are total size and depth—think of it like a digital warehouse. But not everything in the warehouse is compelling or super high quality. You’ll find a huge selection of movies, in particular, but a lot of it is B-grade (or worse).
Below is a snapshot of top titles, trending shows, and movies on Amazon Prime Video:
- Fallout
- The Night Manager
- Beast Games
- Steal
- Alien: Romulus
- Spring Fever
- The Wrecking Crew
- The Girlfriend
- Kung Fu Panda 4
- NBA on Prime (specifically Thursday night doubleheaders)
Netflix: Great content, but it doesn’t last
Netflix, on the other hand, has a smaller library but more that you’ll actually want to watch. It also has a sweet algorithm, meaning its interface is better at showing you options you’ll enjoy.
Netflix has a lot more original content than Amazon Prime, but shows often get canceled after a few seasons or leave the platform when licensing deals expire. It can be frustrating to have great shows canceled without a satisfying ending—it happened to us recently with Supernatural. Crying shame!
Below is a snapshot of top titles, trending shows, and movies on Netflix:
- His & Hers
- People We Meet on Vacation
- Stranger Things
- Run Away
- One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5
- WWE Raw (Live)
- Death by Lightning
- Prodigal Son
- 11.22.63
- Emily in Paris
The winner on back catalog: Netflix
Netflix has a smaller library than its competitors these days, but it’s high-quality. In other words, Amazon Prime has all the old, weird stuff, but Netflix has the shows everyone’s talking about.
Original content
Amazon Originals: You might discover some up-and-coming favorites
Amazon has greatly expanded its original content lately, and several shows have become both fan and critic favorites.
These original shows are fan favorites right now:
- Fallout: An excellent adaptation of an equally excellent video game franchise, this series follows the journey of a woman who leaves her fallout shelter to find her father in a world full of radiation and brutality.
- The Boys: This subversive series follows a group of men who take on superheroes, “Supes,” who aren’t really heroes. It’s an R-rated take on the genre, full of political satire and social commentary.
- Fleabag: This dry, witty show follows a grieving woman in London who frequently breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, it boasts a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Netflix Originals: The streaming MVP, year after year
Netflix was one of the first streaming providers to produce its own original content, and it remains one of the best choices for great shows you won’t find anywhere else.
Check out these originals to make sure you can keep up at the office water cooler:
- Stranger Things: This masterpiece of sci-fi horror leans into 1980s nostalgia with a group of kids who uncover a government conspiracy and a parallel world called the Upside Down.
- Beef: This Emmy Award-winning series starts with parking lot road rage and devolves into a life-destroying obsession. Critics call it dark comedy at its finest.
- Squid Game: This South Korean survival drama criticizes modern capitalism through the stories of 456 deeply indebted players who risk their lives in hopes of winning a cash prize.
The winner on original content: Netflix
No doubt about it, Netflix offers the better selection of originals. Amazon Prime Video has some up-and-coming picks to watch, especially if you love big explosions and massive fantasy. But Netflix offers genre-defining classics like Stranger Things and Squid Game, and absolutely dominates in reality TV with hits like Love is Blind.
Streaming quality
Amazon Prime: You don’t have to pay extra for high-quality video
Amazon Prime offers both 1080p Full HD and 4K Ultra HD resolutions for streaming, as well as HDR video support. Unlike Netflix, both 1080p and 4K are included in the same package price. In other words, you don’t have to pay extra for 4K video, which is great. However, Amazon has started gating Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, making them available only with the $2.99 monthly add-on for ad-free viewing.
What devices does Amazon Prime Video work with?
Amazon Prime works with most streaming players, like Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV, as well as most web browsers. There are also apps available for Android and iOS, so you can stream on the go.
Netflix: High-quality streaming with optional 4K
Netflix offers 1080p and 4K Ultra HD video quality, but there’s a catch: you have to pay extra for 4K. Netflix’s various service tiers are primarily differentiated by three things: how many devices you can watch Netflix on at once (called simultaneous streams), what maximum resolution you can stream in, and whether or not you see ads.
- Standard with Ads: $7.99 per month (up to 1080p Full HD)
- Standard: $17.99 per month (up to 1080p Full HD)
- Premium: $24.99 per month (up to 4K Ultra HD)
When it comes to audio, Netflix slightly one-ups Amazon Prime Video by offering up to Dolby Atmos on the Premium tier. Rather than sending sound to specific speakers, Dolby Atmos follows sounds freely in 3D space (including overhead).
What devices does Netflix work with?
Netflix has been around for a while, and it works on pretty much any smart device you can think of at this point. The company provides an extremely thorough page detailing all the devices you can stream on if you want to check it out, but rest assured that if you have a device and want to watch Netflix on it, there’s a really good chance you can.
The winner on streaming quality: Netflix
Netflix has been in the streaming game for a while, and its experience shows. Although getting a higher-quality picture is easier with Amazon Prime, Netflix has the versatility and accessibility that’s enough to keep millions of streamers satisfied. Even still, it’s a close call.
Want to stream in 4K? You need fast internet.
We recommend download speeds of at least 100Mbps per second to enjoy ultra high-definition streaming in 4K. If your kid or roommate are streaming at the same time, you need speeds that are even faster.
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Features and user interface
Amazon Prime: Messy interface, but a fabulous X-Ray feature
Amazon Prime Video features a familiar interface with side-scrolling categories for content, but it mixes content you can watch for free with subscription content that costs extra. Finding what you want to watch can be frustrating.
It’s not our favorite interface, but we love X-Ray, Amazon Prime’s technology that lets you see AI-powered recaps, the names of the actors currently on screen, the song playing in the background, and more. It’s not available on Apple TVs, but you’ll find it on virtually every other streaming device you use to watch Amazon Prime Video.
Netflix: An excellent algorithm with fast-loading technology
We really like the Netflix recommendation engine. Its algorithm is great at presenting shows and movies you’ll enjoy. You get personalized artwork and “taste clusters” instead of traditional genres, and the tech pre-loads shows it expects you to watch so they play in seconds.
Netflix also offers an impressive seventeen languages for viewing and subtitles, though not every title is available in every language.
The winner on usability: Netflix
Netflix is easier to use. However, this one is really more of a tie. The services work similarly and offer nearly identical features, but Netflix is better at showing you things you’ll like. It also shows you only options available on your current tier, and that’s just good corporate citizenship.
Our take: You probably already have Amazon Prime, but serious streamers need Netflix too
Most households these days have an Amazon Prime subscription already, so our recommendation is to keep the streaming service in mind next time you sit down for a binge. You might be surprised at what you find, especially when you’re on the hunt for older movies or something off the beaten path.
But to keep up with the social zeitgeist, you also need Netflix. It has the highest-quality library and the best interface we’ve seen. It kicked off the age of streaming, and it’s still impossible to beat.
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FAQs about Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
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Author - Chili Palmer
Chili Palmer covers home tech services, with a special focus on understanding what families need and how they can stay connected on a budget. She handles internet access and affordability, breaking news, mobile services, and consumer trends. Chili’s work as a writer, reporter, and editor has appeared in publications including Telecompetitor, Utah Business, Idaho Business Review, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and Switchful.com.
Editor - Jessica Brooksby
Jessica loves bringing her passion for the written word and her love of tech into one space at HighSpeedInternet.com. She works with the team’s writers to revise strong, user-focused content so every reader can find the tech that works for them. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in English from Utah Valley University and seven years of creative and editorial experience. Outside of work, she spends her time gaming, reading, painting, and buying an excessive amount of Legend of Zelda merchandise.
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