How to Pick the Best Video Streaming Services for Your Budget in 2024

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Online video streaming services are quickly replacing cable TV, evident from the number of streaming platforms available. Perhaps your current streaming service bills too much for what it offers, and you need a change. Or are you entirely new to online video streaming and looking for the most reliable video streaming service that suits your budget? You have stumbled into the right place.

This article lists the best free and affordable streaming services. We also cover what to consider when choosing the right one for your budget. From the budget to the contents and ease of navigation, whatever the reason for coming across this article, we’ve got all the answers here. Read on to learn more.

The Future of TV: Cable or Online Video Streaming

People have varying choices of TV content and different budgets. That is why it is important to know your entertainment needs and do your search in that direction. Some people prefer shows and movies, while others prioritize Live TV. 

If you are okay with paying a high price to get various channels, including sports and local news, cable TV might be the best option for you. But if you want a more affordable option that will give on-demand content and portability, you should go for online streaming.

With streaming services, you can choose the on-demand and Live TV content you wish to pay for monthly. After conducting several reviews and researching this topic, we have sorted the various streaming services into different budget levels. This should help you pick the best one to opt for in any particular budget that suits you.

Quick List of Free Streaming Services

1. Kanopy – best for Kids and families
2. PBS Video – a great option for Live TV
3. Peacock – Ideal for Network TV shows and original series
4. Pluto TV – Perfect for sport lovers
5. Amazon Freevee – Best for movies and documentary

Top Free Streaming Services You Should Try Out

Though the best things are not always free, it doesn’t make them irrelevant. With free streaming services, you must endure intermittent ads or have little choice in the programs you can watch. You must search deep into their libraries to get what you want from them. Below are the free streaming services, so you don’t have to stick with only one; you can try them all.

Kanopy – Best for Kids and Families

Kanopy is one of the best free streaming services for family entertainment. To access Kanopy, you must provide an email address associated with an educational institution or a valid library card. It has a huge collection of movies and documentaries, TV series, animated storybooks, and more kiddie content.

PBS Video – A Great Option for Live TV

Streaming services like PBS offer free accounts to stream live news, Live TV, and indie films. It features full-length TV shows, award-winning documentary movies, live music, and uninterrupted video entertainment.

Peacock – Ideal for Network TV Shows and Original Series

Peacock is on the list of top free streaming services you should never ignore. It is best for Network TV shows and original series. With a free account on Peacock, you can access several popular and original shows on the NBC network.

Read our comprehensive Peacock review

Pluto TV – Perfect for Sports Lovers

Watching live sports is usually not free, at least not legally. The best you can get from free services like Pluto TV has a dozen of sports channels showing older events and highlights. You can find sports channels on Pluto TV like CBS Sports HQ, Fox Sports, and NFL Channel.

Amazon Freevee – Best for Movies and Documentary

Amazon Freevee is also a good option for movies and documentaries and has a decent movie library. They don’t offer live TV or live sports streaming. You only need to sign up for an Amazon account to access IMDb TV. If you decide to try it out, there is nothing to lose.

Read our comprehensive Amazon Freevee review

The Top Choices for a Less Than $10 Budget

Several streaming services have their starting plans a little below $10. So, with a $10 budget, you’re set to have much more control over your streaming experience. Our streaming service selections for less than $10 include:

1. Paramount+ Premium ($9.99 monthly) – (best for Live TV).
2. Disney+ ($7.99 monthly) – (for kids and families).
3. CuriosityStream ($2.99 monthly) and Ovid.tv ($6.99 monthly) – (best for movies and documentaries).
4. Hulu ad-supported ($6.99 monthly), Paramount+ Premium, or Peacock Premium Plus (both for $9.99 monthly) – (for Network TV shows).
5. Prime Video ($8.99 monthly) – (best for original series).
6. Paramount+ Premium ($9.99 monthly), Peacock Premium ($4.99 monthly), or ESPN+ ($6.99 monthly) for (sports).

The most preferred one in this category is Paramount+ Premium, which has many sports programs and live news. You can also check out Disney+, as its library houses classic Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and National Geographic shows. This makes it a good choice for the entire household. Disney+ offers high-quality content suitable for kids of all ages.

CuriosityStream is a sure plug for movies and documentaries. It presents many educational documentaries in categories like history, nature, science, society, and technology. Another option like this is Ovid TV, which has a rich collection of indie and international films.

The ad-supported plan on Hulu provides a better library of Network TV shows for its subscribers. Its on-demand library is strengthened by 21st Century Fox’s shows (now known as 21st Century Studios). Although Hulu tops Peacock’s Premium+ and Paramount+ Premium, you’d likely stick with any of them if you cherish NBC’s or CBS’s shows.

In this price range, Amazon Prime Video tops the list for original series. Its streaming service is also more regarded than Hulu and cheaper than Netflix. In addition, HBO offers an ad-supported and feature-limited plan for $9.99 monthly.

With less than $10, you can enjoy quality content from these streaming services. The most desirable combination for premium entertainment in this budget would be CuriosityStream and Peacock Premium. These two combine high-quality and amusing documentaries, mainstream Live sports, and popular on-demand movies and shows.

The Best Streaming Services for a Less Than $25 Budget

The best choice of streaming service for a less than $25 budget depends on individual needs and preferences. It depends on the kind of content you want to watch, how many people would use the account, and other personal reasons. This budget, however, grants you access to a wide variety of streaming content such as movies, Documentaries, TV shows, and kids’ programs. Our streaming service selections for less than $25:

1. Philo ($25 monthly) – (Live TV).
2. CuriosityStream ($2.99), Disney+ ($7.99 monthly), and Netflix Standard ($15.49 monthly) – (Kids and families).
3. Prime Video ($8.99 monthly) and Netflix Standard ($15.49 monthly) – (Original series).
4. Ad-free Hulu ($12.99 monthly), Peacock Premium ($4.99 monthly), and Paramount+ ($4.99) – (Network TV Shows).
5. CuriosityStream 4K ($9.99 monthly) and HBO Max (14.99 monthly) or Mubi ($10.99 monthly) and the Criterion Channel ($10.99) – Movies and documentaries.
6. ESPN+ ($6.99 monthly), paramount+ Premium ($9.99 monthly), and Peacock Premium ($4.99 monthly) – Sports.

Philo happens to be the most preferred here because of its live TV option. It also focuses on the channels within the lifestyle and entertainment genre. Philo’s channels include AMC, HGTV Animal Planet, BBC America, Travel Channel, BET, and Cooking Channel. However, there are better choices for news and sports lovers.

You can also afford Netflix’s Standard plan combined with CuriousityStream. This will give you access to quality animated series, kid’s movies, and original titles. Parental control on Netflix is standard, allowing parents to control their kids’ viewing activities.

The Top Streaming Services for a Less Than $50 Budget

If you need to upgrade your streaming to about $50 or a little less, consider subscribing to some premium content. You can afford more luxury by combining Paramount+ Premium and Peacock Premium Plus. Also, consider Amazon Prime Video because of its Thursday Night Football, WNBA, and select MLB games broadcasts. Our Streaming Service selections for less than $50:

1. Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plans (both $50 monthly) – (for Live TV)
2. ESPN+ ($6.99 MONTHLY), Paramount+ Premium ($9.99 monthly), Peacock Premium Plus ($9.99 monthly, Prime Video ($8.99 monthly), and Showtime ($10.99 monthly). – (Sports)
3. Ad-free Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ bundle (19.99 monthly), Philo ($25 monthly), and Peacock Premium ($4.99 monthly) – General

Sling TV’ Orange and Blue plan is a good deal in this budget category. The combined plan means you have bypassed the splitting of popular channels like USA, ESPN, Fox News, Disney Channel, and MSNBC between both plans.

The Top Streaming Services for a Less Than $75 Budget

Regarding channel offerings and DVR features, YouTube TV has an edge. However, with the on-demand library of shows piled up on Hulu+ Live TV without ads, it’s quite a wonderful option. $75 can afford you any of these services. ESPN+ and either YouTube TV or Hulu+ Live TV would be the perfect combo for sports lovers. Our streaming service selections for less than $75:

1. YouTube TV ($64.99 monthly) or Hulu (No Ads) + Live TV ($70.99 monthly) – (Live TV)
2. ESPN+ ($6.99 monthly) and YouTube TV ($64.99 monthly) or Hulu + Live TV ($64.99 monthly) – (Sports)
3. Hulu + Live TV (Ad-supported) bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ ($72.99 monthly) or YouTube TV ($64.99) and Prime Video ($8.99 monthly) – General

With a $75 budget, you can afford a streaming service that offers various channels, including Live TV, sports, and on-demand content. They also offer premium features like offline viewing, multiple streams, and cloud DVR. When you determine the type of content that suits your preferences and the features that are important to you, choosing will be easy.

The Best Streaming Services for Less Than $100 Budget

This budget can take your streaming experience to another level. With $100, you could expand your library on YouTube TV’s entertainment, Hulu+ Live TV with add-ons. A slight discount will be given when you get HBO Max, Showtime, and Starz subscriptions.   

You can also stream live content in 4K on YouTube TV’s add-on from an unlimited number of devices. You can download and watch DVR content offline on mobile, and with the endless Screen add-ons, you can stream on unlimited devices. With a $100 budget, you can get the enhanced cloud DVR add-on for Hulu increased from 50 to 200 hours. Our streaming service selections for less than $100:

1. YouTube TV with entertainment plus add-on ($94.99 monthly) or Hulu (no Ads) + Live TV with enhanced cloud DVR and Unlimited-Screens add-ons ($85.97 monthly) or YouTube TV with 4K Plus add-on ($84.98 monthly). – (Live TV)
2. ESPN+ ($6.99 monthly) and YouTube TV with Sports Plus add-on ($75.98 monthly) or DirecTV stream’s choice plan with unlimited DVR add-on ($94.99 monthly) – (Sport)
3. YouTube TV ($64.99 monthly), HBO Max ($14.99 monthly), and Netflix Standard ($15.49 monthly) or Hulu + Live TV (Ad-free) bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+ ($72.99 monthly), Prime Video ($8.99 monthly), and HBO Max ($14.99 monthly).

Learn More About Our Best Options

• Paramount+ Review
• Disney+ Review
• Hulu Review
• Prime Video Review
• Netflix Review
• HBO Max Review
• Mubi Review
• Sling TV Review
• Showtime Review
• YouTube TV Review

Video Decision Tools for Streaming

It might be difficult to track what shows and movies are available on the platform; some tools help you make good decisions about the streaming platforms, software to use, and how to manage the content you stream. Tools like JustWatch and ReelGood allow you to search for shows and movies and add them to a watchlist.

Not all streaming services offer the same channels, so if you’re specific about the channel you need, there is a tool for that. With Streamable’s Matchmaker tool, you can input several channels at once, and it shows you the one with the cheapest plan you desire. This tool saves you from checking the channels to their specific sites. These tools are useful as they help you manage a nice streaming experience and fine-tune your streaming subscriptions monthly.

The Choice is Yours

There are streaming services for everyone and every budget. You need to choose the perfect one for your budget. We have detailed them here according to price range and the best services for multiple categories like kids and families, movies and documentaries, original shows, sports, etc. There are also free Streaming services to help you achieve this to avoid spending at all for premium entertainment. But remember that the experience might not be as seamless as the paid ones.

Conclusion

When it comes to streaming entertainment, your budget doesn’t have to limit your options. Sure, more cash can get you the fancy services with all the bells and whistles. Nevertheless, quality shows and movies are accessible even on a budget.

These days, there’s something for everyone – free services with ads if you want to binge casually, affordable middle-tier platforms perfect for casual viewers, and premium channels for die-hard fans ready to splurge. The best part is you can try before you buy with free trials for most services.

So don’t stress about finding great entertainment you can afford. Focus on your interests and sample a few options – you’ll find the right streaming fit for your budget and viewing habits quickly. You don’t need to break the bank to be a couch potato. Happy streaming!

Frequently Asked Questions