Netflix, Presto and Stan are on demand media streaming services and offer similar prices for all you can watch movies and tv shows. So which service should you sign up with?
If you are signing up hoping to watch the latest movies and thinking there’s going to be so much content that you will probably spend all your time watching movies and TV shows…you may be disappointed!
Netflix, Presto and Stan offer their own original content and complete series of TV shows that you can binge watch till your eyes pop out! However, they do not offer the latest episodes of current TV shows that are still running, sometimes it is a season or two behind.
Movies on offer by Netflix and Presto are a little underwhelming, more so with Netflix. There are some “newish” movies which are a year or two old, so you wouldn’t call them the latest movies but its slim pickings. There are lots of older movies but I found Netflix has more “B” grade movies that I have never heard of. Presto offers slightly more movie content over Netflix. I was more impressed with the content on offer by Stan, felt like there was a bigger variety and selection of movies which was a surprise after trying Netflix and Presto.
So which is better? Depends on whose original content you want to watch more. Netflix and Presto really need to up their game regarding the movies they offer. Stan’s movie selection on offer is more impressive compared with Netflix and Presto. However, with all three on demand services it’s more of the older movies with some newish movies thrown in the mix.
As Netflix, Presto and Stan all offer one month free trial, you can sign up to all three and see if they offer enough content to keep you watching after a month. As there are no contracts obligations, you can subscribe to one service and once you have exhausted their catalogue of movies and TV shows you can cancel and subscribe to the other services!
Netflix Australia
I recently signed up for Netflix’s one month free trial and once I had a look at the content offered I was disappointed and underwhelmed. I was very surprised by this. I managed to watch 2 movies and a few Netflix original shows in the trial period. I was struggling to find anything else to watch.
There are a lot of movies and TV shows on offer but there isn’t much to watch. It’s like having cable TV and there is all this content and a few things here and there worth watching but the rest just feels like background noise.
It’s great for those who want to binge watch Netflix original shows or older TV shows but current shows that are still running will not have the lasted seasons available.
Signing up
Signing up was simple enough, you create an account by supplying your name, email address, creating a password and entering your credit card details so that once your trial period ends you will be charged for the next month if you want to continue with the service.
There are 3 plans to choose from with prices from Basic $8.99 (1 screen, no HD), Standard $11.99 (2 screens, no ultra HD) or Premium $14.99 (4 screens, ultra HD). All plans allow you to watch unlimited movies and TV shows, however different plans determine how many screens you can watch at the same time and picture quality.
The website runs smoothly and I like that if you are watching a TV show, the next episode will automatically start when the current one finishes.
The trial process was a good introduction to Netflix but I cancelled at the end of the month as I struggled to find something to watch.
Likes:
- Netflix original shows
- Convenient, watch what you want when you want.
- If you watch a TV series, the next episode will automatically play when an episode ends.
- Website and media player runs smoothly
- No contract, cancel your subscription anytime online.
Dislikes:
- Not the latest movies on offer
- Not all the latest episodes of TV shows on offer
- A lot of “B” grade movies, not much substance on offer
Presto
I signed up for Presto’s free trial and after using Netflix, I found that Presto had a better movie selection.
Presto’s website is slow and clunky. The web player froze a few times, which I didn’t experience with Netflix but it does remember where you are up to during the film if you are interrupted. However, if you are watching a series the next episode does not start automatically which was a handy feature of Netflix.
Signing up
Signing up to Presto is easy enough, you create an account by supplying your name, email address and password for your account, entering your credit card details, set your classification level and a pin to set the parental controls.
For $10 a month you can subscribe to Presto Movies (you can only watch the movies) or Presto TV (only TV shows are available). To watch both movies and TV shows you have to pay $15 a month for the Presto entertainment package.
Likes:
- Presto original content
- Convenient, watch what you want when you want.
- Offers more movie content than Netflix
- No contract, cancel or pause your subscription anytime online.
Dislikes:
- Not the latest movies on offer
- Not all the latest episodes of TV shows on offer
- Website a little slow to load
- Web player froze a few times
- A couple movies I had in my watch list had “content no longer available” when I decided to watch them later, yet it still remained in my watchlist. Why didn’t they get rid of the page/movie?
Stan
I was pleasantly surprised with Stan’s content selection on offer. Definitely a wider selection than Presto and Netflix.
For $10 a month you can watch all the movies and TV shows on offer on 3 screens at a time plus in HD quality (where available). Website runs smoothly. The only problem I had was when I watched a show on my computer and had it on HD, it kept buffering, so I put it on SD which was fine. Though, when the picture quality was on auto, it would alternate between terrible picture quality to good. I watched a movie on my TV and the HD quality was amazing, it took a while to load initially but the movie ran smoothly after that. If you are watching a TV series, the next episode will load automatically if you want to continue watching.
Signing up
Signing up to Stan is easy, you create an account with your name, email address, and credit card details. You can create profiles for kids to restrict their viewing.
Likes:
- Original content
- Convenient, watch what you want when you want.
- Wider selection of content on offer compared with Presto and Netflix
- HD quality and you can watch 3 screens at a time without additional costs
- No contract, cancel your subscription anytime online.
Dislikes:
- Not the latest movies on offer
- Not all the latest episodes of TV shows on offer
- Watching HD quality was slow on computer even though I have cable internet connection