The Battle Of The Streams

I've been using Netflix and Amazon Prime ever since it started in 2016 and Hotstar for the past few months. Here in article we will try to compare these two mega services on a few parameters. Platforms like Hulu aren’t taken here cause they are still to launch in India. While other apps such as Alt Balaji, Voot aren’t taken because they don’t match the variety and numbers of these two. Here we go:

Cost issue:

Jeff Bezos is the clear winner here. Prime video is Rs 999/year right now, so about Rs 84/month. In comparison, Netflix is roughly at Rs 500/month. In addition, Amazon also gives you access to Amazon Prime on its shopping website, which is a nice bonus.

Winner: Amazon

·Ease-of-Use

In terms of interface, all three have a simple easy-to-use interface for their app and the website. Amazon Prime does have a few Hindi subtitles for a few English shows, which was a nice touch, but it has now been implemented by netflix as well along with regional language voice over.

For people generally streaming shows on television , Netflix is the best, as they offer an app directly on the smart TV. For TV , you can stream from your phone to the TV using the Airplay feature on your iPhone, but it's inconvenient as you cannot use your phone while streaming.

Winner: No clear winner for mobile and PC. Netflix are better for streaming on TV.

·Content
I.Movies:
Netflix seems to be the best when it comes to their catalogue of English movies. I especially like their collection of Classics and Documentaries. They also have a much larger collection as compared to both Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video. I saw a few decent movies on Prime such asForrest GumpandSaving Private Ryan, but their collection is nowhere close to Netflix. For Hindi movies, Amazon Prime seems to be far and away the clear winner. They have newer movies such asSultan, Kabali and Fan, as well as older movies such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge.As for Netflix, you realise how terrible their collection is when the first recommendation for Hindi movies isPrem Ratan Dhan Paayo, though some new additions like Andhadhun and Soorma are giving some hope. They are tying up with SRK's Red Chillies for more content, so I hope that their Hindi content will improve. Amazon has Tamil, Telegu and Malayalam sections, but I do not have enough knowledge of the languages to make a recommendation for this.

Winner: Netflix for English movies, Amazon for Hindi

II.TV Shows
Netflix again. They have a large collection of both original shows like Narcos and Crown; as well as shows like Black Mirror and Breaking Bad. They are the best, both in quality and quantity. Platforms like Hotstar do have rights to HBO shows like Game of Thrones, however, their catalogue is limited as compared to Netflix. Amazon seems to have a greater focus on getting sitcoms. I saw Seinfeld, Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls and a few other sitcoms on their app.

Winner: Netflix

III.Originals
Netflix has a lot of original movies and TV shows such as Daredevil, Punisher in the comics genre, House of Cards in the Drama segment, and also some desi movies such as Rajma Chawal and recently released show Delhi Crime and the critically acclaimed Sacred Games which turned the whole scanerios around. They also have a few Netflix standup with big names like Bill Burr and John Mulaney.

Amazon on the other hand has shows like American Gods, Patriots and Reality Shows such as The Grand Tour. The Good thing about this platform is that it has launched a lot of shows for the Indian standup community with names like Kanan Gill, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Zakir Khan getting their own specials and other original Improv specials. It also announced Comicstaan 2 which is a realty show.

·Sports
Both the platform have struggled in this platform though. Amazon was in the race for IPL streaming rights,which would have been a big coup for them.

Winner: Nobody. Though hotstar may take the cake.