In the battle of the best streaming services, Hulu is the king of TV and Netflix is the queen of streaming. Both streamers have tons of content worth watching, but the days when we could happily subscribe to all the different streamers without worrying about paying the rent are long gone – and that means we need to be quite selective with the services we subscribe to.
If you’re thinking of making the jump from Hulu to Netflix, or Netflix to Hulu, or simply want to take a break from either one without missing the return of your favorite show – this guide has everything you need to make that decision that little bit easier, including links to all of our monthly rankings of the best shows and movies on each platform.
So which is the better investment, Hulu or Netflix? Let's discover what each platform does differently and which one might be best suited to your own tastes, needs, and budget.
Hulu vs Netflix: Price and plans
In the US, Netflix offers three different tiers. Hulu is a little more complicated because in addition to Hulu's standard streaming plans, there are also Hulu packages that let you purchase add ons like Live TV, Disney Plus, Max and ESPN Plus.
The cheapest Netflix plan, Standard With Ads, is $6.99 per month. That's $1 per month cheaper than Hulu's standard with-ads service, which costs $7.99 per month. However, Hulu does offer students a special deal that cuts the cost dramatically: just $1.99 per month for the with-ads plan.
Going ad-free is cheaper if you're a Netflix subscriber than a Hulu one, which means you have to pay more to avoid commercials and those pesky 'pause ads'. Netflix Standard without ads is $15.49 per month compared to $17.99 per month for Hulu's ad-free option.
Netflix doesn't currently offer bundles with other services but Hulu has lots. The most recently launched bundle gives you Hulu, Disney Plus and Max for an introductory price of just $16.99 per month with ads or $29.99 per month without. The full prices will be $25.97 and $48.97 per month, respectively.
Prices for the other Hulu bundles range from $75.99 per month for Hulu and Live TV to $89.99 per month for Hulu (no ads), Live TV, Disney Plus (no ads) and ESPN Plus (with ads). You can also add additional channels such as Showtime and Starz to your bundle.
Hulu vs Netflix: What can you watch?
For details of what's worth watching on Netflix right now, check out our guides to the best Netflix movies, the best new Netflix movies, and the best Netflix shows.
To keep things fair we'll be comparing Netflix's library with Hulu's alone; if you go for a bundle that also includes ESPN or Max or Disney Plus, then of course that'll change things somewhat as you'll be gaining access to loads of additional content.
As of last year, Netflix's massive investment in commissioning new and exclusive content meant that it was second only to Hulu in the sheer number of shows it offered. Netflix's original content game is strong, especially in comedy specials, documentaries, anime and original drama.
Some of Netflix's biggest shows of 2024 so far include Bridgerton season 3, Emily in Paris season 4, Cobra Kai season 6, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Umbrella Academy season 4 as well as the hotly anticipated Arcane season 2 and Squid Game season 2, although that last one isn't streaming until December.
As for movies, some of the streamer's most-anticipated projects for 2024 have been Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Damsel, Atlas and Incoming. There have also been a surprising number of new action flicks this year, with the likes of Hit Man, The Union and Rebel Ridge all dominating Netflix's top 10 movies list at some point. Not all of these were admittedly hits, though there are plenty of better action movies on the platform.
As for what's coming, It's What's Inside and The Platform 2 have been announced so far. These upcoming movies were part of announcements made during Netflix Geeked Week 2024, which also gave a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of Stranger Things season 5 and Black Mirror season 7 before the shows arrive in 2025.
Here's our guide to the best shows on Hulu right now, as well as guides to the best Hulu movies and new Hulu movies.
It's important to note that today's Hulu isn't the same service that originally launched. It was originally a joint venture with firms including NBCUniversal, but in 2022 NBCU pulled out and took many of its shows with it so it could stream them on Peacock instead. That punched a big hole in the Hulu catalog, but since 2023's purchase by Disney it's been spending big on adding new content.
That content isn't from Disney, however: Disney Plus and Hulu are separate streamers with separate catalogs. There are significant differences in what the two Disney services stream: Hulu has long been the home of broadcast and cable TV shows and cartoons, so for example it offers a lot of shows from FX and from the former 21st Century Fox that aren't a good fit for Disney Plus's more family-oriented focus.
That line is slowly being blurred though, after Disney finally bought Hulu outright in November 2023 (it had been slowly investing in the service since 2019). After months of testing, the services have been combined into one app – much like the all-in-one experience that subscribers get outside of the US. That means you'll be able to find Disney's massive catalog of animated classics and franchises from studios including Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel alongside Hulu hits.
Some of the more notable Hulu shows include Only Murders in the Building, How I Met Your Father, Shōgun, Scrubs and The Bear – with many returning in 2024 with new seasons, including season 4 of Only Murders in the Buildings and The Bear season 3, which made history at the Emmys for most comedy wins. Hulu is also very good for anime, for music biographies and for concerts, and has the rights to stream some of the biggest music festivals such as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. Hulu's live TV bundles also boost the cost considerably but they deliver a huge amount of sporting content, news channels and entertainment: it's basically cable TV over the internet.
Both streamers are constantly adding new content, typically with a big collection at the beginning of the month and then more titles as the month progresses.
How often do Netflix and Hulu refresh content?
Netflix
Hulu vs Netflix: Features
| Standard with ads: | Ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution and download to 2 devices. |
| Standard: | No ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution, download to 2 devices and option to add 1 member who lives elsewhere. |
| Premium: | No ads, 4 simultaneous streams, 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos and Netflix Spatial Audio, download to 6 devices, and option to add 3 members who live elsewhere. |
There are some differences in the quality you get with each streamer's plans.
Netflix Standard streams in 1080p HD and doesn't offer spatial audio unless you opt for the more expensive Premium plan at $22.99 per month, which also adds 4K HDR. Hulu's video quality is show-dependent rather than subscription-dependent; it streams live TV at up to 1080p, and TV and movies at up to 4K with HDR.
Both services enable you to create multiple profiles and create child-friendly profiles, although Netflix's controls are stronger. Hulu's child profiles are restricted to a kids' hub, whereas Netflix enables you to create restrictions based on content.
Both Hulu and Netflix limit account sharing viewing to a "household", which is a group of people living under the same roof. Hulu doesn't currently let you add extra people who don't live with you; Netflix does with some plans as an extra add-on – here's how to remove Netflix Household. You can't share your Netflix password with people who don't share your home on the Standard with Ads plan, but you can add them to a Standard (ad-free) or Premium Plan. You can add one additional person to Standard and two to Premium. Each person is an additional $7.99 per month.
The other key difference is in how many devices you can stream or download to. Netflix Standard gives you two simultaneous streams and downloads to two devices. Netflix Premium gives you four simultaneous streams and downloads to six devices.
Hulu lets you stream to two devices simultaneously and download up to 25 titles on up to five mobile devices. There's also an Unlimited Screens add-on if you're a subscriber to its Live TV service.
Hulu's most interesting feature is its cloud-based digital video recorder, which gives live TV subscribers unlimited online storage for their recorded shows. They'll remain available for up to nine months from recording provided you keep subscribing.
| Hulu with ads: | Ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution with some content available in Ultra HD (no downloading). |
| Hulu (no ads): | No ads, 2 simultaneous streams, Full HD resolution with some content available in Ultra HD and downloads to 6 mobile devices. |
Hulu vs Netflix: Design
Netflix set the template for streaming interface design, and in our experience Netflix has the better recommendation algorithm, especially over time: it's very good at showing things you'll actually like based on your viewing habits. It's in the process of another huge overhaul to make it even easier to find shows and movies you'll like.
Disney's purchase of Hulu in late 2023 has seen a big injection of talent and money, leading to a big app update and consistency across the multiple platforms Hulu works with. It's pleasant enough but it's a bit more complex because Hulu also has to handle live TV and sports for some subscribers, and once you get deep into the menus it can be fiddly to retrace your steps. The cloud-based video recording works well, though, and doesn't reinvent the wheel: it's simple and effective and won't confuse less techy viewers.
One big difference here is that Hulu has an extra tab called Hubs. That organizes shows by channel, so for example you can look for AMC or Adult Swim under the entertainment channel, or for Cartoon Network and Disney XD under Kids.
Hulu vs Netflix: Verdict
Comparing the two services feels very much like comparing apples and oranges, because at heart Hulu is really cable TV given an internet-age makeover while Netflix has always been made for streaming.
That means Hulu is more complex both in terms of the content it offers and the available options: it has very many plans ranging from the student streaming $1.99 per month to all-singing, all-dancing bundles of everything that can come close to $90 per month. By comparison Netflix's three plans, all of which offer almost all the same content, seem positively zen-like in their simplicity and cheap compared to Hulu's biggest bundles.
If we ignore the bundles, though – although the Hulu, Disney Plus and Max bundle is awfully tempting and good value for money right now – the services are pretty evenly matched: their ad-supported versions are within a dollar of one another unless you're a student, in which case Hulu costs less than a coffee. And there's only a dollar fifty between the rival ad-free plans. They have similarly sized catalogs and are similarly aggressive in adding new titles, and that means the choice really comes down to what you want to watch.
Ready to switch streaming services? Here's how to sign up to Netflix, or if you've decided you'd rather wait till Stranger Things returns next year, then here's how to cancel Netflix. Alternatively, if you'd like to try it out before signing up, here's how to get a Hulu free trial.
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