The Best Streaming Service In India: And The Winner Is...

Streaming apps were already blooming and the lockdown came. Times like these are what OTT platforms would have never dreamt off. The numbers of viewers for movies and televisions has risen like crazy, a great example of such being the huge viewership of Ramayan. People are consuming video content more than ever, whether it be cable TV or streaming, each one is getting its own set of audiences.

This article is going to dive deep in to the streaming services in India, we are going to search the best streaming platform which will fulfill your entertainment needs.

Let’s have a look at all the streaming service provided in India.

Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime is the service which packs the most number of benefits. From quicker delivery of products to video services to music services, it has got you all covered, when it comes to Amazon Prime Video. With the total price of ₹ 999 per year. It is one of the cheapest streaming service with the best of the prices. On Prime Video, you can watch award winning movies such as Joker, Parasite, Gully Boy. There are two other plans that are for those who want Prime subscription for a few months, the two plans are:

• Monthly plan of ₹129 per month
• Quarterly plan of ₹329 for 3 months

With such cost-effective prices and additional services, Amazon Prime subscription is a must buy.

Netflix

Netflix is the king of content when it comes to streaming service, it is the best out of all. The content library of Netflix is undisputedly the best in the world. With so many high quality original movies and TV shows, one will always find something brilliant to watch on this platform.

One thing that puts Netflix at a disadvantageous position is the high price it charges from its customers. The prices at which Netflix provides its streaming service is highest in the country. Let’s have a look at the prices at which you can use Netflix:

• Mobile Use Only @ ₹199/month
• Any device, limited to 1 Screen at a time @ ₹499/month
• Any device, limited to 2 Screens at a time @ ₹649/month
• Any device, limited to 4 Screens at a time @ ₹799/month

As you can see, the prices charged by Netflix are similar to what a broadband connection would cost you. Just imagine, paying ₹ 650 per month for each Internet and NETFLIX. Such high prices forces the customer to use torrents to watch content from Netflix.
Useful Tip: The ₹ 199 pack works on both smartphones and tablets, also, you can use both at the same time, the only downside of the pack is the lower than HD video quality. But I would like to tell you that, as per my personal experience, the picture quality is good.

Hotstar

This is the only streaming platform with truly free content. This is the only streaming which provides high quality content free as well as paid, this makes the platform worth considering. Recently, it has joined hands with Disney Plus. Because of this collaboration, the content library of Hotstar is now nothing less compared to Netflix. Hotstar has a huge library with content ranging from Game of Thrones to Disney Blockbuster animated movies to the much celebrated Avengers franchise, Hotstar has all covered for you. Along with this, you get to see, Premier League matches, cricket matched of Team India, live channels from Star Network.

The prices of the plans on Hotstar are as follows:

• VIP Plan (Includes all Hindi Content, English movies are Dubbed): ₹399 per year
• Premium Plan (Includes everything, all languages): ₹1499/year

With so many types of content provided by Hotstar, the price charged for the subscription looks good enough. The best thing about Hotstar is that if you are not interested in watching English shows and movies then you can opt for ₹ 399 plan which is the best for watching Hindi Shows, movies, cricket matches. Also, many of the English movies are available in Hindi in this Hotstar VIP plan which makes it a really sweet deal.

Hungama

This website is an unexpected guest in this search for the best streaming platform. The reason I have put it in this list is because of the movie catalog it provides you with. This site has many good Hindi as well as English movies. You can get good movies such as Lootera. Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Bhool Bhulaiya. In English section, you get awesome movies like Interstellar, Joker, The Shining and many other gems of Hollywood. To be honest, English libraryof Hungama is way better than Hindi one. If you want a cheaper alternative to Netflix then, Hungama can be the one.

Hungama has 9 plans in total with 3 each for 1 month, 3 months and 1 year. There are 3 plans for full experience which includes unlimited movies, videos and music, they are as follows:

• 1 month plan for ₹149
• 3 months plan for ₹349
• Yearly plan for ₹1399

The good thing about the above plans is that they provide absolutely everything from Hungama and there are no restrictions at all.

Voot

Voot is another streaming platform that has recently gained a bit of popularity because of its web series, Asur. Apart from ‘Asur’, there isn’t much content when it comes to movies except few good movies such as ‘Queen’, ‘Gangs of WasseyPur’ series (avialable for free on YouTube), however, famous TV shows such as Bigg Boss is the reason that this app is majorly used by the people. There isn’t not much you can watch on this app The plans for Voot are as follows:

• Monthly plan at ₹99
• Yearly plan at ₹499

The plans are priced decently if we look at the content provided. One month plan seems to be a better one at this time.

Zee5

This is another good streaming platform that is often ignored. It has got many good Hindi movies that you can enjoy. One disadvantage of using Zee5 is that you won’t get to see any of the English content. There is no English movie or TV show that you can watch on it. The only strength of Zee5 is its collection of Hindi movies, you can find hit movies like Uri, Sonchiriya, English Vinglish, Padman, Holiday and more.

If you are into Hindi movies then you can use Zee5. The prices of plans are as follows:

• 1 month plan @ ₹99
• 6 month plan @ ₹599
• 1 year plan @ ₹999

The prices are high taking keeping in mind the limited library of Hindi movies. Though many newer movies are also present but that doesn’t justify it charging as much as Amazon Prime for a year.

Streaming Services Analysis

I have created a table that will help us analyse and decide which streaming service is the best and help us in deciding the winner.

Below is the table that we are gonna use for the analysis:

A table comparing plans of all the major OTT platforms in India

Observations

As you can see in the table above, the prices of these streaming services vary by a huge margin, from as high as ₹ 799 to ₹ 33.25 per month. This tells us that the competition is content based and not price based. We will now look at various aspects and ensure see which service fulfills the category as mentioned.

Value for Money Streaming Service

When it comes to value for money, no one can beat Amazon prime. Amazon prime provides music, video, shopping, all of it at a very affordable price of ₹ 999 per year. This costs for only ₹ 83.25 per month. Though there are packs cheaper than Amazon Prime’s but they don’t provide as much services as Prime hence it is the best value for money streaming service out of all.

Most Economical Streaming Service

We are now going to see which is the most economical streaming service. If you look at the table above, you can see that the cheapest service that you can avail is Hotstar VIP plan. This plan is actually the most economical one providing you the most value at the lowest of price. At ₹399 per year, you get to watch Live TV channels, cricket matches, latest Hindi movies, English movies dubbed in Hindi. I guess a mere ₹ 399 for a year is not at all a bad deal.

Also, one more thing to note, with Disney integrated in Hotstar, you get to see great Disney as well as Marvel movies in Hindi in this VIP plan which makes it a total “Paisa Vasool” plan to take.

Streaming Service with the best content

Among all the streaming services, Netflix has the best content of all the streaming platforms, hands down. I conducted a small poll and found that more than 50% use Netflix. This clearly shows the strength of quality content, with awesome original shows such as Sacred Games, Money Heist, Stranger Things etc. there is hardly any bad shows on Netflix except some (Serial)Killer shows. To be honest, the content on Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar is also pretty good but Netflix is at some other level.

Best Streaming Service – Final Verdict

So, the time has come for us to decide the best platform to use for streaming. Frankly, I couldn’t find any one specific service to be the best. There are many factors to be taken care of, every individual has her/his own wants and she/he will use only those services which provide the content that she/he wants to enjoy.

It may seem as a bummer but there is no best streaming service as it is the content that drives the customer. The Indian customer wants good content, she/he doesn’t care about the platform and will drift towards the platform that provides the same.

Personally, I like Hotstar VIP because I love to watch Avengers and Disney animated movies in Hindi, moreover, I get to watch cricket matched in HD in the same.

So, which streaming service do you use? I guess most of the people use Netflix as the same was reflected in the poll I conducted. Though the same is very highly priced but the quality content makes it stand out of the crowd. The high price can be easily beaten by sharing the account with your friends, cousins, else, there are other options too, that you can use and save some cash.
See, the effect of the rise of OTT platforms, the companies who used to charge more than ₹300 for that ₹30 popcorn are resorting to this now. Seems like Karma!

So, which platform is your favorite, which one would you prefer to use? You can share your views in the comment section below.