Your cheat sheet to every Australian subscription streaming platform, from Netflix to Disney, Kayo and more
You’d rarely go a week without someone complaining there are too many streaming services in Australia.
The great irony is that for a country that never went above 35 per cent in pay-TV penetration in the old Foxtel/Austar days, we are now enthusiastic embracers of subscription video on demand.
There are plenty of free services (7plus, iview, SBS on Demand, Kanopy, Tubi etc etc) but we seem to now love paying to watch things, to the tune of $3.5 billion in the 12 months to June 2024, according to Telsyte. The average Australian household subscribes to 3.4 services, and that’s only set to grow.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.So, how do you navigate a landscape where there are more than 20 platforms, sports rights are becoming the next flank, and where everyone is constantly shifting and jacking up their prices? Let us guide you.
THE BIG GUNS
NETFLIX
As the dominant force in streaming, its name is sometimes used as the byword in the same way that google is used for search. When it got into the originals game in 2013, it was synonymous with quality but now the strategy is more like throwing spaghetti at the walls. There’s certainly a lot of stuff but when the emphasis is on quantity, most of it is not good, especially Netflix’s non-awards movies, but the occasional gem will pop up.
Highlights: Heartstopper, Ripley, Stranger Things, Boy Swallows Universe, The Residence (March 20), Black Mirror, Squid Game, Nobody Wants This, The Diplomat, Derry Girls, Baby Reindeer, Beef, Lupin and Mo.
Sports: WWE, boxing
Cost: Ad-supported: $7.99 per month, standard is $18.99 per month, premium for $25.99 per month
DISNEY+
Disney is associated with family friendly fare but its streaming platform in Australia has not just Mickey and friends, but also captures much edgier programming from its American brands FX and Hulu, so there’s also plenty of swearing, violence and sex sitting next to Toy Story.
Highlights: Shogun, The English Teacher, Paradise, Welcome to Wrexham, High Potential, Rivals, Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, Say Nothing, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and 20th Century Fox movies and TV library
Sports: Soon-to-launch ESPN which will include NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, American college basketball and football, X Games and World series of Poker
Cost: Standard is $15.99 a month, premium is $20.99 a month, savings on annual subscriptions, ad-tier is coming
APPLE TV+
What Apple lacks in a back catalogue (it has none), the platforms makes up for in a better curated slate of originals. The strike rate of critical success is where Netflix was a decade ago – when you’re not making as much, it’s easier to find the good stuff.
Highlights: Severance, Slow Horses, Bad Sisters, The Studio (March 26), Silo, Shrinking, Mythic Quest, Loot, Pachinko, Hijack, Manhunt, Disclaimer, Ted Lasso, Dickinson and Bad Monkey
Sports: Major League Baseball Friday Nights, Major League Soccer (extra $19.99 a month or $119 for the season)
Cost: $12.99 a month, or as part of Apple’s bundled services packages starting from $24.99 a month
PRIME VIDEO
The advantage to a Prime subscription is you also get Amazon’s shopping and delivery benefits, which is actually what some people sign up for and the streaming part is the bonus. Prime is more of a hodge-podge of originals unless you’re really into either young adult romances and thrillers or muscular dad TV, and sometimes the user-interface can be confusing to navigate with the service pushing not-included new release movies.
Highlights: Fallout, Mr & Mrs Smith, The Boys, Reacher, Deadloch, Upload, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Jack Ryan, Cross, Invincible, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Narrow Road to the Deep North (April 17), American Fiction and My Old Ass
Sports: International Cricket Council tournaments including World Cups, T20, Champions Trophy, World Test Championship Final and NBA
Cost: $7.99 a month or $99 annual, plus $2.99 a month to avoid advertising
STAN
Australia’s most high-profile homegrown subscription streaming celebrated its 10-year anniversary in January, and tries to distinguish itself for its Australian originals. While the ambition is commendable, many are just a bit “mid TV” and few penetrate the zeitgeist. Stan does have an extensive library through its licencing deals with Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros, Paramount, BBC and Sony.
Highlights: Hacks, Rutherford Falls, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Such Brave Girls, Invisible Boys, Thou Shalt Not Steal, Good Cop Bad Cop, Bump, Sweetbitter, Amandaland, Nitram, Poker Face and Yellowstone
Sports: Rugby union including Six Nations and Bledisloe, tennis grand slams, summer and winter Olympics, Indycar, UEFA Champions League
Cost: Basic costs $12 a month, standard is $17 a month and premium is $22 a month. Sport is a $15 add-on
MAX
The new player on the block will launch on March 31 and sensationally claim all the Warner Bros TV shows and movies including its prized jewel, the HBO slate which used to be exclusive to Foxtel/Binge. Anyone who still considers HBO to be the crème de la crème of prestige TV will need to add Max, or jump ship into their roster of streaming platforms.
Highlights: The Last of Us, The White Lotus, The Penguin, House of the Dragon, True Detective, Euphoria, The Rehearsal, Industry, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (late-2025), Lanterns (2026), Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies, and classic shows including The Wire, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Succession and Flight of the Conchords
Sports: None
Cost: TBC
PARAMOUNT+
One of the more under-the-radar platforms, Paramount+, at least according to third-party metrics, is also one of the most popular in Australia. Perhaps that’s due to a combination of SpongeBob and Paw Patrol, the ubiquitous shows in the Taylor Sheridan universe and fans of CBS procedurals. With the main Yellowstone show (which is on Stan) all-but-wrapped, the gazillion spin-offs are only found on Paramount+.
Highlights: Elsbeth, Matlock, So Help Me Todd, The Agency, Ghosts, Yellowjackets, Taylor Sheridan shows (1923, Landman, Special Ops: Lioness, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown), Star Trek shows, every NCIS, FBI and Criminal Minds, Frasier and Cheers
Sports: A-League, AFC Champions
Cost: Ad-supported tier is $6.99 a month, standard costs $9.99 a month, premium is $13.99 a month
BINGE
It’s a significant moment in Binge’s journey with Warner Bros launching its own streaming service at the end of this month, which will suck all its titles off the Foxtel-owned platform, and this is not long after losing its BBC shows last year. This leaves Binge will some Australian originals, and licencing agreements with the likes of NBCUniversal and ITV.
Highlights: Colin From Accounts, The Twelve, The Last Anniversary (March 27), The Day of the Jackal, The Great British Bake Off, Small Town, Big Story, Saturday Night Live, The Great North, Law & Order and Taskmaster
Sports: None
Cost: Basic with ads is $10 a month (current promo of $4.99 a month for 12 months), standard is $19 a month and premium is $22 a month. There are discounts for annual sign-ups
THE NICHE PLAYERS
BRITBOX
It is the rule of the land that you cannot fire up your Britbox subscription without a cup of tea and some shortbread biscuits. The home to BBC Studios programming in Australia.
Highlights: All Creatures Great and Small, Silent Witness, Death in Paradise, Call the Midwife, Sister Boniface Mysteries, Shetland, Vera, Moonflower Murders, The Bay and Ghosts UK
Cost: $9.99 a month or $99.99 annually
ACORN TV
With a focus on cosy murder mysteries and lots of British stuff, it’s aimed squarely at Anglophiles who loves to play armchair detective.
Highlights: The Eclipse, Recipes for Love and Murder, Agatha Raisin, Midsomer Murders, Signor Volpe, Darby and Joan, Dalgliesh and My Life is Murder
Cost: $6.99 a month or $69.99 annually. Also included in AMC+ subscription
AMC+
Highlights: Dark Winds, Firebite, Interview with the Vampire, Mayfair Witches, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
Cost: $8.99 a month or $89.99 annually, also includes Acorn TV and Shudder
SHUDDER
The bloodier the better, this one is for the horror freaks who thinks anything playing in a mainstream cinema or streaming service is too sanitised.
Highlights: The Rule of Jenny Pen, Arcadian, Bloody Axe Wound, The Dead Thing, Little Bites
Cost: $6.99 a month or $69.99 annually. Also included in AMC+ subscription
DOCPLAY
For the cerebral watcher, the documentary platform will fulfil the more curious among us. It’s the only streamer for four of the five most recent Oscar nominees for documentary feature, including the winner.
Highlights: No Other Land, Porcelain War, Black Box Diaries, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, The Civil War by Ken Burns, Mozart’s Sister, The National Parks by Ken Burns, Blackfish and 2040
Cost: $8.99 a month or $89.90 a year
IWONDER
Another documentary-focused niche platform, with films that premiered at festivals including SXSW, Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes and Hot Docs.
Highlights: A Song Called Hate, Basquiat: Rags to Riches, Prison for Profit, The Men Who Stole the World and The Kleptocrats
Cost: $6.99 a month
CRUNCHYROLL
This one is for the anime tragics, with the promise that episodes become available shortly after the Japanese premieres.
Highlights: Dragon Ball DAIMA, Dr. Stone, Solo Levelling, Dan Da Dan, Welcome to Japan, Ms Elf, Rurouni Kenshin and One Piece
Cost: The fan level subscription is $10.99 a month, mega fan is $13.99 a month or $139.99 a year, which also includes access to the game vault
HAYU
If side-eyes, confrontations and betrayals are more your speed, the reality TV focused Hayu has the express episodes from NBCUniversal channels Bravo, E! and Oxygen.
Highlights: The Real Housewives, Below Deck, Vanderpump Rules, Southern Hospitality, Love & Hip Hop and Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Cost: $7.99 a month or $70.99 annual
MUBI
The cinephile’s playground, Mubi has a considered and curated collection of arthouse films from interesting auteurs that you’d struggle to find on the major platforms – and those movies are only available for a limited time with a new title added daily.
Highlights: Aftersun, Shiva Baby, The Worst Person in the World, Paris is Burning, So Long, My Son, The Dreamers and Medicine for Melancholy
Cost: $14.99 a month
THE SPORTS BROS
KAYO
The subscription sports service with the widest breadth of leagues and codes, Kayo is the reason why DAZN, a privately owned sports streaming business, bought Foxtel for $3.4 billion in December.
Highlights: NRL, AFL, AFLW, NBA, NFL, Formula One, MMA, surfing, triathlon, wrestling, BBL cricket, Test Cricket, ODI cricket, Nascar, Supercars, PGA Tour and NBL
Cost: $25 a month for standard, $40 a month for premium
OPTUS SPORT
Optus set up its sports service because of football, having nabbed the rights to a bunch of leagues but most importantly, the English Premier League.
Highlights: EPL, UEFA Euro, J League, K League, FA Cup, Women’s Super League
Cost: $24.99 a month or $229 annually
BEIN SPORT
A more niche service that has swept up some of the European football leagues and the second-tier tennis tournaments.
Highlights: LaLiga, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL Championship, Bundesliga, ATP and WTA Tour and Davis Cup
Cost: $14.99 a month or $129.00 annually
