The Best Movie Streaming Services for 2025

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Are you a cinephile who wants to replicate the theatrical experience at home? You need a video streaming service with a large library and high-quality audio and visuals. But where to start? We're here to help. The PCMag staff loves movies and has thoroughly tested the top streaming services for more than a decade. So you can trust us when to tell you which services are worth your money, such as Netflix, our highest-rated Editors' Choice winner. The streaming video champ offers many original films, several price tiers, and Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support. Read on for more of our top picks and what to consider when picking the best movie streaming service for your tastes and budget.

Which Movies Can You Stream Online?

The movies available for streaming on a service depend on the distribution rights. It's similar to how live TV streaming services negotiate with cable channel owners to get streaming rights. The services that own the rights to huge catalogs of content (or have the money to get streaming rights) have an advantage. Take, for example, four of the biggest names in the media business: Comcast (Peacock), Disney (Disney+), ViacomCBS (Paramount+), and Warner Bros. Discovery (Max).

Comcast owns several movie studios, including DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and Universal Pictures. Disney+ has classic Disney films, Marvel movies (but not all Marvel movies), Pixar animations, and Star Wars films. ViacomCBS owns Paramount Pictures. Warner's Max includes movies from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, plus has exclusive streaming rights to Studio Ghibli films in the US.

Netflix and Prime Video aren't backed by traditional media behemoths, but they have large (albeit constantly changing) libraries of movies. Check out our features on what's arriving on Netflix and Prime Video to stay up to date with the streaming offerings.

Both companies produce original movies, some of which have earned critical acclaim. Some of the top Netflix original movies are El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story, I Care A Lot, The Irishman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Roma, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Prime Video's best original movies to date include Honey Boy, I Am Not Your Negro, Manchester by The Sea, One Night in Miami, Sound of Metal, and The Big Sick. Part of the reason that Amazon and Netflix need to produce their own titles is that some of the traditional media powerhouses are making movies exclusive to their own services. Hulu doesn't produce many original movies, but it is owned by Disney, which likely has some financial upside.

Apple TV+ doesn't license content from traditional media giants and thus is in the unenviable position of creating most of its content in-house, though it has acquired some films and documentaries. This means that its movie library is minimal compared with other streaming services. On top of that, Apple TV+'s focus appears to be on creating original series more so than original movies. The most notable Apple TV+ films available for streaming are The Banker, The Elephant Queen, Greyhound, Hala, and Wolf Walkers.

Other services have a more specific focus. The Criterion Channel focuses on classic and foreign films. Filmatique, Mubi, and Ovid.tv curate a rotating library of indie movies and documentaries. Angelika Anywhere lets you rent or purchase streaming films curated by the arthouse theater chain. If that is your primary interest, check out our roundup of the best documentary streaming services.

KweliTV is one of the best video streaming services for celebrating Black art. Tubi and Crackle, which are free services, offer popular movies from years past, though you probably won't recognize a good portion of the titles in their libraries.

Note that you won't be able to watch the latest movies from traditional film giants on these services; often, a film has a theatrical release period, which lets it qualify for awards.

Do Movie Streaming Services Support 4K, HDR, and Surround Sound?

Some video streaming services support high-end audio and video standards. For example, Apple TV+, Disney+, Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Prime Video all support 4K streaming. Other streaming film services top out at 1080p streaming, among them The Criterion Channel, Filmatique, KweliTV, Mubi, Ovid.tv, Peacock, and Shudder. Crackle and Tubi have maximum streaming resolutions that top out at 720p.

Some services, such as Apple TV+, Disney+, Max, Netflix, and Prime Video, support HDR streaming (either HDR10 or Dolby Vision). Support for higher-end audio standards (5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Atmos, or Dolby Digital Plus) is more common. Apple TV+, Disney+, Max, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Tubi all support at least one of these standards.

Note that not every movie on these services is available to stream at the absolute highest quality. The best way to find content that supports these high-end video and audio standards is to search for them in a service's interface.

You also need a playback device that supports these standards. Check out our roundups of the best media streaming devices, projectors, smart TVs, and soundbars to find all the top audiovisual gear, keeping in mind that some services restrict the highest playback standards to certain devices. For instance, Netflix subscribers on macOS only recently gained the ability to stream in 4K. Prime Video restricts 4K streaming to select media streaming devices and smart TVs. No streaming service we've reviewed offers 8K content, so don't feel like you have to go out and buy an 8K TV to enjoy movie streaming services. You don't have to spend a fortune to create the perfect backyard movie night, either, but higher-end components will help you get the most out of the movie streaming service you choose.

Movie Streaming Accessibility Options

Most of the video streaming services in this roundup include closed captions for the vast majority of their content, but only a few let you fully customize them. Disney+, Max, Hulu, IFC Films Unlimited, IMDb TV, Netflix, Peacock, Prime Video, and Tubi support subtitle customizations.

Only a few services support audio descriptions, which are audible narrations of on-screen events that would not be discernible through dialogue alone. Apple TV+, Disney+, Max, Hulu, IMDb TV, Netflix, and Prime Video have this accessibility feature.

Streaming vs. Blu-ray

There's one major reason to consider a video streaming service over physical media for watching movies: potential savings. If you buy one or more 4K UHD Blu-rays every month (typically $15 to $30, depending on how recently they were released), it's likely cheaper to subscribe to a video streaming service—at least as far as watching movies goes. However, if you only buy 4K UHD Blu-rays occasionally or only feel the need to buy standard DVDs or Blu-rays, you might end up paying less over the same period compared with subscribing to a video streaming service.

Max's Ultimate Ad-Free and Netflix's Premium plan (the only tiers supporting 4K streaming) cost the most of the on-demand services we've reviewed at $19.99 and $22.99 per month, respectively. Apple TV+ is $9.99 per month, The Criterion Channel is $10.99 per month, and Mubi is $12.99 per month. At the lower end of the price range, Paramount+ Essential and Peacock are both $5.99 per month as is KweliTV. Prime Video is $8.99 per month, Disney+ and Hulu charge $7.99 per month, and Shudder and Ovid.tv is $6.99 per month.

Crackle and Tubi are free. Philo, a live TV service, is $25 per month, but that's inexpensive for the category. No matter what you want to pay each month, our guide to the best video streaming services for every budget has a specific category for movie lovers.

On the one hand, the services' constantly changing libraries may not appeal to people who like to rewatch movies from time to time. Presumably, when you buy a physical disk, it's because that movie is one you specifically want to watch many times or otherwise keep for collection purposes. The fact that a service might not have all the movies you want to watch is also problematic. Other people may just like the prospect of having physical disks offline for eternity. If you buy a digital movie from iTunes or Amazon, a recent lawsuit reminds us that digital content ownership may still be subject to factors outside your control.

Still, the opportunity to discover new films is a definite benefit of a changing library of movies. Mubi, for instance, updates its Now Streaming section of 30 curated films every day, so you always have something new to watch. There are ways to use video streaming services offline, too. Many services support offline downloads on mobile devices, for example. Watching a movie on a mobile device's small screen may not be ideal, but it's still more convenient than carrying around a portable Blu-ray player or laptop with a compatible disc drive.

There are other options for people who don't like the prospect of streaming services but who still want to go digital. For example, you could purchase digital copies of movies online and organize them in one place with Movies Anywhere. Alternatively, you can upload any films you already own to a Plex server and enjoy them anywhere.

Which Movie Streaming Service Is Best?

When you pay for an on-demand video streaming service, you generally aren't limited to just watching movies. Some of the best new shows are exclusive to on-demand services. For example, Netflix is the only place to watch Squid Game, Disney+ is Hawkeye's streaming home, and Prime Video is the place to catch The Wheel of Time. These all-you-can-watch subscriptions make it easier to justify the services' costs.

Video streaming services may not be perfect for watching movies, but those with the best features, large movie libraries, and support for high-end standards are viable alternatives to purchasing physical discs or paying an exorbitant amount of money for movie tickets.

Ben Moore contributed to this roundup.

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