Is it worth subscribing to more than one streaming service at a time?

With so many streaming options, it is common to end up subscribing to more than one. Each has a catalog, and it is easy to believe that more services mean more fun. But the bill and the available time do not always keep pace. It is worth thinking about criteria before deciding.

Criteria for deciding

• Available time. How many hours a week do you really have to watch? If few, one or two services tend to be enough.
• Desired content. Are there specific titles you want to see that exist only on a certain service?
• Cost per hour. Divide the monthly price by the hours you use. A rarely used service has a high cost per hour.
• Frequency of use. Daily use justifies a continuous subscription; occasional use may justify subscribing for periods.
• Sharing profiles. If the household has different tastes (children, adults), more than one service may make sense.
• Alternatives. Free options, libraries, single rentals, free-to-air TV and channels with free content.

Pros and limits

Subscribing to more than one at the same time

Pros: more variety, exclusive content, profiles for each person. Limits: higher cost, risk of piling up, paralysis when choosing and little time to enjoy everything.

Subscribing to one at a time, rotating

Pros: lower cost, focus on a list of titles, less accumulation. Limits: you lose access to what leaves a service, and you have to remember to switch.

Alternatives

• Rotation. Subscribe for a month or two, see what you want and cancel.
• A plan with ads, when available and when ads do not bother you.
• Sharing, when allowed, with relatives who live with you.
• Wish list. Write down the titles and subscribe only once you have enough.

An example

A family had four services and started measuring use. Two of them were used less than two hours a month. By cancelling those two and adopting rotation, they saved a relevant annual amount without missing any title they wanted to see. This is an illustrative example.

Decision

If you use little, subscribe to one at a time. If you use a lot and there are different tastes at home, more than one may pay off, as long as you track cost per hour. Review every three months: habits and catalogs change.