Doing Netflix/Hulu/Prime Video the CHEAP way ... and the RIGHT way

Let’s not kid ourselves: we live in a time when traditional TV isn’t exactly a necessity.The new necessities are Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. But signing up for ALL THREE streaming services is overkill, right? Not exactly, and I’ll tell you why.

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See our picks for the BEST streaming services here:
https://www.reviews.org/tv-service/best-streaming-service?kbid=123489

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Let’s start by looking at the cheapest way to get all three services.

The Cheap Way:

$8.99 - Netflix Basic
$5.99 - Hulu w/ commercials
$8.99 - Prime, video only
The total price here is $23.97. That’s A LOT of content for $24! Not a bad way to go. But there are problems here. The Netflix Basic plan only allows one simultaneous stream, which sucks but wouldn’t be fatal if it weren’t for the fact that that single stream will be in Standard Definition. Because of that, I think you’d find yourself drifting toward Hulu and Prime stuff, which will be in High Definition.
I'm okay with the Hulu with commercials plan, depending on the amount of Hulu you plan on watching. But the Amazon Prime video only version is incredibly foolish in my mind, since you can get a ton of extras for only $1 more per month.
The Right Way:

Let’s start with Netflix. Unless you’re watching on a TV that’s 20 years old, you’re going to want, maybe even NEED, that HD signal. Your flatscreen TV was designed for more pixels than an SD signal can provide. So, that leaves us with 2 other options for Netflix: The $12.99 HD plan, or the $15.99 Ultra HD plan. Unless you’ve got a killer TV and killer wifi signal, the Ultra HD might be overkill for a lot of people. I’m betting the bulk of us will be fine with regular HD.
Now, which Hulu package to go with? It kind of depends on just how much Hulu you plan to watch. If you’re in there constantly, then commercials might drive you a bit crazy, and the $11.99 plan would be worth it to get rid of those.
If you’re not binging much in Hulu, and you’re popping in for a show here or there, the commercial-supported plan at $5.99 is going to be great. Yes, there are commercials, but even there, you’re getting a better deal than you’re used to with traditional TV.
Your typical network half-hour show is actually only about 22-23 minutes long, to account for 7-8 minutes of commercials. When you watch the same commercial-supported show on Hulu, you’re getting an average of 5 minutes of commercials over the same program. Saves you a few minutes per show.
Lastly, we have Amazon Prime Video. The video-only plan is only $8.99 a month, but I think it’s pretty foolish to go this route. Why? Because you can the full Amazon Prime suite of services for $12.99 a month, or if you pay for a full year, it’s $119, which works out to $9.91 a month. That’s less than a dollar per month more than the video-only plan. And what do you get? Free shipping and discounts on Amazon purchases, access to 2 million songs on Amazon Music, and a bunch of free Kindle content. But let’s be honest, the free Prime shipping alone would be worth it on its own.
So, if we’re paying $12.99 for Netflix HD, $5.99 for Hulu with commercials, and $9.91 for Prime, we’re coming out to $28.89 a month, LESS THAN $5 MORE than the cheapest way, and STILL under $30. Make it Hulu with no commercials and we’re at $34.89; STILL a great deal. And that’s the right way to do it.
Because I’m driven to be controversial, I’ll pick a winner between the three of them. This is tough and completely subjective, but I’m going with Prime Video. Don’t get me wrong- Netflix is amazing! Hulu is amazing! But the value of Prime video plus the other Prime benefits for less than I’d pay for the standard Netflix plan? No brainer.
But what's your pick? Let me know in the comments below!

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