Streaming Service Power Rankings 2025
Inspired by Tworenniks’ Video Game Power Rankings, I’ve decided to apply the same exercise to streaming services, as we see more and more pop up every day it seems, demanding more of our cash per month at increasing rates.
Note that with us being a Canadian site, there will be some streaming services we will not be naming but instead using the Canadian version that carries the content from those services in the US, namely Crave instead of HBO Max (or whatever it’s now called).
You might be wondering what the criteria is for ranking these and admittedly there is a fair amount of subjectivity to this, but in general, I look more at the amount of quality content as well as general pop culture impact and success rate. There’s a blend of critical and commercial success that is taken into account, but to a smaller extent, how much each service costs and whether you are getting as much bang for your buck or not. Each ranking will have some justification underneath to explain why that service was ranked where it was. I know there’s a million tiny ones that do very niche things, but for the purposes of this article, I’ll be looking at the 5 big ones.
#5: Disney+
- Pricing
- Standard with Ads: $8.99/month
- Standard: $15.99/month
- Premium: $16.99/month
- Standout content
- Andor
- X-Men: The Animated Series
Disney+ being dead last is pretty embarrassing if I’m being honest. It is coasting on name brand alone with little to no great original content to speak of. Their big bet on IP has flopped miserably with almost every Marvel and Disney show failing to make a mark. Outside of Andor, almost every good show is a show that airs on a channel Disney happens to own and then is streamed on the streaming service.
On top of that, there is a distinct lack of variety in the content you can consume. It is very concentrated in Western TV shows and movies. Other services have stand up specials, international content, and more exclusives dropping regularly. Not only is the amount of original content lacking, the quality is not there either to justify dropping money for this service.
#4: Amazon Prime Video
- Pricing
- Included with Prime with Ads: $9.99/month
- Ad-free: $12.98/month
- Standout content
- Fallout
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith
- The Boys
- The Legend of Vox Machina
- The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Prime Video has something going for it that the other services don’t: the fact that getting access to their video content is included in a package that many subscribe to for other reasons. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it “free” but it certainly makes it more accessible than the other services that are exclusively for the video content.
That said, the navigability is atrocious despite their improvement with a redesign recently and the slop to quality content ratio is disgusting. I couldn’t tell you if half the movies or shows on this service are real or not. The search function is akin to a prayer and even when you find what you’re looking for, there’s no guarantee Prime actually has this content or not. Like, who designed this?
In terms of content, I can’t go as far as to say there’s nothing good on here. In fact, I’ve reviewed multiple shows from the service such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Invincible, both of which I liked. They also have a fair variety of content available in terms of content type and origin. The problem though is that the Prime Video content machine is like a shotgun where they shoot a ton at you and you have to pick through the pieces to find the good stuff. And that good content unfortunately is few and far between.
#3: Crave
- Pricing
- Basic: $11.99/month
- Standard: $14.99/month
- Premium: $22.00/month
- Standout content
- House of the Dragon
- Peacemaker
- The Last of Us
- The Pitt
- The White Lotus (review here)
Admittedly, Crave is an awkward service to discuss in this list. They do technically make original Canadian content. However, the draw is that they have all the HBO prestige show rights in Canada. On the one hand, I haven’t given much weight to non-original content for other services, but there’s no real way to evaluate Crave without that, so we will just have to compromise here and act like Crave is a quasi-proxy for HBO Max in the US with some added content. It’s my list.
It’s just undeniable that despite a bit of a dip compared to its heyday, HBO puts out some of the best prestige television content. Many of the most critically acclaimed TV shows are on here. And that’s to say nothing of the backlog of HBO content you can go back and watch too. It’s all here. You might be asking yourself then, “so if this service has all these great shows, why is it in the middle of the rankings?” And to you, I’d say that variety is the spice of life.
Do I like well made, critically acclaimed shows? Of course. Is that all I want to be watching? Not necessarily. Sometimes, you want to watch a nature documentary or something light and funny. I personally also love watching animated content. And suddenly when you’re not as much in the mood for the prestige dramas, you start feeling like there’s not as much here.
On a Canadian side, there is definitely some more local content like Letterkenny, Shoresy or North of North to discover. But unfortunately, in the content-hungry world we live in, it does little to make up for the lack of variety that’s available on Crave. If it were not for that, it would compete for top spot on this list.
#2: Netflix
- Pricing
- Standard with Ads: $7.99/month
- Standard: $18.99/month
- Premium: $23.99/month
- Standout content:
- Adolescence
- Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
- KPop Demon Hunters
- Squid Game
- Stranger Things
Every list needs a controversial pick. Well this list doesn’t have one because I have very good reasons for putting Netflix here. Feel free to disagree though.
There’s an argument to be made that Prime Video are more similar to Netflix than they are different, especially when it comes to content success rate. I don’t completely disagree, especially when you look at big budget duds like The Gray Man or The Electric State. However, I think the Netflix machine manages to put out more consistent good content for a variety of target demographics than Prime Video does. Same goes for why Netflix is ranked above Crave. Sure, Crave has all the prestige stuff, but it feels limited in the amount and type of content is provides.
Something that Netflix has really cornered the market on whether it’s your preference or not is the reality TV space. Whether that’s cooking competitions, matchmaking premises, social experimenting or just physical prowess, Netflix has a show for you. Whether you watch them or not, I guarantee you can name a few off the top of your head. And that aspect is what Netflix is so good at: pop culture impact.
But even if we go away from that one specific genre, they put out good movies like Rebel Ridge or KPop Demon Hunters. They are even more prolific on the show side of things. Just this year, we have positively reviewed Adolescence, Devil May Cry, The Residence, and Untamed. And there have been many other shows too like Dept. Q, Wayward, and Black Rabbit. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but all of these are also all new shows. I’m not even counting all the shows that are continuing their runs like Black Mirror or Stranger Things, I guess eventually.
All of these elements for me end up putting Netflix in a tier above Prime Video and Crave. The way I see it is I think I would be fine if Netflix was the only streaming service I had, but I don’t feel that way about the previous entries. If Prime Video and Crave were to combine, I think that mix might overtake Netflix, but separately they just end up dividing the attention whereas Netflix finds the more comfortable middle ground.
#1: Apple TV+
- Pricing
- Apple TV+: $14.99/month
- Standout content
- Severance
- Silo
- Slow Horses
- Ted Lasso
- The Studio
This won’t come as a surprise to those who know me personally, but I don’t think this is a popular view out there. Apple TV+ is maybe not technically the newest of the services, but the most recent to gain prominence. Although there’s a decent backlog, since it is limited to original content, it doesn’t compare to some of the other streamers either. So how come I’m putting it at #1? They just put out good stuff.
If you like comedies, you can watch Ted Lasso or Shrinking or Platonic or The Studio or Stick. You want some of that HBO-type prestige stuff? You’ll get that too in Severance, Silo, Pachinko or Presumed Innocent. Something more sci-fi? Foundation and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters have you covered. International content? Yeah, it’s a little more lacking but you still have great shows like Carême, Where’s Wanda? and Tehran. I won’t list everything, but they’ve even got animated content, docuseries, live sports and are now even getting into reality shows with their music competition KPopped.
Additionally, they’ve even put out two excellent films this year in F1 and Highest 2 Lowest.
Since this a power ranking, there is fair amount of weight on “what have you done for me lately?” And it is hard to argue that any streaming service is putting out more high quality content at a clip as frequent as Apple TV+. When looking at the most recent Emmy nominations, Apple TV+ was strongly represented by Shrinking, The Studio, Severance, and Slow Horses. Even shows like Presumed Innocent, Dope Thief, Disclaimer, and Bad Sisters made appearances in some categories.
It’s very likely that you are not as familiar with the Apple TV+ content list. Here are reviews that I’ve put out for some of their shows that I recommend: Silo, Slow Horses, Stick, The Studio. As much as this may feel like a leap to you, take the time to consume more of the content on here and come back in a year with potentially even more awards in the bag, and you might feel like this ranking was ahead of the curve.
Is Apple TV+ a perfect service? No, but I don’t think any of them are. You can find drawbacks and advantages to them all and perhaps your specific viewing patterns will make one of the services I ranked lower down be a lot more attractive. If you have problems with my list…
