These are the following streaming services available in India with a brief summary.
1. Amazon
Prime Video
Amazon’s Prime Video is
currently the best bet as a Netflix alternative in India. It has an extensive
library of exclusive Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood movies alongside Amazon's
original shows. The e-commerce giant is also producing 18 new Amazon original
shows in India which is highest outside the US.
Amazon has priced its Prime
service at Rs. 999 per year which is still cheaper than Netflix. If you want to
try before buying 1-year membership then, in that case, you can opt for a
1-month free trial. Another advantage of Amazon Prime subscription includes
Prime Videos, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and Prime Delivery.
Try Amazon Prime
2. Disney+ Hotstar
In April 2019, the Walt Disney
Company acquired Star India along with subsidiary Novi Digital Entertainment.
This means Walt Disney now owns Hotstar along with now owns Star India and Fox
Star Studios. Now that all the contents of Disney+ are on it. Hotstar is another
OTT (over-the-top) service provider that has seen tremendous growth in
viewership in recent years. Like Amazon and Netflix, it too has a large content
library with originals shows and an exclusive movie catalog.
The advantage Hotstar has over
Netflix (even Prime Videos) is that it also offers live streaming of TV
channels and major sports events like IPL, Cricket series, and ICC event,
formula one races and lot more. Though Hotstar has a subscription-based model
in place, it also offers some of is content with ads for free on its platform.
Try Hotstar
3. Netflix
The original reason why online streaming services became so popular. They have some
of the best originals (popularly known as Netflix Originals) both in movies and
series. Some of the most popular ones like Sacred Games, Stranger Things,
Daredevil, Punisher, Orange Is The New Black, Narcos, House of Cards,
Narcos…the list goes on forever!
4. Sony Liv
Sony Liv is another OTT the platform which allows you stream content across devices. Backed by Sony
Pictures Networks, the streaming app, and website offer Web Series, Popular
Hollywood, and Bollywood Movies, Live broadcast of sporting events, and TV
channels streaming.
Like Hotstar it also has
freemium and premium two subscription versions. Under the freemium model, a
user gets access to the limited library content. Sony Liv premium subscription
for 12 months costs Rs 499 which is much cheaper than Netflix. There is some
additional content available on a rental basis.
Try Sony Liv
5. Jio Cinema
Jio Cinema can be looked as
Netflix's alternative has a wide catalog of Indian and international content.
It is a cross-platform streaming service offered by Jio telecom to its prime
customers for free.
Jio has also reportedly
partnered with some of top productions houses to produce exclusive content for
its platform. The Jio Cinema app currently offers movies in various languages
including English and Hindi, Music Videos, web-series and recent episodes of
daily soaps from different TV channels.
Try Jio Cinema
6. ErosNow
ErosNow – a digital arm of Eros
International Plc, is an OTT Platform
similar to Netflix. The video streaming platform has a portfolio
majorly revolves around Bollywood and vernacular languages.
ErosNow offers some the
Bollywood classics which aren’t really available on any other OTT platform. You
can also watch TV shows from Pakistani channels Hum TV and ARY Digital on this
OTT platform.
Try Eros Now
7. Hooq
Hooq is another streaming
platform in India that can be considered as a Netflix alternative. It is also a
cross-platform OTT service that lets you both stream or downloads movies and
series on your phone, laptop or tablet. Currently, Hooq lets you access its
services on up to 5 devices on a single subscription.
Hooq claims to feature more
than 10,000 titles including latest Bollywood blockbusters, Hollywood movies,
foreign language movies and popular TV series like Big Bang Theory, DC
superhero TV shows like Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and
others. Hooq currently charges Rs. 89 for 3 months from first-time users.
Try HOOQ
8. Hungama
Hungama.com offers an on-demand
Hungama Play service which is available across multiple platforms. Hungama has
an armory of over 7 thousand movies across 12 languages which includes English,
Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Punjabi.
It works on both pay-per-view
as well as on a monthly subscription basis. While the subscription fee for a 30
days unlimited movies pack is Rs 149 while the annual subscription costs Rs
1,399. Hungama also offers a free music streaming service where users can enjoy
music in different languages.
Try Hungama
9. Spuul
Spuul, a Singapore based the company, was amongst the first few to step in the video streaming business in
India. Apart from classical Indian telly shows like Fauji, Malgudi Days, Dekh
Bhai Dekh, Spuul also has a wide range of Hindi Bollywood movies to offer.
In fact, you can watch a lot of
content even without registration. To access the entire Spuul library one has
to pay a monthly subscription fee.
Try Spuul
8. MX Player
Backed by Times Group, MX
Player is another platform that now offers video services in India. The online
library lists regional language content besides popular Hindi and English
language shows. Regional language content includes videos in Tamil, Telugu,
Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bangla, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Odia.
9. Vudu
Vudu is an OTT streaming
platform from Flipkart’s parent company Walmart. Although Vudu is yet to
officially launch in India, you can very match access it in the country using
VPN services including free ones. Why is it in this list you may ask? Well, it
offers a lot of popular movies and shows from the Hollywood studios that aren’t
available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Another advantage Vudu has over
Netflix and Prime Videos is that it allows users to watch some of the content
for free, but with some ads. If you are ready to spend on the subscription,
you will also get early access of selected titles on Vudu much before they get
released in India.
Tip: You can try using Hola VPN
plugin on chrome browser to access Vudu using the US server.
Try Vudu
10. Apple TV+
Earlier this year in March
Apple presented its Apple TV Plus – a new streaming service that costs just Rs
99 per month in India.
Apple has officially revealed
that it is working on original shows, movies and documentaries made by
acclaimed names like JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg, and M. Night Shyamalan. You
can access Apple TV+ on Apple devices, Roku and even on Amazon FireTV stick.
Try Apple TV+
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