40 Best Streaming Services in the UK

uk-tv › best streaming services • August 11, 2024 • Staff

The reign of cord-cutting in the UK has been a long time coming. After years of sky-high costs and months-long contracts, it makes sense for viewers to replace clunky cables with the leaner and cheaper experience that streaming brings. With streaming, not only are costs slashed in half, the choices are also plentiful, customizable, and catered to your specific needs. You can also renew streaming subscriptions monthly so that you're not tied down to just one provider for an entire year or more.

Streaming has become so ubiquitous that even the cable companies like Virgin Media and Sky are jumping ship and providing their own cordless streaming services. Pretty soon, there will be nary a cable in sight, so to guide you through this transition, we've compiled streaming services available right now in the UK. We've included pertinent details like price, channel lineup, and device compatibility to help you make an informed decision. Some services, like Netflix and Disney+ are on-demand services that allow you to watch programmes anytime you want, while others, like ITVX and Viaplay, are live TV services that give you access to news, sports, and entertainment channels in realtime (provided you have a TV licence, that is). Without further ado, here are the best streaming services in the UK.

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Now TV Cinema

Now offers plenty of different membership tiers depending on your needs. There's one for sports, TV, and even kids, but one of its most popular tiers is Now TV Cinema, a platform dedicated to streaming the best of current cinema. Here you'll find gems from Hollywood and beyond, from blockbusters and heavyweight franchises to beloved indies and classics. It's truly an impressive resource, perhaps one of the best in the UK.

Before anything else, you'll need to have a Now account (signing up is free), but once that's sorted, you can then subscribe to Now TV Cinema for £9.99/month. Apart from 1,000 movies to watch on demand, you'll also gain access to 11 live TV channels, including Sky Cinema Premiere and Hits, among many others.

Now

Now TV (or simply Now) is Sky TV's standalone and contract-free streaming service. It features the best of the Sky Channel, but in specialized membership formats that you can choose according to your viewing needs. As of this writing, this includes a cinema pass for £9.99/month (perfect for cinephiles), an entertainment pass for £9.99/month (perfect for TV lovers), a Hayu pass for £4.99/month (perfect for reality show enthusiasts), and finally, a kids pass for £3.99/month (perfect for the little ones). You can subscribe to one of these passes or bundle them together and add extra channels like Sky Sports.

If you prefer to have the fat trimmed off of your choices, you'll appreciate this specialized approach to streaming. But you have to be careful about the expenses, which can stack up via add-ons. You’ll also have to have what’s called a Boost upgrade if you want to unlock 1080p streaming (the standard is 720p) and access simultaneous streaming for up to three devices (the standard is two devices).

It seems tricky, but once you get the hang of Now, it’s actually a top-notch service with quality programming.

Netflix

For the longest time, Netflix has remained undefeated in the streaming stratosphere. It solidified its top position by providing an endless catalog of original films and TV shows and by taking risky moves early on, like allowing offline viewing and releasing interactive games.

However, amid rising competition, Netflix has had to make a few changes to its iconic viewing experience. For one, it now has an ad-supported tier, which cord-cutters on a budget can subscribe to for £4.99/month. Under this plan, you can expect to see four to five minutes of advertising per hour of viewing. But Netflix’s basic plan, which allows one device to watch ad-free at any given time, still costs £6.99. Meanwhile, the standard and premium plans are still priced at £10.99 and £15.99, respectively (the latter offers 4k quality for that extra crisp viewing experience).

With an extensive media library and affordable price plans to boot, Netflix remains a great option for streaming and binging.

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My5

As the streaming arm of Channel 5, My5 has all of Channel 5’s offerings and more, including original shows like Milkshake! for kids, All Creatures Great and Small for adults, and thanks to parent company Paramount, American franchises like Yellowstone, Law & Order, and Criminal Minds. My5 also has a live TV option that streams Channel 5, 5STAR, 5USA, 5SELECT, and 5ACTION real-time.

It’s quite a convenient streamer; the only downside is that, as of this writing, you can’t download episodes for offline viewing. But with free access and on multiple devices to boot, it’s a worthy entry into the UK’s homegrown services.

Mubi

With carefully selected titles from around the globe, Mubi is a streaming service made for and by dedicated movie lovers. It was founded in 2007 as a small streaming service based in the UK, but it has since expanded into film distribution, production, and even criticism. Mubi is where you’ll find acclaimed indie darlings and beloved global gems, making it a staple among cinephiles.

Mubi offers a week-long trial upon subscription, after which you’ll have to pay £9.99/month. You can also choose to pay £95.88/year (or £7.99/month). It’s compatible with almost all devices, making it user-friendly even for cord-cutting beginners.

Magellan TV

Magellan TV is an on-demand streaming service dedicated to educational non-fiction content, making it a worthy option for lifelong learners and documentary lovers. What sets it apart from other docu-heavy streaming sites is its careful curation and broad range. It's also a great choice if you're into history and science more than any other topic.

While Magellan TV is available in most parts of the world, it does charge USD— $5.99/month in particular. That works out to be £4.99/month in the UK, more or less. If you're still not sure it's a worthy addition to your streaming lineup, you can try the service out for free for seven days.

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Lionsgate Plus

Previously known as Starzplay, Lionsgate+ is an on-demand streaming service that can be accessed as a standalone service or as a subscription add-on to existing platforms like Amazon Prime, Roku, and Virgin TV. Either way, it's available to try for free across multiple devices.

While Lionsgate doesn’t quite have the breadth of options that Netflix and Amazon Prime have, it offers quality titles from many studios around the world (but particularly from America) and if often does so exclusively. It’s home to the critically acclaimed series Gaslit and Outlander from Starz, as well as Station Eleven and Tokyo Vice from HBO. At £5.99 a month, Lionsgate is certainly worth checking out if you're a fan of popular and well-received TV shows and films, especially those coming from the other side of the pond.

ITVX

ITVX is ITV’s official streaming service. It’s the cordless home of the network’s deep reserve of shows, which includes reality hits like Love Island and Big Brother, as well as imported titles like Freaks and Geeks and The Sex Lives of College Girls. It also has licensed films from the US and original content on the way, making it a hefty rival against the likes of Now, BBC iPlayer, and even Netflix.

Since ITVX is ad-supported, you can watch all of its channels and select titles for free. But if you do opt to go premium and pay £5.99/month (or £59.99/year), then you will have access to offline viewing and ITV’s Britbox selection, which has significantly more titles as it also sources from the BBC and Channel 4, among others.

It may be relatively new to the streaming world, but because it gives viewers free and premium options, ITVX already packs a mighty punch.

Hayu

You can say what you want about reality TV, but it’s hard to beat the fact that no other type of show can satisfy your drama cravings quite like it. Whether you’re watching a cooking competition or a dating series, there’s something addictively thrilling about the outbursts and meltdowns that go down in these shows.

Hayu is an on-demand streaming service dedicated to all things reality TV. It features up to 300 shows, most of which stream on the same day as the US and all of which you can access on major streaming devices. Here, you'll find all 20 seasons of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, as well as multiple iterations of The Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules, and Top Chef. It’s not bad at £4.99/month, but if you’re still not sure whether it warrants a monthly subscription, you can try their seven-day free trial to test it out.

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Freeview Play

Freeview Play is a free live TV and on-demand streaming service rolled into one. It has an easy-viewing Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) that allows you to both see upcoming shows and replay previously aired ones via a nifty rollback function, making it a great catch-up service too. With more than 70 live TV channels, 10 on-demand UK streamers, and 25 radio stations, it's no wonder Freeview Play is increasingly becoming a staple in UK households. In fact, the service comes pre-installed in many smart TVs released from 2020 onwards.

Now, the catch is that Freeview Play's live TV and EPG functions only work if you have an aerial connection. But even without one, you can still view on-demand content from Freeview Play's partner streamers like the BBC iPlayer, for instance, and get recorded feeds from their respective channels. Apart from the iPlayer, Freeview Play's partner streamers include ITVX, All 4, My 5, UKTV Play, CBS Catchup, Legend, PBS America, Pop Player, and BBC Sounds. As for the live TV channels, that will largely depend on your location, but it does cover major bases like BBC, Channel 4, and Channel 5, among many others.

If you're looking for a platform that brings everything all in one place, then Freeview Play is certainly worth considering.

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Now TV Cinema

Now

Netflix

My5

Mubi

Magellan TV

Lionsgate Plus

ITVX

Hayu

Freeview Play

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