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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Flix Premiere

Flix Premiere is a British on-demand streaming service that brings together the best of independent cinema into one place. It partners with premier film festivals like TIFF, SXSW, Cannes, and Berlinale and selects the best of the bunch—the most beloved and awarded in the circuit—to stream on the platform.

Perhaps the best thing about it is that, unlike mainstream streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Flix does not use algorithms at all. Everything is proudly hand-curated by a team of film lovers, so you know it comes from a place of passion. Though, like mainstream streamers, Flix does allow offline viewing and is reasonably priced. A subscription costs £5.99/month, but if you're still on the fence about its offerings, you can test the service out for free for 30 days.

Eurosport

Home to various international sporting events, including the Olympic Games in some areas, Eurosport is one of the premier sports networks in the UK. Its coverage is vast and includes the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, as well as snooker, cycling, and motorsports competitions.

For cord-cutters, Eurosport is available as an add-on to Discovery Plus, Amazon Prime Video, BT Sports, Sky Sports, and Virgin Media. If your streaming device is already linked to either of these platforms, then Eurosport comes as a convenient option for you. Across platforms, the price is a consistent £6.99/month, but yearly costs may vary and reach up to £59.99/year. It's worth checking out if you're a sports fanatic who can't get enough of the games.

DocuBay

Based in Mumbai, DocuBay is an on-demand streaming service that features documentaries from around the world. Like Mubi, it spotlights a different film each day to save you the trouble of endless scrolling. The films span multiple genres, from health and wellness to news and politics, and some of them are actually free to watch. But most titles are locked and available via a subscription.

The plans start at £3.99/month, but they don't automatically renew so you can test it first within the allotted time to see whether it's for you. If you're not too keen on adding yet another streaming service to your lineup, you can purchase DocuBay as a channel add-on to your existing Amazon Prime membership.

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docsville

Docsville is a great resource for global documentaries. Founded in London, it's an on-demand streaming service set up by former BBC executives who wanted to bring together eye-opening stories from around the world.

What sets Docsville apart is it gives a special emphasis on up-and-coming filmmakers, so in addition to learning from their content, you get to support emerging storytellers as well.

Docsville is accessible via multiple streaming devices and it costs £3.99/month or £39.99/ year after a seven-day free trial. It's also available as an Amazon Prime add-on for the same price.

DocAlliance Films

DocAlliance Films is a streaming service that works together with film festivals around Europe to bring together remarkable movies in one place. Along with traditional documentaries (its forte), DocAlliance mainly features festival hits, indie darlings, and arthouse films.

What's interesting about the platform is that you don't need to subscribe to access it. You can rent or download some of its titles for a one-time fee ranging from £1.50 for shorts to £4.00 for full-length features. A limited number of films are also free to watch.

But if you decide you want to make the most out of DocAlliance's selective and curated lineup, then you can subscribe and pay £6.99/month or £60/year. This gives you access to more than 2,000 films, constant discounts, and download privileges. If you're looking to go beyond mainstream cinema and engage in thoughtful narratives, then DocAlliance is certainly worth considering.

Disney Plus

When it comes to content, Disney is pretty hard to beat. As the media parent of American studios like Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century, and Searchlight Pictures, it’s home to everything from intimate sitcoms to major blockbusters. British TV aficionados will also be glad to know that the best properties from Hulu (that exclusively American streaming service) can also be found here. That’s right, on this side of the pond, titles like The Dropout, Atlanta, and Abbott Elementary belong to the House of Mouse.

For all this, Disney+ charges £7.99/month or £79.90/year. Given this wealth of content, plus the option to watch offline, stream on four screens at once, and set up parental controls, it seems like a worthy service to add to your streaming lineup.

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Discovery Plus

Discovery Plus is a streaming service that offers a mix of on-demand content and live TV channels. With its reserve of documentaries, educational programs, reality shows, and competitive games, as well as its lineup of channels like TLC, Quest, and Animal Planet, it's the go-to streaming service for non-fiction aficionados.

Discovery Plus has a free tier that gives users access to some of its channels (namely Quest, Quest Red, Really, HGTV, Food Network, and DMAX), but if you're after the true-blue Discovery Plus experience, then you might want to look at its Entertainment pass, which costs £3.99/month, and its Entertainment & Sports Pass, which costs £ 6.99/month. Apart from having more channels on your lineup (including Eurosport 1 and 2 on the Sports Pass) you also get access to Discovery Plus originals with these paid subscriptions.

Dekkoo

There's no shortage of queer-centric streaming services out there, but Dekkoo stands out by centering exclusively on gay men. Boasting the largest collection of gay content online, Dekkoo is a subscription-based streaming service that carries hundreds of queer films, TV shows, and documentaries, a number of which happen to be Dekkoo originals. Most of these titles are American, but there are some sourced from different parts of the world. Along with its international collection, Dekkoo has other curated lists that span all sorts of genres and formats.

Dekkoo is available on most streaming devices, and plans start at £7.28/month or £61.09/year.f

DAZN

There are plenty of dedicated sports streaming services out there, but if you're most interested in live boxing, MMA, and other fight-related tournaments, then you should consider subscribing to DAZN.

DAZN is an on-demand streaming service that features the best of fight night without the hassle of pay-per-view or ads. While it has programs that cover other sports, like basketball and chess, they're not as robust as their boxing features.

Subscription prices start at £9.99/month; it's a fair price, although do note that this plan automatically signs you up for a year and won't renew until the next. If you want a more flexible plan, you can choose to pay £19.99/month or £99.99/year.

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Curzon Home Cinema

For years, Curzon theaters have been the home of quality movies in the UK. It’s the place you go to if you want to see foreign, independent, and arthouse titles that don't normally get the cineplex treatment. Its online on-demand service, Curzon Home Cinema, is no different.

As the streaming arm of Curzon, Curzon Home Cinema makes the newest releases available for rent, so you can watch in the comfort of your home. It’s a convenient option if you don’t feel like going out but are still keen on catching the latest in films.

Creating an account on Curzon Home Cinema is free, but the rental process itself will cost you. Since it's a pay-per-view service rather than a subscription service, each film can cost around £4.99 to £9.99 to rent, with those that are still screening in physical theaters usually costing more. The rental will be available for 30 days, then once you hit play, you’ll have 48 hours to watch it as many times as you please.

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Flix Premiere

Eurosport

DocuBay

docsville

DocAlliance Films

Disney Plus

Discovery Plus

Dekkoo

DAZN

Curzon Home Cinema

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