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The streaming market bustles with options so much so that the ability to choose grows more and more difficult. The variety of streaming services today offer options catered to viewers with all kinds of different preferences. Navigate between SD or HD streaming quality, how many screens you want to stream from, free trials or no free trials, upgrades, and a vast selection of content.
Luckily, to minimize your stress when choosing a new platform to invest in, we’ve pitted two of the most popular options against each other. We’ve decided to throw Amazon Prime Video and Netflix Canada in the ring for a battle to pick the best service out of the two.
Which one won? Keep reading to find out.
Amazon Prime Vs. Netflix Canada at a Glance
Amazon Prime Video Advantages
- Allows more than one streamer at a time
- Free trial
- HD quality streaming for all plans
Amazon Prime Video Disadvantages
- High cost for selection
- Not everything is included in the subscription, a lot of add-ons and upgrades for content
- Ads
Netflix Canada Advantages
- No ads
- Price for content included
- Wealth of content
Netflix Canada Disadvantages
- No free trial
- Content limited based on region
- HD streaming only available with upgraded plans
Winner: Don’t want to read our breakdown? The editor’s choice is Prime Video.
What’s the Difference Between Them?
Content Selection
Both platforms have a huge content selection, but the type of content included in the subscription varies. For example, Prime Video has a lot of newer content, including films and television shows like American Horror Story, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Good Omens. The service contains a lot of original content from its own streaming service, as well, but doesn’t stop there. In fact, you can find some Prime content on Apple TV+, Hulu, and HBO MAX.
For Netflix Canada, a lot of their newer content is only Netflix originals, and the content that is not from Netflix tends to be a lot older than other streaming services offer. There are some more recent titles, such as The Social Dilemma (2020) and Limbo (2020), but the majority of content ranges from the 90s to the mid-2010s, unless it’s a Netflix original such as the Bollywood movie RRR (2022). Of course, Netflix does have some quality original content like Stranger Things and Workin’ Moms.
Verdict: Both choices have a huge selection of content but for more variety, Prime Video wins this category.
Free Trials
Amazon Prime Video provides free trials for users whether or not you invest in the Prime subscription service. A misconception is that users can only watch Prime Video when they have an Amazon Prime subscription. While Prime Video is included in a Prime subscription, you can purchase a Prime Video subscription for $7.99/month without the added purchase of the Prime service.
Amazon Prime allows 30-day free trials for both Prime Video subscribers and Prime subscribers. This allows you to get a taste of the material available so you don’t have to invest in something you might not like! Plus, most subscriptions only offer a seven-day free trial or none at all.
Netflix used to offer a one-week free trial but has since got rid of it. So, you don’t get to test out the platform before you make the purchase.
Verdict: Amazon Prime offers a free trial making it more appealing to viewers. It wins this category.
Pricing Options
Both Amazon Prime Video and Netflix Canada have a few pricing options for users. Let’s start with Amazon Prime.
Only investing in Prime Video costs $7.99 a month with a one-month free trial. You get to test the platform and see if it works for you before signing up for a monthly payment plan. This comes out to $87.89 per year when including the free trial. You also get 4K quality and can stream on up to three devices at once.
A Prime subscription with Prime Video totals $9.99 a month or $99 a year. If you live in Quebec, you cannot sign up for a free trial, but you get the first two months for $9.99. In addition to the movie and show selection, you get access to Amazon Music, Prime free shipping, and two-day, or quicker, delivery, photo storage, and access to ebooks. You also get 4K quality streaming and can stream on up to three devices at once.
Netflix Canada has more options, but they come at a higher cost.
Basic is $9.99 a month and includes an unlimited content selection from their catalog, SD streaming, streaming on a phone, computer, or tablet, and only allows one viewer at a time.
Standard costs $16.49 a month, offers an unlimited selection of content from the Netflix catalog, allows you to stream on a phone, computer, or tablet, allows two people to stream at once, and provides HD streaming.
Premium plans cost $20.99 a month with unlimited content selection, streaming on up to four screens at the same time, HD and Ultra HD options, and allow you to stream from any device.
Verdict: Prime has better options for less cost.
Transparency with Content
When you invest in a streaming service, you agree that that content does not belong to you. However, some streaming services do allow you to rent or buy content.
Netflix does not allow this, but Prime Video does. Prime is not always transparent with which content is included in your subscription. You might want to watch a specific movie on Prime. Once you click on the movie, you realize you have to pay extra money or purchase an additional subscription to view the content.
Although these prices might be discounted, some people do not want to dole out more money on top of their subscriptions.
The rental period on Prime Video is 72 hours once you finalize the rental. Once you start watching the program, you have 24 hours to finish it. The short amount of rental time might not be worth the extra cost to some customers.
Netflix does not offer customers the ability to buy or rent content, but they are transparent about what is included in a subscription. Everything listed on the platform is included in the subscription plan with no extra fees.
Verdict: Netflix is more transparent about what you get when you invest in their subscription.
Ads
Prime Video includes ads on some of its content. It is branded and only focuses on Amazon content. However, when you’re paying a premium price for content, some users do not prefer to be bombarded with advertisements.
Netflix does not have any ads for any of its plans. You can watch content uninterrupted for hours if you so choose.
Verdict: Netflix wins. Even though you pay more per month, who actually likes ads?
User-Friendly Interface
Amazon Prime does not have the best interface because everything is compiled into a long list, making it difficult to find what you are looking for.
For example, say you want to watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from the beginning. Prime does not group its seasons together, as Netflix does, and it also does not gather them in order. So, when searching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the first thing that pops up is season four of the series. Having to scroll through to watch something in order is aggravating when you pay for a service.
Netflix is known to have one of the most user-friendly interfaces out of all the streaming services. The platform divides content into sections and subsections to make it easier for users to find something that interests them. Once you start watching content, the AI uses that information to cater the content toward what the user prefers. The interface is very user-friendly toward users’ preferences and makes it easy to navigate new content and find shows you otherwise might never hear of.
Verdict: Netflix’s interface is the best of all.
Amount of Streaming Screens
Prime Video allows users on any subscription plan to watch up to three screens at a time. This is beneficial if you share the plan with your friends and family and if you’re all avid media consumers, but it doesn’t allow you to add additional screens to the plan.
Netflix has single-use options and options for up to four screens at a time. If you live alone and don’t share a plan, investing in the basic option makes sense. If you share a plan with your friends and family, you can split the cost and have access to more screens. You do have to pay more to have more screens added to your plan, but it’s worth it when you split the cost.
Verdict: Netflix has more options for multiple screens.
Conclusion
Both Amazon Prime and Netflix Canada offer users a vast collection of content and a premium subscription to popular platforms, but when it comes down to the best deal between the two, Amazon Prime Video wins the contest. Amazon Prime takes home the trophy with free trials, an updated content catalog, and HD streaming for all users.
