Netflix on desktop

Netflix’s standard plan crossed $17.99 a month in the US this year, the ad-supported tier is $7.99, and password sharing is now enforced with monthly extra-member fees. Meanwhile the East of Eden and Harry Potter reboot news signals what everyone already knew: the prestige-drama race is broken up across five or six services now, and Netflix is one bidder among many. If you are asking whether it is time to swap a Netflix subscription for something more targeted, these are the seven Netflix alternatives worth using on a Windows or Mac desktop.

Every service below has a first-party desktop app for Windows and macOS, or a web player that handles 1080p in-browser (some require the app for 4K and Dolby Vision). Prices are US-region as of August 2026.

Quick comparison

Service Best for Free tier Starting price Standout content
Prime Video Broad catalogue plus sports Ad-supported with Prime $8.99/mo standalone or Prime The Boys, Fallout, NFL Thursday
Max Prestige TV No $9.99/mo with ads HBO originals, Warner films
Disney+ Family and franchise No $9.99/mo with ads Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar
Apple TV+ Original drama 7-day trial $12.99/mo Severance, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses
Paramount+ Sports and CBS 7-day trial $7.99/mo (Essential) Yellowstone, Star Trek, NFL
Peacock NBC library and live 7-day trial $7.99/mo (Premium) The Office, Sunday Night Football
Hulu Current-season network TV 30-day trial $9.99/mo with ads ABC/FX next-day, Only Murders

Why people leave Netflix

Three complaints come up over and over on the r/CordCutters and r/television subreddits. First, the pricing. The ad-free Standard plan is now $17.99 in the US, and the household-sharing crackdown adds $7.99 per extra profile outside the home. Two households that used to share one plan now pay $25.98 combined. Second, catalogue churn. Titles rotate out on 30-day notice, and Netflix has been shedding classic Warner and Universal licensed content as those studios pull inventory back to Max and Peacock. Third, the “algorithm slop” complaint. Users report the home screen surfacing thumb-and-hook titles they never finish, and burying prestige originals they would have wanted to see.

None of these alternatives fix all three, but each one takes a different angle. Max is where the prestige drama migrated. Prime Video is the “one-price, one-app” catch-all. Apple TV+ went the opposite way and picks fewer titles.

Prime Video, best for a broad catalogue plus sports

Prime Video is the closest structural replacement for Netflix. It has thousands of licensed movies, a growing slate of originals (The Boys, Fallout, The Rings of Power, Reacher), a rentals/purchase storefront on top, and now Thursday Night Football. The desktop experience on Windows and Mac is the Prime Video app (Microsoft Store on Windows, dedicated app on Mac) or the web player.

Where it falls short: the interface still surfaces channels and rentals mixed with your subscription content, which reads as clutter. Ad-free costs an extra $2.99 a month on top of the base tier.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: import a watchlist manually by searching titles. There is no automatic import. Downloadable content works on the mobile apps, but the desktop apps only play online.

Download: Web player or Microsoft Store on Windows; Prime Video is bundled on Mac App Store.

Bottom line: pick Prime Video if you want the broadest bag of content for the lowest single price. Skip it if the interface’s rental-plus-subscription clutter drives you up a wall.

Max, best for prestige TV

Max holds the HBO catalogue plus a growing pipe of Warner and DC content. If Netflix ever gave you Succession, The Wire, or House of the Dragon envy, this is where those live. The Mac app is native, the Windows experience is the web player (Microsoft Store app was retired in 2024).

Where it falls short: ad-tier viewers get pre-roll on almost every episode, and the ad-free plan is now $16.99/mo, roughly parity with Netflix Standard.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: if you like The Crown or Ozark, Max’s Succession, Game of Thrones, and White Lotus are the closest tonal successors. Bring across a watchlist by hand.

Download: Web player and Mac App Store.

Bottom line: pick Max if the prestige-drama catalogue is the only reason you kept paying Netflix. Skip it if pre-roll ads on a paid tier feel like a scam.

Disney+, best for family and franchise

Disney+ is the strongest single service if your household includes children or if you follow Marvel and Star Wars. It carries all of Pixar, most Marvel Studios, all Star Wars streaming series, and National Geographic. The desktop experience is the Windows Store app on PC and the web player on Mac.

Where it falls short: thin adult drama slate, some non-franchise Disney content still lives elsewhere (older Disney Channel shows migrated to Hulu), and the ad tier now interrupts kids’ shows.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: the Hulu duo essentially replaces Netflix Standard for the same price plus adds all Disney IP.

Download: Web player and Microsoft Store.

Bottom line: pick Disney+ if there is a Marvel or Star Wars watcher in the house. Skip it as a solo drama service.

Apple TV+, best for original drama

Apple TV+ is the smallest catalogue in the list and the most curated. Severance, Slow Horses, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Silo, Foundation, Presumed Innocent, and For All Mankind are on it, and the service ships a couple of new titles a month. There is a native Mac app, and on Windows it lives as an Apple TV+ Microsoft Store app.

Where it falls short: the library is measured in dozens of shows, not thousands. If you binge-watch, you can exhaust the good stuff in a couple of months.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: unlike the others, Apple TV+ is a candidate for “sub for a month, watch four shows, cancel, rejoin later”. The catalogue is small enough to work through and easy to walk away from.

Download: Web player and native Mac app; Microsoft Store on Windows.

Bottom line: pick Apple TV+ if you want a small, high-average catalogue and the discipline of choosing quality over volume. Skip it if you want a “put something on” library.

Paramount+, best for sports and CBS

Paramount+ carries CBS network TV, Star Trek (Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Section 31), the Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone universe, Nickelodeon, MTV, and live NFL games on Sundays. MobLand Season 2 lands here on September 18. The Windows experience is the Store app; Mac is web.

Where it falls short: the ad-supported Essential tier is missing live CBS in most markets, which is the whole point of subscribing for many buyers. That sits behind the $12.99 Premium tier.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: if the Netflix drama you cared about was Yellowstone-adjacent (crime, ranch, small-town), Paramount+ is a direct replacement.

Download: Web player and Microsoft Store.

Bottom line: pick Paramount+ if you want CBS live, Star Trek, or Sheridan-verse content. Skip it if the ad tier’s missing live CBS makes the pricing feel like a trap.

Peacock, best for NBC library and live sports

Peacock carries The Office, Parks and Recreation, and the entire NBC comedy library, plus WWE, Premier League football, Big Ten and Sunday Night Football. Web plays on Mac; Windows has a Microsoft Store app.

Where it falls short: the Premium tier still shows ads on most content; only Premium Plus is truly ad-free at $13.99, which is close to Netflix territory.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: if you used Netflix mostly as a background rewatch machine for The Office, this is where The Office lives now.

Download: Web player and Microsoft Store.

Bottom line: pick Peacock for NBC library and Premier League. Skip it if pre-roll ads on paid tiers feel dishonest.

Hulu, best for current-season network TV

Hulu is the next-day home for ABC, FX, and a lot of Fox network shows, plus originals like Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, and Shogun (which streams under Hulu on Star internationally). Because Disney owns both, the Hulu with Disney+ duo bundle at $10.99 is one of the best deals in streaming.

Where it falls short: the standalone plan is $9.99 with ads, which is close to Disney+’s ad tier, and next-day episodes vanish from the free window after 30 days.

Pricing:

Migrating from Netflix: the Hulu library replicates a lot of what Netflix carried in its cable-network phase. Bring the watchlist across manually.

Download: Web player and Microsoft Store.

Bottom line: pick Hulu if you want current-season network dramas without a cable box. Skip it standalone; the Disney+ duo bundle is almost always the right buy.

How to choose

Pick Prime Video if you want the widest single-app catalogue and you already pay for Prime.

Pick Max if the reason you kept Netflix was prestige drama. The overlap is bigger than at any other service.

Pick Disney+ + Hulu duo if your household has kids or Marvel/Star Wars fans. It replaces Netflix Standard for a lower monthly bill.

Pick Apple TV+ if you want a small, high-quality library you can rotate in and out.

Pick Paramount+ if you care about CBS, Star Trek, or the Yellowstone universe.

Pick Peacock if The Office rewatch loop is what Netflix meant to you.

Stay on Netflix if you specifically watch its original productions (Squid Game, Bridgerton, Wednesday) and its ecosystem of games and interactive titles.

FAQ

Which Netflix alternative has the best original shows? Max holds the deepest prestige catalogue (HBO), Apple TV+ has the highest average quality on a small slate, and Prime Video is the widest for genre and comedy originals.

Is Prime Video cheaper than Netflix? Yes. Prime standalone at $8.99 or with Prime at $14.99 undercuts Netflix Standard at $17.99. Ad-free adds $2.99 and still comes in cheaper.

Which streaming service works best on Mac? Apple TV+ has the smoothest native Mac app. Max, Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+ all ship native Mac apps too. Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu rely on the web player on macOS.

Can I import my Netflix watchlist to another service? No. None of the major services accept a Netflix watchlist import. You need to rebuild manually. Third-party trackers like Trakt can mirror across services if you tag titles yourself.

What is the cheapest Netflix alternative for a full household? The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ trio at $16.99/mo covers three services for less than Netflix Standard, and Peacock Premium ($7.99) or Paramount+ Essential ($7.99) stack cheaply on top if you need one specific library.