Starting next month, many of Netflix’s 23 million U.S. subscribers will see a price hike in their plan.
Customers who use both the streaming and DVDs-by-mail services could see an increase of up to 60 percent -- although to be fair, monthly fees are still cheaper than a night out at the movies, even without popcorn.
But with Netflix fees going up, Blockbuster’s fees going down, a Redbox in every other grocery store and a bevy of new streaming services cropping up, the question of the best, most affordable way to watch movies is anything but clear-cut. What works best for you depends on what you’re looking for.
Here’s a breakdown of your options.
Redbox
Redbox has more than 27,000 bright-red DVD vending machines in grocery stores, drugstores and elsewhere around the U.S., with 30 in Lincoln. Customers can rent DVDs for $1 per night; Blu-ray movies are $1.50 per night.
Variety: Slim. Each kiosk can hold up to 200 titles, limiting Redbox’s selection to mostly new releases.
Convenience: Solid. You can return your movies to any Redbox in town regardless of where you rented them. And with so many kiosks around, you won’t have to drive more than a mile or two to find one.
Fines?: Yes. $1 per extra night for DVDs, $1.50 for Blu-ray movies.
Restrictions?: Yes. Through concessions with Hollywood studios, Redbox has agreed to delay renting many movies until nearly a month after the DVD versions go on sale. Netflix's DVD plan has similar restrictions.
Ideal for: harried, budget-conscious families who want to pick up a movie on the way home from the grocery store.
Blockbuster
Blockbuster is sort of cool again. The company shifted to per-day pricing recently to better compete against Redbox and others. Just-released movies were lowered to $3 for the first day, while other newer movies are $2 for the first day. Additional days are $1. These prices apply to DVD rentals as well as movies rented online. Bonus: On Sundays, any movie $2 or less is just 49 cents.
Variety: The in-store variety is decent but certainly not comparable to Netflix’s 100,00-plus DVD library -- despite customers’ gripes about Netflix’s new pricing, the home of the little red envelope is still king when it comes to variety. Blockbuster customers will find a better selection through Blockbuster’s mail subscription plan. Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail subscriptions are pricier than Netflix's — $12 a month for one movie or video game at a time or $17 for unlimited two-at-a-time rentals. Netflix's DVD-only plan is $8 per month for one and $12 for two.
Convenience: Good, if you live near a Blockbuster.
Fines?: Yes, but they’re not bad: $1 per extra night for all movies.
Restrictions?: No. Unlike Redbox and Netflix, Blockbuster doesn’t make the same concessions to Hollywood studios. If the movie’s on DVD that day, Blockbuster will likely have it.
Ideal for: those who live near a Blockbuster and still like the nostalgic experience of perusing the aisles of a brick-and-mortar store.
Amazon's Instant Video
Amazon.com's service offers about 3,500 movies and episodes of TV shows for online rental, with prices ranging from $1 to $5. There is no Netflix-like monthly subscription plan.
Variety: Decent, at least if you’re looking for newer movies or TV shows. Amazon also offers free movie streaming to shoppers who pay $79 a year for a Prime membership. The selection, though, is much smaller than Netflix's. Amazon offers roughly 6,000 movies and TV shows for streaming over an Internet connection for its Prime subscribers. Netflix offers more than 20,000.
Convenience: Very convenient. You don’t have to pick up a movie or drop it off. Customers can stream movies and shows on computers or on TV sets using a compatible, Internet-connected device such as Blu-ray players and set-top boxes from the likes of Roku, Sony, Panasonic, TiVo or Logitech.
Fines?: No, but the videos expire one to seven days after customers begin watching them.
Restrictions?: In some cases, movie rentals are delayed a few weeks after their release.
Ideal for: customers looking for an a la carte plan that lets them pick what they want to watch.
Apple iTunes
Renting movies through iTunes is another pay-per-view option to access the latest dramas, comedies or TV shows. Customers can rent regular or high-definition flicks and watch them on iPhones, iPads, computers or TV sets using Apple TV set-top boxes.
Variety: Decent if you’re looking for newer, more popular films. Apple lets people rent first-run, high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD for $5 each, though most movies cost $3 or $4. TV shows are generally $1.
Convenience: Again, nothing to pick up, nothing to drop off.
Fines?: Nope. You can watch rentals for a day or two from when you start playing them.
Restrictions?: Not usually.
Ideal for: Apple people.
Vudu
Walmart’s a la carte video streaming service offers prices and variety comparable to those of Amazon and iTunes. And Vudu has an added perk of HDX rentals, movies in 1080p HD, which is about as pristine a picture as you can stream onto your HDTV.
Cable
Cable TV providers such as Time Warner offer on-demand options to their monthly subscribers. Time Warner charges $5 for a new movie release and $2 for older movies. Movies are sometimes free as part of a subscription to HBO or other premium channels.
Variety: Time Warner Cable has a catalog of about 10,000 movies.
Convenience: It’s convenient, certainly, but keep in mind that the $2 or $5 movies are additional to what you’re already paying in monthly cable fees.
Fines?: No.
Restrictions?: Nope. Time Warner gets movies the same day they come out on DVD, giving it more recent content than Netflix streaming.
Ideal for: people who still have cable and don’t want to try anything else.
Hulu and Hulu Plus
Hulu’s still free; Hulu Plus is not. Plus subscribers pay $8 per month for more content, high-definition viewing and access on the iPad and newer-model iPhones, as well as video game consoles, Roku boxes and high-end TV sets from Samsung, Sony or others.
Variety: Hulu's content skews more toward TV shows than movies, though both are available. It's a good option for those looking to watch shows such as the "Daily Show," ''Family Guy" or "The Office."
Convenience: Great. Commercial interruption on the free version is a little annoying, though.
Fines?: No
Restrictions?: No
Ideal for: the cable-less TV junkie who doesn’t want to miss any shows.
Customers who use both the streaming and DVDs-by-mail services could see an increase of up to 60 percent -- although to be fair, monthly fees are still cheaper than a night out at the movies, even without popcorn.
But with Netflix fees going up, Blockbuster’s fees going down, a Redbox in every other grocery store and a bevy of new streaming services cropping up, the question of the best, most affordable way to watch movies is anything but clear-cut. What works best for you depends on what you’re looking for.
Here’s a breakdown of your options.
Redbox
Redbox has more than 27,000 bright-red DVD vending machines in grocery stores, drugstores and elsewhere around the U.S., with 30 in Lincoln. Customers can rent DVDs for $1 per night; Blu-ray movies are $1.50 per night.
Variety: Slim. Each kiosk can hold up to 200 titles, limiting Redbox’s selection to mostly new releases.
Convenience: Solid. You can return your movies to any Redbox in town regardless of where you rented them. And with so many kiosks around, you won’t have to drive more than a mile or two to find one.
Fines?: Yes. $1 per extra night for DVDs, $1.50 for Blu-ray movies.
Restrictions?: Yes. Through concessions with Hollywood studios, Redbox has agreed to delay renting many movies until nearly a month after the DVD versions go on sale. Netflix's DVD plan has similar restrictions.
Ideal for: harried, budget-conscious families who want to pick up a movie on the way home from the grocery store.
Blockbuster
Blockbuster is sort of cool again. The company shifted to per-day pricing recently to better compete against Redbox and others. Just-released movies were lowered to $3 for the first day, while other newer movies are $2 for the first day. Additional days are $1. These prices apply to DVD rentals as well as movies rented online. Bonus: On Sundays, any movie $2 or less is just 49 cents.
Variety: The in-store variety is decent but certainly not comparable to Netflix’s 100,00-plus DVD library -- despite customers’ gripes about Netflix’s new pricing, the home of the little red envelope is still king when it comes to variety. Blockbuster customers will find a better selection through Blockbuster’s mail subscription plan. Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail subscriptions are pricier than Netflix's — $12 a month for one movie or video game at a time or $17 for unlimited two-at-a-time rentals. Netflix's DVD-only plan is $8 per month for one and $12 for two.
Convenience: Good, if you live near a Blockbuster.
Fines?: Yes, but they’re not bad: $1 per extra night for all movies.
Restrictions?: No. Unlike Redbox and Netflix, Blockbuster doesn’t make the same concessions to Hollywood studios. If the movie’s on DVD that day, Blockbuster will likely have it.
Ideal for: those who live near a Blockbuster and still like the nostalgic experience of perusing the aisles of a brick-and-mortar store.
Amazon's Instant Video
Amazon.com's service offers about 3,500 movies and episodes of TV shows for online rental, with prices ranging from $1 to $5. There is no Netflix-like monthly subscription plan.
Variety: Decent, at least if you’re looking for newer movies or TV shows. Amazon also offers free movie streaming to shoppers who pay $79 a year for a Prime membership. The selection, though, is much smaller than Netflix's. Amazon offers roughly 6,000 movies and TV shows for streaming over an Internet connection for its Prime subscribers. Netflix offers more than 20,000.
Convenience: Very convenient. You don’t have to pick up a movie or drop it off. Customers can stream movies and shows on computers or on TV sets using a compatible, Internet-connected device such as Blu-ray players and set-top boxes from the likes of Roku, Sony, Panasonic, TiVo or Logitech.
Fines?: No, but the videos expire one to seven days after customers begin watching them.
Restrictions?: In some cases, movie rentals are delayed a few weeks after their release.
Ideal for: customers looking for an a la carte plan that lets them pick what they want to watch.
Apple iTunes
Renting movies through iTunes is another pay-per-view option to access the latest dramas, comedies or TV shows. Customers can rent regular or high-definition flicks and watch them on iPhones, iPads, computers or TV sets using Apple TV set-top boxes.
Variety: Decent if you’re looking for newer, more popular films. Apple lets people rent first-run, high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD for $5 each, though most movies cost $3 or $4. TV shows are generally $1.
Convenience: Again, nothing to pick up, nothing to drop off.
Fines?: Nope. You can watch rentals for a day or two from when you start playing them.
Restrictions?: Not usually.
Ideal for: Apple people.
Vudu
Walmart’s a la carte video streaming service offers prices and variety comparable to those of Amazon and iTunes. And Vudu has an added perk of HDX rentals, movies in 1080p HD, which is about as pristine a picture as you can stream onto your HDTV.
Cable
Cable TV providers such as Time Warner offer on-demand options to their monthly subscribers. Time Warner charges $5 for a new movie release and $2 for older movies. Movies are sometimes free as part of a subscription to HBO or other premium channels.
Variety: Time Warner Cable has a catalog of about 10,000 movies.
Convenience: It’s convenient, certainly, but keep in mind that the $2 or $5 movies are additional to what you’re already paying in monthly cable fees.
Fines?: No.
Restrictions?: Nope. Time Warner gets movies the same day they come out on DVD, giving it more recent content than Netflix streaming.
Ideal for: people who still have cable and don’t want to try anything else.
Hulu and Hulu Plus
Hulu’s still free; Hulu Plus is not. Plus subscribers pay $8 per month for more content, high-definition viewing and access on the iPad and newer-model iPhones, as well as video game consoles, Roku boxes and high-end TV sets from Samsung, Sony or others.
Variety: Hulu's content skews more toward TV shows than movies, though both are available. It's a good option for those looking to watch shows such as the "Daily Show," ''Family Guy" or "The Office."
Convenience: Great. Commercial interruption on the free version is a little annoying, though.
Fines?: No
Restrictions?: No
Ideal for: the cable-less TV junkie who doesn’t want to miss any shows.
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