Going to the cinema can be an expensive outing these days. (Nearly £10 per adult or £30 for a family of four)
Netflix is a much cheaper alternative, saving you ££££’s. Available from the comfort of your own home on TVs, via consoles, laptops, iPads or even your phone.
Netflix costs from £5.99 per month… getting you unlimited access to hundreds of films and high quality TV series for a whole MONTH. That’s less than ONE adult ticket for ONE film at most cinemas!
Let’s take a look at the Pros & Cons…
Pros of Netflix
1. You avoid people like this
2. Watch from the comfort of your own home
3. Watch when YOU want, pause when you want for that cuppa, you are in control !
4. No walk back outside to car park, potentially in rain or cold to then drive home
Cons of Netflix
1. Big time delay before major cinema releases appear on platform
2. Lacks the atmosphere of that ” Big Screen ” cinema experience
Pros of Cinema
1. See latest releases, now!
2. Big Screen audio visual experience
3. See trailers for forthcoming releases in same big screen experience
Cons of Cinema
1. Expensive
2. Can be too loud
3. Will definitely come across one of those 19 people !
So which one is best ?
Entirely depends on your preference but perhaps by combining both, you can treat yourself to that cinema experience (Cinemas allowed to open from 4th July – but check appropriate websites for your local) in a way that will help you to save money for the future as well !
PS Don’t forget, there are many paid and free alternatives to Netflix offering the same sort of pros and cons.
Paid alternatives to Netflix
- Amazon Prime Video: £79 a year or 7.99 a month. Full Prime package also includes free one-hour/one-day delivery on Amazon items, access to thousands of e-books, films, TV shows (including Top Gear) and songs though Amazon’s extensive media library.
- NOW TV: Passes start from £3.99 a month or you can invest in a one off box for around £20. The box will turn your TV into a smart device using its USB plug-in. Users can then purchase 24-hour and 30-day Sky passes ad hoc for football matches, movies and entertainment contract free.
- YouTube Premium: £11.99 a month. YouTube Premium gives you access to TV shows, series, films and music ad-free and you can also access offline from a number of platforms. It’s also contract free and you can watch without any obligations and under no time constraints.
- Sky TV: Sky’s Original TV bundle starts at £25 a month – and the deal includes its new Sky Q, next generation box. The package includes catch up TV, Sky+ and Sky Go, as well as usual suspects Sky Atlantic, itv Encore and even Netflix.
- Disney+: £5.99 a month or £59 a year. Includes access to Disney’s huge back catalogue of films, series and box sets as well as content from Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic.
FREE alternatives to Netflix
- Vimeo: You’re unlikely to find anything you’ve ever heard of at Vimeo, but it’s worth diving into for indie and independent films like Thunder Road and A Fighting Chance. Check out their staff picks for inspiration.
- YouTube: At 800 million unique visitors per month, with roughly 72 hours of content being uploaded each minute, YouTube is by far the most used video-sharing platform on the web. Get yourself a Google account and you can watch (and upload) TV shows and video content on its platform for free.
- SkyGo: If you (or mum and dad) have a Sky account, you can actually log-in on any desktop, mobile or tablet on the go and watch or catch up on TV shows (included in your plan) for free. Ideal for students, all you need is your membership login details to get watching.
- iPlayer: BBC iPlayer has a vast movie library available at your fingertips online. It’s also great for documentaries. The service’s video library covers just about every genre – including Sherlock and Killing Eve. You will need a TV Licence to watch it, though.
- ITV Player and All 4: You’ll need log-in details to access these services, but again, they’re free to watch. Both feature a long list of films, documentaries, dramas and reality TV shows like Derry Girls and Love Island.