Disney+ vs. Netflix
Apr 1, 2020 | Share
Brand Guides, Provider Comparisons (Versus), Streaming Guides
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Better for kidsPrices start at $6.99/mo.
- Family-friendly favorites
- Bundle opportunity with Hulu and ESPN+
- 4K and multiple streams included as standard
- Smaller content library
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Better for content varietyPlans start at $8.99/mo.
- Huge library of rotating content
- Noteworth originals
- Month-long trial period
- 4K and multiple screens availabe only with upgrade
Data effective 03/30/20. Not all offers available in all areas. Prices subject to change.
Bottom line
Both Disney+ and Netflix are top-tier streaming services, but if you have to choose only one, you should stick with Netflix for now. It costs more, but it also offers a significantly larger content library and a wider variety of movies and TV shows.
Of course, it depends on what you want to watch. If your kids are demanding a Frozen marathon, you’ll need that Disney+ subscription. And Disney+ is still fairly new—it will probably only get better from here.
Free trials
Take your streaming service for a test drive. Disney+ offers a 7-day free trial, and Netflix lets you watch for 30 days before you see a charge.
You do have to give billing information to get the free trial, but if you’re stuck choosing between the two (or if you’re interested in only one particular movie or show), you can check things out for free. Just remember to cancel before the first bill.
Disney+ and Netflix vs. the competition
Disney+ | Netflix | Hulu | Amazon Prime Video | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Price | $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr. | $8.99–$15.99/mo. | $5.99–$11.99/mo. | $8.99/mo. |
Resolution | Up to 4K | Up to 4K with Premium | Up to 4K | Up to 4K |
Simultaneous streams allowed | 4 | 4 with Premium | 2 | 3 |
User profiles | 7 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
Downloads for offline viewing | Unlimited for up to 10 devices | 100 downloads per device for up to 4 devices | 25 downloads on up to 5 devices | 15–25 downloads on up to 2 devices |
Start your free trialof Disney+ | Start your free trialof Netflix | Start your free trialof Hulu | Start your free trialof Amazon Prime |
Price | |
Disney+ | $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr. |
Netflix | $8.99–$15.99/mo. |
Hulu | $5.99–$11.99/mo. |
Amazon Prime Video | $8.99/mo. |
Resolution | |
Disney+ | Up to 4K |
Netflix | Up to 4K with Premium |
Hulu | Up to 4K |
Amazon Prime Video | Up to 4K |
Simultaneous streams allowed | |
Disney+ | 4 |
Netflix | 4 with Premium |
Hulu | 2 |
Amazon Prime Video | 3 |
User profiles | |
Disney+ | 7 |
Netflix | 5 |
Hulu | 6 |
Amazon Prime Video | 1 |
Downloads for offline viewing | |
Disney+ | Unlimited for up to 10 devices |
Netflix | 100 downloads per device for up to 4 devices |
Hulu | 25 downloads on up to 5 devices |
Amazon Prime Video | 15–25 downloads on up to 2 devices |
Disney+ | Start your free trialof Disney+ |
Netflix | Start your free trialof Netflix |
Hulu | Start your free trialof Hulu |
Amazon Prime Video | Start your free trialof Amazon Prime |
Data effective 03/30/20. Not all offers available in all areas. Prices subject to change.
Disney+ and Netflix prices
Disney+ is simply cheaper than Netflix, and it lets you stream in 4K and on up to four screens without upgrading. To get that with Netflix, you’d need Premium, which costs $84 more per year than Basic and $36 more per year than Standard.
Disney+ packages
Package | Price | Resolution | Simultaneous streams |
---|---|---|---|
Disney+ only | $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr. | Up to 4K | Up to 4 |
Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle | $12.99/mo. | Up to 4K | Up to 4 |
Package | Disney+ only |
Price | $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr. |
Resolution | Up to 4K |
Simultaneous streams | Up to 4 |
Package | Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle |
Price | $12.99/mo. |
Resolution | Up to 4K |
Simultaneous streams | Up to 4 |
Data effective 03/30/20. Not all offers available in all areas. Prices subject to change.
There is only one Disney+ package. All of the platform’s features and content are available at one price point, unlike Netflix, which has tiers of service.
Disney+ is pretty inexpensive, and you get a nice discount if you pay for a full year instead of paying monthly. Prepaying for a full year saves you a little more than a dollar every month, for a total savings of $13.89 over the course of a year.
You can “upgrade” Disney+ by bundling it with Hulu and ESPN+ for an additional $6 per month. That’s the same cost as a Standard Netflix package, and it gives you a much broader range of content than Disney+ alone.
Netflix packages
Package | Price | Resolution | Simultaneous streams |
---|---|---|---|
Basic | $8.99/mo. | SD | 1 |
Standard | $12.99/mo. | Up to HD (1080p) | Up to 2 |
Premium | $15.99/mo. | Up to UHD (4K) | Up to 4 |
Package | Basic |
Price | $8.99/mo. |
Resolution | SD |
Simultaneous streams | 1 |
Package | Standard |
Price | $12.99/mo. |
Resolution | Up to HD (1080p) |
Simultaneous streams | Up to 2 |
Package | Premium |
Price | $15.99/mo. |
Resolution | Up to UHD (4K) |
Simultaneous streams | Up to 4 |
Data effective 03/30/20. Not all offers available in all areas. Prices subject to change.
All Netflix packages have access to the same content library, but paying a little extra per month opens up perks like higher-resolution options and the ability to watch on more screens at the same time.
Every Netflix package costs more per month than Disney+, but Netflix also gives you a larger library and more variety of content. Netflix lets you jump from true crime documentaries like Abducted in Plain Sight to feel-good reality TV like The Great British Baking Show. Then you can jump to an action-packed drama like The Witcher or a stand-up comedy special like Iliza Shlesinger: Elder Millennial.
Movies and shows
Original content
If you’re looking for pop culture content, Disney+ has The Mandalorian while Netflix has The Witcher, Stranger Things, The Crown, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, and many, many more.
Disney+ hasn’t had as much time to build up its own library of noteworthy originals. So far, most of its originals are basically the equivalent of the direct-to-home video releases of olden days. But there are some exciting releases that are set to drop later in 2020 (and beyond).
Notable Netflix Originals
- Stranger Things
- Orange Is the New Black
- The Witcher
- Mindhunter
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
- Roma
- Black Mirror
- The Crown
Notable Disney+ Originals
- The Mandalorian
- Lady and the Tramp
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (season 7)
- Marvel’s Hero Project
- WandaVision (coming later in 2020)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (coming later in 2020)
Fan favorites
Netflix started its streaming service without original content by licensing movies and shows from other entertainment companies, including Disney. Licensed media accounts for a hefty chunk of the platform’s most popular shows, including The Office and Grey’s Anatomy.
That model was all fine and good when there was limited competition. Now that everyone has jumped into the on-demand video streaming game, things are a little more complicated. For example, Netflix lost the ever-popular Friends at the beginning of 2020 to Max (premiering May 2020).
Of course, Netflix has always had rotating content. Favorites come and go, with the only constants being Netflix Originals.
Disney+, on the other hand, has the advantage here. The Disney nostalgia is real—not only with the classic animated movies but also with Disney Channel shows like Lizzie McGuire, Pixar movies, and franchises like Marvel and Star Wars.
Disney (and all the other companies it owns) has decades’ worth of content in the vault. And it supposedly won’t have a rotating library like Netflix, outside of having to pull content for pre-existing licensing deals.
Disney content on Netflix
For a short, beautiful time, Disney and Netflix worked together. And the consequences of that brief collaborative effort are still evident. There will still be some Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movies on Netflix through mid-2020.
Netflix and Marvel collab shows like Jessica Jones and Daredevil will stay on Netflix, but there won’t be new episodes since all of them have been cancelled.
Going forward, it’s likely that Disney will keep all its precious content to itself. After the current licensing agreements are up, there probably won’t be many Disney-owned titles on other streaming services.
Availability and compatible devices
You want to be able to watch your content anywhere on any of your devices, right? Netflix has a bit of an advantage here, just because it’s been so ubiquitous for so long.
Disney+ is still available on a ton of devices, but it doesn’t have native compatibility on some older devices, like some previous-generation gaming consoles.
Availability
Disney+ is not yet available in most of the world. It is currently available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. It’s slated to launch in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain at the end of March 2020. The content library will vary a little in different countries.
Netflix is available in 190 countries around the world, but the content library varies in different regions.
Compatible devices
Disney+ | Netflix | |
---|---|---|
Apple TV | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Android phones and tablets | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Xbox One | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
PlayStation 4 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Roku devices | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Amazon Fire tablets and Fire TV devices | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Android-based Sony TVs | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Web browsers | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Google Chromecast | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Samsung and LG devices | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
Previous-generation consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, WiiU) | ✘ No | ✓ Yes |
NVIDIA SHIELD | ✘ No | ✓ Yes |
Provider set-top boxes | ✘ No | ✓ Yes |
User interface
Both streaming services open to a home screen with several sliding bars full of ready-to-watch content, recommended based on your viewing history. And finding something to watch on either service is easy and intuitive.
User profiles
Disney+ lets you set up to seven user profiles, so you don’t have to live in the same recommendation algorithm as your Forky-obsessed little sibling. You get to choose a Disney-character avatar, and there’s a specific “kids” setting for viewers, which filters out content unsuitable for young children.
Netflix allows for up to five total profiles, no matter your subscription level. Probably because it has a wider variety of content and content ratings, Netflix has three levels of filter. You can roll without an age filter for access to all content on the platform. Plus there are “For Kids” and “For Teens” options, which filter out age-inappropriate content.
Parental controls
Beyond making a kids profile on Disney+, there aren’t other parental controls. And the kids profile thing can be easily circumvented by choosing a different profile. Of course, there isn’t a lot of inappropriate content on Disney+—it’s specifically intended to be family-friendly—but there are perhaps some lines from The Simpsons that you don’t want a two-year-old repeating.
Netflix has more robust content filters and parental controls, which is good because it has a lot of not-family-friendly content. Don’t go unintentionally scaring the children with A Nightmare on Elm Street, folks.
You can set each Netflix user profile to automatically filter out content not suitable for kids or teens, and you can lock content that’s above specific maturity ratings with a pin on all profiles.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Lower price
- Bundle option with Hulu and ESPN+
- Family-friendly favorites
- 4K and multiple streams included as standard
Cons:
- Smaller content library
- Less content variety
- Shorter trial period
Pros:
- Larger content library
- Better variety of content
- Noteworthy originals
- Month-long trial period
Cons:
- Tiered service
- Higher cost
- Potential to lose fan-favorite content to other platforms
Our verdict: Netflix is still king.
While Disney+ has amazing, family-friendly titles, Netflix still holds on as the streaming king. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s worth it for the much larger library and better assortment of content.
Of course, you don’t have to choose one or the other. Netflix and Disney+ cater to different needs and offer different movies and shows. They also both operate on month-to-month billing cycles, so if you can’t spring for both at the same time, you could alternate months to get the best of both worlds.
Disney+ and Netflix FAQ
Does Disney+ have R-rated movies?
Disney+ does not (and will not) have R-rated content. The platform is dedicated to keeping its content library family-friendly. All of the movies on Disney+ are rated PG-13 and below, and all TV shows are rated TV-14 and below.
Does Disney+ include Hulu?
Disney+ does not include Hulu, but you can bundle Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+ for a discounted price. Bundling the three streaming services together costs $12.99 per month, which is $4.98 less per month than they cost separately.
How do I cancel Netflix?
You can cancel your Netflix subscription at any time from your Account page. If you don’t see that option, you can just cancel the payment with your bank or credit card.
When you cancel Netflix, you can continue to watch until the end of your current billing period. And Netflix keeps your viewing data for 10 months after you close your account, so you can resume your subscription with your algorithm intact if you sign up again within that time.
How do I cancel Disney+?
You can cancel Disney+ in a web browser by going to the Billing Details tab from your Account page.
In iPhone settings or through the Google Play Store, you’ll need to navigate to Subscriptions from the main menu, select Disney+, and cancel.
When you cancel, you still have access to Disney+ shows and movies until the end of your billing cycle (or the end of your free trial). After that, Disney+ keeps your account information on file in case you want to come back.
Author - Rebecca Lee Armstrong
Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more than six years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in creative writing at the University of Evansville and has found her niche writing about home networking, routers, and internet access at HighSpeedInternet.com. Her work has also been featured on Top Ten Reviews, MacSources, Windows Central, Android Central, Best Company, TechnoFAQ, and iMore.
Editor - Cara Haynes
Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she's not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a good internet connection significantly extends your life span.