It seems like over the past couple of years, people have been dropping their cable service because they’ve been turning to Netflix or Hulu for their entertainment. Some people have both services and some swear by just one or the other. I’m fortunate enough to have both but sometimes it seems like a waste of money since they both provide essentially the same thing: hours of TV/movie fun. I’m not here to bash on either service because I love both, but let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each.
Let’s start out with Hulu. Hulu.com is a great streaming service that’s pretty user-friendly and provides some great content. The layout is very sleek and it’s easy to search for the shows you want to watch, or pick up where you left off on the ones you’ve recently been watching. Hulu is great because you can watch certain live television feeds, such as the news and sports. You can also record shows and movies that are playing on certain TV networks and watch them whenever you want, which is extremely convenient. Ever since my family cut out our cable, Hulu has been a blessing because now I feel like I’m not missing out on too much. Hulu also provides “throwback” shows like Full House and Drake and Josh which I deeply appreciate since I grew up watching those shows and could only ever find them on cable or on OnDemand since they’ve ended. Related to this, Hulu also has a fantastic selection of popular movies like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games that just never seem to be available on Netflix. Since Hulu streams TV shows that are still coming out with new episodes, it’s great because you can watch them the day after they air on cable so you don’t have to wait for the whole season to finish before watching it.
Ok, let’s talk about some of the negatives of Hulu. The big glaring downfall of Hulu is probably the “limited commercials” that play almost too frequently to feel very limited at all when watching a show or a movie. If you don’t have Hulu Premium, you’re stuck watching a show in 5 to 7 minute increments with the same 3 commercials playing in rotation. This gets old really fast. I thankfully have Hulu Premium which claims to be commercial free but even with this subscription package there are still shows that play ads. This seems a little unfair when Premium users are paying a decent amount of extra money to avoid this nuisance, right? Of course, Hulu users like myself should be thankful at all to be able to watch TV and movies at anytime but when you pay for a certain “commercial free” service, it would be nice for it to be 100% true…not 90% true.
All right, it’s Netflix’s turn for the spotlight. Netflix is pretty much the OG of TV/Movie streaming services (Does anyone else remember when we had to order the DVDs online and then they got mailed to our houses?). Netflix, believe it or not, has been around since 1997 which means it has had a lot of time to grow and become the biggest, most popular streaming service around. Netflix, similar to Hulu, is a very easy website to use and offers a great selection of shows and films. One of the best things about this service is that it has original shows and movies that are great to watch. Take Stranger Things, for example. This show became a worldwide phenomenon that people fell in love with. Great quality content plus no ads. Netflix’s selection of movies and shows are a little more scattered than Hulu. Meaning, it ranges from the old classics up to modern day. This is nice because it pretty much guarantees that they’ll have something to fit any mood you’re in. Netflix also carries full series’ of shows like The Office, Parks and Rec, and Friends which is a lifesaver because those are three shows that are adored by millions of people around the world. Sure, Hulu has some of these popular shows but they typically only carry a few of the seasons.
Netflix, like anything else, has its cons. Sometimes they get rid of widely loved movies and shows and bring in random content that probably has a very small audience, which makes us question the thought process that went into deciding what shows/movies get to stay and which have to leave. As mentioned previously, Hulu updates its current shows with the newest episodes pretty quickly but with Netflix, it’s more often than not that you have to wait for an entire season to finish before it is available to watch. This being said though, sometimes it’s nice to wait it out and then just binge the hell out of a show when it finally comes to Netflix.
Overall, each service definitely has its pros and cons but my final decision? Probably Netflix. I’d probably get super bummed out if my Netflix account were taken away but I think I could survive without Hulu. The ads and lack of complete series makes me turn towards Netflix more often than Hulu, but of course, that’s just my preference.