By Briana Mercado

With the various streaming services that are available to the public today, it’s hard to decide which one you are going to lock into if you are not already leeching under someone else’s account. With different prices, different shows available, and overall customer reviews it’s tough to decide where you are going to spend five percent of your check each month. Well, worry no more! Here’s the rundown.

Hulu is the underdog of the streaming giant that is Netflix. But one quick overview of what this service has to offer will make you second guess how great Netflix really is. Let’s start with prices, Hulu has three options for its subscription services: the lowest value is $7.99 per month with Ads, next one up is $11.99 per month without adds, and the top tier is $39.99 per month which comes with live TV. Now I know what you’re thinking, isn’t the whole point of a streaming service is so that you don’t have ads? Well, yes, but that is why there is the $11.99 option. If you give in to the $7.99 option prepare yourself for frequents Ads that can last up to 160 seconds per break if you are watching TV Shows, but if you decide to watch a movie Hulu only shows one ad at the beginning. Another selling point for Hulu is that they update some of their shows in real time meaning that if an episode premiers at night it will be on Hulu in the next 24 hours, Hulu does this with Freeform and other networks.  Here are the titles that make Hulu stand out from the other services: “The Handmaids Tail,” “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” “Awkward,” Marvel’s “The Runaways,” and, my favorite, “Brooklyn 99.”

Netflix is the big bang of what is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Netflix started out as a small service that would mail their customers DVD’s, eventually causing the closing of several Blockbusters. Netflix also provides their pricing in tiers, the first tier is their lowest price is $7.99, which provides you use of one screen at a time, the next highest price is $11.99, which allows for two screens to watch simultaneously, and the last tier is $13.99, which allows for four screens to watch simultaneously and comes with Ultra HD. The $7.99 value is practical except for the fact that literally everyone from your favorite cousin to your best friend will be asking you for your Netflix password. And if you are anything like me, you’ll give out your password like Oprah gives out cars. On the plus side, Netflix does not make you watch ads at any price point given. Another great thing about Netflix is their Original shows and movies, most of them are well produced, well cast, and fun to watch. Here are the titles that make Netflix stand out: “To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” any CW Marvel T.V. Show, “Family Guy,” “Stranger Things,” “Mamma Mia,” and “Riverdale.”

Prime Video, which is offered with the Amazon Prime membership, is one of the lesser known services mainly because they don’t have an impressive selection of shows and movies. This service has two pricing tiers, monthly and annually: $12.99 per month or $119 per year. Since it is a Prime membership, it comes with other perks for the Amazon services such as free two-day shipping, free books for Kindle, and free music. That being said, Prime Video also has a click bait feature, when browsing through the shows and movies you’ll begin to notice that only some of the titles offered are actually free for you to watch. Also included with Prime Video is live T.V. Although limited, there is no additional cost for you to stream the sports events featured. Here are the titles that make Prime Video stand out: “Teen Wolf,” the entire Twilight series, “Me Before You,” and “Valerian.”

YouTube Red is just alright. It costs $11.99 per month for a single user and $17.99 per month for up to six users. What makes YouTube Red special is that once purchased, all the videos you watch on the platform become ad-free, which is a serious plus if you watch videos over 30-minutes. Additionally, you are now able to watch YouTube Premium Original Shows and movies which are pretty mediocre. Also included with a YouTube Red subscription is the ability to watch videos offline,  YouTube music premium, and being able to listen to videos in the background if you close the app. Here are the titles that make Youtube Red stand out:  Legally Blonde,” “Legally Blonde 2,” “Liza on Demand,” “Escape the Night,” and “Youth & Consequences.”

Each streaming services is special in their own way and can provide you with at least some of your binging needs. No one service is going to fulfill all of your needs, but you can share your password out in exchange for the password of another service. In my opinion, Hulu is the way to go, they have hundreds of shows and they are constantly updating their service with new shows. Netflix is cool and all but after a while, you realize that the quality of their shows and movies decreases the deeper you look for something new to watch. I know there are a lot of options but don’t forget to keep calm and stream on.