How the numbers are worked out
- We take everything you've played on Plex for at least a few minutes: films and TV. Music, trailers and live TV don't count.
- For every film and show we look up which streaming services carry it in the UK today, using TMDB's data (from JustWatch).
- For each month you watched something, we find the cheapest mix of subscriptions for that month that covers what you watched. A subscription is only counted if it's cheaper than renting what it covers.
- Prices are the cheapest plan without adverts at the time. If you watched something in 4K that month, the service's 4K plan is used instead.
- Everything is priced without adverts: ITVX means ITVX Premium, Channel 4 means Channel 4+, and Prime Video's free-with-adverts titles need Prime plus the ad-free add-on. Only 5 stays free, because it doesn't sell an ad-free plan. BBC iPlayer has no adverts but needs a TV licence, so it costs a month of the licence fee.
- If a title isn't on any UK service, we use the US service that has it, converted to pounds at that month's exchange rate.
- If it isn't on any subscription at all, we add the price to rent the film or buy the TV season. You only pay for that once.
Where a title streams changes over time, and we can only see where it streams now. Treat the total as a good estimate, not a bill.
Prices used (GBP, per month)
Monthly prices. hd = cheapest plan without adverts; uhd = cheapest plan with 4K. "from" is when the price started (for existing customers where known, otherwise new customers). Researched November 2026; corrections welcome.
| Service | Since | No adverts | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | 2024-09-01 | £10.99 | £17.99 |
| Netflix | 2025-02-07 | £12.99 | £18.99 |
| Netflix | 2026-09-04 | £13.99 | £20.99 |
| Disney+ | 2024-09-01 | £7.99 | £10.99 |
| Disney+ | 2024-11-21 | £8.99 | £12.99 |
| Disney+ | 2025-11-04 | £9.99 | £14.99 |
| Disney+ | 2026-11-18 | £11.99 | £15.99 |
| Prime Video | 2024-09-01 | £11.98 | £11.98 |
| NOW Entertainment | 2024-09-01 | £15.99 | £18.99 |
| NOW Entertainment | 2026-03-26 | £15.99 | £18.99 |
| NOW Cinema | 2024-09-01 | £15.99 | £18.99 |
| Apple TV | 2024-09-01 | £8.99 | £8.99 |
| Apple TV | 2025-08-21 | £9.99 | £9.99 |
| Paramount+ | 2024-09-01 | £6.99 | £6.99 |
| Paramount+ | 2024-11-20 | £7.99 | £10.99 |
| Paramount+ | 2026-08-10 | £9.99 | £12.99 |
| discovery+ | 2024-09-01 | £3.99 | £3.99 |
| ITVX Premium | 2024-09-01 | £5.99 | £5.99 |
| hayu | 2024-09-01 | £4.99 | £4.99 |
| hayu | 2025-12-02 | £5.99 | £5.99 |
| Crunchyroll | 2024-09-01 | £4.99 | £4.99 |
| Crunchyroll | 2026-04-01 | £5.99 | £5.99 |
| MUBI | 2024-09-01 | £11.99 | £11.99 |
| BFI Player | 2024-09-01 | £4.99 | £4.99 |
| HBO Max | 2024-09-01 | not in the UK yet | |
| HBO Max | 2026-03-26 | £9.99 | £14.99 |
| BBC iPlayer (TV licence) | 2024-04-01 | £14.12 (licence £169.50 a year) | |
| BBC iPlayer (TV licence) | 2025-04-01 | £14.54 (licence £174.50 a year) | |
| BBC iPlayer (TV licence) | 2026-04-01 | £15.00 (licence £180.00 a year) | |
| Channel 4+ | 2024-09-01 | £3.99 | £3.99 |
| 5 | free | ||
Renting a film: £3.49 (4K £3.49). Buying a TV season: £14.99.