Top video streaming services in South Africa

YouTube, Netflix, and DStv Stream are South Africa’s most popular video streaming services, according to data collected by Similarweb.

MyBroadband compared the South African rankings of major video streaming services on the online traffic analysis platform.

Similarweb aggregates information from various data sources — including first-party direct measurement and a contributory network — to estimate the number of people accessing thousands of websites and mobile apps every month.

It found that YouTube was the 2nd most-visited website in South Africa in January 2025, with only the Google.com page — a default on many browsers and devices — trumping its user traffic.

However, YouTube does not offer a subscription video streaming service in South Africa.

Although it sells a paid Premium tier that removes ads, the YouTube TV subscription with additional original content and sports is not available locally.

When looking specifically at subscription-based services, Netflix is the local streaming king, ranking as the 16th most-visited website and app in South Africa.

MultiChoice’s DStv Stream was the next most-visited streaming service — ranking 45th of all websites in South Africa.

Another MultiChoice service, Showmax, recorded the fourth-highest traffic among locally available video streaming services and ranked 69th of all websites in South Africa.

Showmax is popular for its strong assortment of local content. The service recently celebrated the first birthday of a major app overhaul and rebranding in early 2024.

Showmax 2.0 runs on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform, providing better stability, enhanced features, and a better interface.

Showmax was well ahead of the likes of Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, which ranked 132nd and 290th, respectively.

The remaining video streaming services whose traffic Similarweb analysed — SABC Plus, Viu, and eVOD — ranked 437th, 523rd, and 1,132nd, respectively.

The table below summarises the top nine most-visited or most-watched video streaming services in South Africa, based on data tracked by Similarweb.

Where MultiChoice has an edge

It should be noted although Netflix is the most visited subscription video streaming service in South Africa, it is not the biggest subscription video entertainment company.

It is likely that DStv Stream and Showmax’s combined monthly visitors are greater than Netflix’s.

Combined, DStv Stream and Showmax had roughly 21 million visitors in January 2025.

MultiChoice also has over 22 million subscribers across its satellite and online streaming services in Africa and South Africa.

According to market research firm Omdia, Showmax had 2.1 million subscribers in Africa by November 2024, compared with Netflix’s 1.8 million African users.

While MultiChoice has not revealed Showmax’s subscriber numbers, the company has confirmed that its subscriber base grew 50% year over year between September 2023 and September 2024.

Assuming the proportions of Netflix’s African and South African users have remained roughly the same throughout 2024 as in 2023, MyBroadband has estimated that Showmax’s South African subscriber base surpassed Netflix’s.