Best-rated streaming services in South Africa

Showmax is the best-rated streaming app on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in South Africa, beating international players like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+.

This comes after MultiChoice relaunched the streaming service in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky in February 2024.

This involved a significant rebrand and upgrade to NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming platform. It also added improved content offerings, including titles from studios like NBCUniversal, Universal Pictures, HBO, and Warner Brothers.

Known as Showmax 2.0, the revamped streaming service recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and MultiChoice notes that it has seen significant growth in paying customers since its relaunch.

“It was a landmark year for Showmax, which grew its paying subscriber base, excluding discontinued services, by 50% year-on-year,” the Showmax and DStv owner said.

It expects this growth to accelerate through its strategic initiatives. It has also proven popular among viewers.

“Showmax streamer was named Best Television/Streaming Network at The National Film and TV Awards South Africa and Entertainment App of the Year at the Stuff App Awards,” said MultiChoice.

Showmax also topped JustWatch’s streaming charts for South Africa in 2024. JustWatch is a streaming guide platform that shows what is available to stream on most platforms in the country.

The broadcaster believes offering live sports and local content will be key to its continued success.

Showmax offers a standalone Premier League plan for mobile users, making it one of the only streaming platforms in South Africa to provide live sports broadcasts.

“Africa is a dynamic, challenging environment that remains an unrivalled growth opportunity, with the fastest-growing population globally and rising connectivity,” said MultiChoice South Africa CEO Byron du Plessis.

“Showmax is well-positioned to take advantage of these trends through its diverse mix of best-in-class local content, affordable mobile football products, and the best international content from leading international studios, including NBCUniversal, HBO, Sky, Paramount and more.”

App rating showdown

MyBroadband compared the Google Play Store and Apple App user review ratings for several popular paid and free streaming services available in South Africa.

Showmax is the highest-rated on average across the two app stores, scoring 4.70 on the Google Play Store and 4.60 on the Apple App Store for an average of 4.65 out of five stars.

It is closely followed by the Amazon Prime Video app, which scored higher than Showmax among iOS users with 4.70 out of five. However, its average was brought down by its Android user rating for an average of 4.60 out of five.

Netflix and DStv Stream are tied in third. Netflix matches Prime Video’s Apple App Store rating. However, Android users rated it 4.30 out of five, giving it a combined score of 4.50 out of five.

DStv Stream has a rating of 4.40 on the Google Play Store and 4.60 on the Apple App Store.

EMedia’s eVOD is the best-rated free streaming app in the country, with an average score of 4.15 out of five across the two app stores.

Android users rated the app 3.70 out of five, while iOS users were more generous, scoring 4.60 out of five.

The table below compares app store ratings and prices for several streaming services available in South Africa.