Streaming has become more popular in South Africa, and there are three main players in this market – Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video.<\/p>\n
Each of these platforms offers thousands of great movies and series to South African viewers, as well as great value for money.<\/p>\n
However, many South Africans are not willing to pay for all three of these services and instead opt to sign up for only one of these options.<\/p>\n
The right choice will depend on what you find most important in a streaming service.<\/p>\n
All three of these services offer an extensive range of movies and TV series, but there are clear winners and losers when it comes to content.<\/p>\n
If you prefer to watch movies, Amazon’s Prime Video has by far the largest range of movies of the three services, with 11,710 films to choose from.<\/p>\n
Netflix is far behind Prime Video with 3,589 movies, while Showmax brings up the rear with 1,113 movies.<\/p>\n
These figures are taken from JustWatch<\/a><\/strong> – a content aggregator for streaming services available in specific countries.<\/p>\n Showmax is again the service with the lowest choice of TV series – offering 434 choices to its customers.<\/p>\n Prime Video offers 1,283 series, but Netflix is the winner in this category with 1,827 options.<\/p>\n The numbers alone may not tell the full story, however.<\/p>\n For example, Showmax may have the smallest catalogue of content, but it has a large range of South African movies and shows – which may appeal more to local viewers.<\/p>\n The table below shows the movies and TV series available on Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video at the time of writing.<\/p>\n While content is important, many South Africans may prefer the service that offers them the best streaming quality or uses the least data.<\/p>\n In terms of streaming quality, Netflix offers 4K streaming for its most expensive package – Premium – at the cost of R169 per month.<\/p>\n The Standard package offers 1080p streaming, while both Netflix Mobile and Netflix Basic offer 480p streaming.<\/p>\n Amazon Prime Video offers a single subscription option which costs $5.99 per month and supports 4K streaming.<\/p>\n Showmax, however, only offers customers HD quality on its most expensive package – which costs R99 per month.<\/p>\n One area where Showmax has an advantage is that it offers packages which include live sport<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Showmax Pro Mobile and ShowMax Pro offer the full suite of Showmax content as well as 24-hour news channels and an extensive range of sport, including:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Streaming Platform<\/strong><\/th>\n Movies<\/strong><\/th>\n TV Series<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n\n \n Netflix<\/strong><\/td>\n 3,589<\/td>\n 1,827<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Prime Video<\/strong><\/td>\n 11,710<\/td>\n 1,283<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Showmax<\/strong><\/td>\n 1,113<\/td>\n 434<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Streaming quality<\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n \nStreaming package comparison<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Package<\/strong><\/td>\n Max streaming quality<\/strong><\/td>\n Simultaneous streams<\/strong><\/td>\n Price pm<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Netflix Basic<\/td>\n SD<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n R99<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Netflix Standard<\/td>\n HD<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n R139<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Netflix Premium<\/td>\n 4K<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n R169<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Showmax Mobile<\/td>\n SD (Mobile only)<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n R49<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Showmax<\/td>\n HD<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n R99<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Prime Video<\/td>\n 4K<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n R91.37<\/strong> ($5.99)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Showmax Pro<\/h3>\n
\n