A few years back the idea of subscribing to a video streaming service wasn’t received well, especially since torrent sites are aplenty and free too. But in the last year or so, since internet service providers in India have started being kind enough to offer more data on FUPs, the crowd has made a swift shift to online streaming services too. In this fast paced world of internet, online video streaming services are the order of the day, but since there are so many of them, we thought this comparison might help you a bit.
1. Pricing
Money matters, and we know that too. So we’ll start by talking about the subscription cost of each one of the above-listed video streaming apps.
Netflix is a bit on the expensive side as its basic subscription costs Rs.500 per month and comes with some restrictions too. Standard and Premium subscriptions cost Rs.650 and Rs.800. Hotstar‘s monthly subscription will cost you an economical Rs.199 per month for their Premium content catalogue. Voot is absolutely free right now; no subscription is required to stream content on their platform. Airtel Movies gives you several in-app options to subscribe to either Eros Now, HOOQ, Sony LIV for Rs.49, Rs.249, Rs.149 per month, respectively. Airtel has also added YouTube and Dailymotion video streaming options on its apps.
2. Video Catalogue
Netflix houses a vast library of originals that the Indian audience is still getting around, especially because not their entire library was unveiled to viewers here at their launch. Hotstar has a lot to offer, including latest Indian TV shows, Bollywood movies, latest Hollywood movies and English TV shows. It also offers live sports streaming option for Cricket, English Premier League and Formula 1. Voot has an array of shows majorly from Colors channel in various Indic languages, shows from MTV India and movies produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Not a colossal catalogue, but it’s for free and streams a host of popular shows. Airtel Movies has a vast inventory that includes Hollywood movies, shows, Bollywood movies and Indian shows as well in its HOOQ subscription, added Bollywood movies, music and TV shows from Eros’ subsidiaries and native content from SonyLiv.
3. Video Playback and User Interface
Netflix wins this round with seamless streaming and a smooth interface, that has a really well-working recommendation engine, based on your watching history. Hotstar, like Voot, has a heavy user interface which takes time to load even on a decently quick internet connection and both of them can do away with the clutter. Airtel Movies takes a lot of time while starting a stream as it verifies credentials first and that can be a bit irritating at times. The video streams fine, and the interface is quite smooth as well.
4. Indian Content
The availability of Indian content on Netflix is very low — it just has a few Bollywood movies. Hotstar has a big library of Indian content, both movies and TV shows — thanks to Star Plus — which actually trumps all others except Airtel Movies on this list. Voot has shows from TV channels which are owned or are subsidiaries of Viacom 18, namely MTV and Colors in various regional languages. Airtel Movies can bid for the top two ranks in this parameter as its ErosNow, SonyLiv, as well as HOOQ subscriptions, are all heavily loaded with Indian content.
5. Original Content
Netflix has also released a lot of their original content like Narcos, The Crown, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and much more. Hotstar houses shows from Star Plus India and a few originals like ‘On Air with AIB’, but nothing fresh has shown up on their platform in a long time. Per se, they don’t have anything unique on offer at their platform except for what is already available for TV viewers. You can call almost everything on Voot an original since all the content on their platform is from Viacom 18 production house. Apart from that, they also have originals such as Chinese Bhasad, Shaadi Boys and more just for the web viewers. Airtel Movies app also hasn’t come up with anything out of the ordinary, and you can only stream shows which are also otherwise available on independent streaming services of their linked subscriptions.
6. Streaming and Offline Viewing Options
Voot and Airtel, both don’t have the option to download and view shows later on in the offline mode.
Verdict
Voot has a long way to go to meet its competitors but is a worthwhile service for those looking to watch the recent Big Boss updates or your favourite show from MTV. Airtel Movies app might be a good aggregator of sorts as all it does is combine multiple subscriptions in one app, but with no original content on offer, they are well behind in the race. Netflix’s high pricing, as well as the lack of Indian content, is an issue for the service provider. Hotstar was one of the first streaming services from India to arrive on the scene and has established a sound footing. With a snappier interface and some more quality originals, it just might be the right choice. So, to sum it up, here’s how you should decide: Let us know in the comments which one did you choose.
