Netflix and Disney Plus are two of the most popular streaming sites around but, with subscription costs on the rise, which app is most worth your money?
We’ve put Netflix and Disney Plus head to head so you can see how they compare when it comes to price, device support, interfaces, content and image quality.
Pricing and subscription tiers
How much each streaming service costs will depend on your plan in Netflix’s case, or how long you’re willing to commit to the service for Disney Plus.
Netflix offers four tiers – Basic with adverts, Basic, Standard and Premium.
Basic with adverts invites you to stream on one device at a time in HD, while Basic enables the same but with no ads. Downloads are also supported on a single device with the Basic plan.
The Standard plan allows you to watch on two devices at the same time in Full HD with downloads available on both devices.
Premium is the top-level Netflix subscription, delivering Ultra HD content on up to four devices at a time with downloads supported on up to six devices. The Premium tier also comes with 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos for more immersive sound.
Netflix:
- Basic with adverts: £4.99/$6.99 a month
- Basic: £6.99/$9.99 a month
- Standard: £10.99/$15.49 a month
- Premium: £15.99/$19.99 a month
Disney Plus only offers one tier but the price depends on whether you’re willing to commit to a month or a full year of streaming.
Both options include the ability to stream on up to four screens at once and download content on up to 10 devices. Video quality goes up to Ultra HD, while audio is boosted with 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos where supported. All of this content is ad-free.
Disney has launched an ad-supported version of the platform in the US which involved hiking the prices of its standard plan, but this change has yet to be confirmed in the UK.
Disney Plus:
- Pay monthly: £7.99/$10.99 a month
- Pay yearly: £79.90/$109.99 a year
Neither Netflix nor Disney Plus is offering a free trial right now.
Sign up for Disney+
Disney+ offers access to loads of original shows like The Mandalorian and Hawkeye, classic films and content from big brands like Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar.
- Disney+
- From £4.99 a month
Supported devices
Both Netflix and Disney Plus are available on a range of devices including many web browsers, smart TVs, smartphones, streaming sticks and game consoles, though it’s always a good idea to check your specific device before subscribing to either platform.
Interface
Both streaming services offer clean interfaces that are easy to navigate.
Netflix breaks its interface down into categories that include Search, New & Popular, Categories, TV Programmes, Films, My List and Notifications.
There are also rows for My List, Continue Watching, Popular on Netflix, Trending Now, Only on Netflix and Gems for You, followed by rows for different genres.
Disney Plus, on the other hand, offers sections for Search, Movies, Series, Watchlist, Originals and Settings.
There’s a carousel that highlights new content at the top, followed by the six worlds of Disney – Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star – with little animations as you hover over them.
Content
The libraries are perhaps the biggest differentiators between the two streaming sites.
Netflix’s content offering is changing constantly and what you get depends on where in the world you live. In 2022, it was estimated to have around 6718 titles in the UK.
There’s plenty of original content to get stuck into, including TV shows like House of Cards, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Squid Game, Stranger Things, Midnight Mass, Bojack Horseman and The Last Dance and movies such as Roma, Marriage Story and Uncut Gems.
There’s also content from other studios like Sony, who have provided titles like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Crown.
Originals aside, there’s a wide variety of content across genres to be found on Netflix, along with international content from around the world.
Disney Plus’s roster is similarly packed with exclusive content and wildly popular originals, including series like The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Loki, Moon Knight and The Book of Boba Fett with an emphasis on Star Wars and Marvel content.
There are also loads of modern and classic titles from Disney and Pixar, content from National Geographic and more mature shows and movies from Disney’s subsidiaries over on Star.
Image and audio quality
When it comes to Netflix, the image and video quality you get will depend on how much you’re willing to spend on a Netflix subscription.
Netflix offers a range of more budget-friendly plans that don’t hit the same high-end specs and streaming quality available on Disney’s single tier but will save you a few pounds each month.
However, if you’re looking to stream in 4K with spatial audio, Netflix’s Premium plan will cost you almost twice as much as Disney Plus.
To compare the top specs available on each platform, both Netflix and Disney Plus offer 4K UHD content and support two major HDR formats, HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Only Disney Plus offers IMAX Enhanced content.
Both platforms support 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos for immersive audio.
Verdict
Netflix and Disney Plus are two platforms packed with TV shows and movies, including exclusive originals, worth subscribing to. Which one you pick will likely come down to the specific content you want to watch along with how much you value the ability to stream in UHD with Dolby Atmos.
If you’ll mostly be catching up on your favourite shows on your phone or tablet during your commute, you can definitely save money by opting for a cheaper Netflix plan. If you don’t want to settle for less than 4K surround sound, Disney Plus will run you half the price of a Netflix Premium plan.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
