Cutting the cord from the cable company isn’t the no-brainer money saver that it used to be.
Video streaming services and live TV streaming services are hitting us with one price hike after another. This makes life as a cord-cutter more expensive than it has ever been before.
And the price hikes are coming so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with exactly how much you’re paying for streaming TV each month. If you don’t know what you’re paying each month, you may be scared to learn how much you’re handing over per year!
Don’t worry. The good news is that there typically are no long-term commitments in the world of streaming TV.
That means with a little effort we can gain back control over our entertainment budget by making some smart decisions with our subscriptions.
In this article, I’m going to show you how it’s still possible to enjoy all of the latest and greatest TV shows and movies for under $100 per year.
Table of Contents
- Before You Get Started
- Streaming for Under $100: A Month-by-Month Guide
- If You’re Looking for Live TV…
- Some Helpful Tips for This Exercise
- Final Thoughts
Before You Get Started
Before we go any further, let’s set some basic ground rules for this discussion:
- Live television streaming services are not included. If you’re looking for live channels from a service like YouTube TV or Sling TV, that’s a different discussion for a different budget. In this article, I’ll be talking about video streaming services that specialize in on-demand content such as Netflix and Disney+. If you came here looking for advice on live TV streaming, I have some more information for you here.
- We’re not including free trials. Many of the services we’ll look at have some sort of free trial option. Those range from as little as seven days to as much as a full month. You may be able to trim even more money off your bill by using free trials for the services you haven’t already tried. But for the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to assume you no longer have access to any free trials.
- We aren’t looking for live sports. Video streaming services have improved their live sports offerings, but we won’t be using access to those as part of this $100 exercise because it usually involves an additional fee (ex. MLS on Apple TV+ or B/R Sports on Max.) And because most sports leagues are tied to lucrative television contracts, you’re more likely to find sports on linear TV, cable TV, live streaming TV or league-sponsored subscriptions (like NFL Sunday Ticket or MLB.TV). This exercise may not be for you if streaming live sports content is a deal breaker.
- Remember to account for local taxes. While the plan I’m going to present should keep you under $100 in subscription fees for the year in retail cost, it’s worth noting I have not included any taxes. These will vary based on where you live, and you can expect each streaming service to charge this on top of the monthly fee.
- All of this is flexible. While my road map should give you a variety of options for less than $100, you obviously can adjust as you feel necessary. Create your own experience in the spirit of this journey, which is to stream the most enjoyable content for the lowest amount of money possible!
Streaming for Under $100: A Month-by-Month Guide
So here’s how this is going to work: I’m going to take you through a month-by-month menu for streaming in 2024.
I’m going to pick only one streaming service per month. During that time period, you have the opportunity to do a deep dive into all of the content that service offers without the distraction (or cost) of other streaming services.
That’s the beauty of on-demand video streaming services: There is no long-term commitment.
As we move through these options, I’ll give you a rundown of the pricing, reasons why you should care about trying each of my picks, a tip on the hottest content and some suggestions of top shows to binge on each service.
| Month | Streaming Service | Monthly Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| January | NBC’s Peacock | $5.99 |
| February | discovery+ | $4.99 |
| March | Max | $9.99 |
| April | Netflix | $6.99 |
| May | Apple TV+ | $9.99 |
| June | STARZ | $9.99 |
| July | Amazon Prime Video | $8.99 |
| August | Hulu | $7.99 |
| September | MGM+ | $5.99 |
| October | AMC+ | $4.99 |
| November | Disney+ | $7.99 |
| December | Paramount+ with SHOWTIME | $11.99 |
January: Peacock
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Monthly Price: $5.99 (Peacock Premium w/ ads)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “The Office,” “Yellowstone,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Parks & Recreation,” “Scrubs”
Top Movies: “Harry Potter” franchise, “Jurassic Park” franchise, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”
Original Content: “Dr. Death,” “Saved By The Bell,” “Bel-Air”
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What You Need to Know About NBC’s Peacock: This service is the exclusive streaming home of many popular NBCUniversal shows and movies. It’s also where you’ll find new original content that NBC is not putting on its linear TV network. It famously became the exclusive streaming home of “The Office” in 2021, leading many Michael Scott fans to the service to get their Scranton fix. But it has grown into much more than that. It is the streaming home of “Yellowstone” and offers live streams of the Olympic Games, NFL’s “Sunday Night Football,” English Premier League soccer and more. |
February: discovery+
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Monthly Price: $4.99 (ad-supported tier)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” “Deadliest Catch,” “House Hunters,” “Love It or List It,” “Kitchen Nightmares”
Top Movies: “Titanic: Conspiracy of Failure,” “Tut’s Lost City Revealed,” “Shark House”
Original Content: “House of Hammer,” “Two Shallow Graves,” “90 Day: The Single Life”
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What You Need to Know About discovery+: This streaming service boasts more than 70,000 episodes of TV shows from more 21 networks owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, including popular shows from Food Network, HGTV, TLC, Magnolia Network, History, A&E and more. In other words, this is going to be the month to skip movies and instead get your fix of personalities like Chip and Joanna Gaines, Property Brothers and Guy Fieri. Some of the content offered here is also available on Max, so you may be able to double-dip on it during the month we subscribe to that service as well. |
March: Max
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Monthly Price: $9.99 (ad-supported tier)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “FRIENDS,” “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Top Movies: “Batman” franchise, “Superman” franchise, “Office Space”
Original Content: “The Flight Attendant,” “The White Lotus,” “True Detective”
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What You Need to Know About Max: Formerly known as “HBO Max,” this streaming service now has many of Warner Bros. Discovery’s top TV shows and movies in addition to the entire HBO catalog of content. That means you’ll get many of the shows you may find on one of the 21 networks mentioned for discovery+. You’ll also have some live news and sports available via the CNN, TBS and TNT brands. “March Madness” games can be accessed for an additional fee. Even with the ad-supported discount, this is one of the most expensive video streaming services on the market. But it’s worth it. You’re going to get a lot of high-quality content with this subscription. |
April: Netflix
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Monthly Price: $6.99 (Basic with ads)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Seinfeld,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Better Call Saul”
Top Movies: “Minions,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “Trolls”
Original Content: “Ozark,” “Stranger Things,” “House of Cards”
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What You Need to Know About Netflix: Netflix is the “original” on-demand video streaming service by which all others on this list are judged. Here you’ll find the deepest content library available — one that could hook you for much longer than a month. In addition to a wide array of original content, you’ll also find many of your old favorites and a slew of movies as well. For this exercise, my suggestion is that you focus on just two or three shows for the month. |
May: Apple TV+
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Monthly Price: $9.99
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Ted Lasso,” “The Morning Show,” “Lessons in Chemistry,” “Invasion,” “Shrinking”
Top Movies: “Greyhound,” “Peanuts” collection, “Luck”
Original Content: “Severance,” “For All Mankind,” “Hijack”
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What You Need to Know About Apple TV+: Once considered a value at $4.99 per month, Apple has doubled the price of its streaming service in short order. But the tech giant has invested the price increase in expanding the library of original content you can find on Apple TV+. You’ll see high-quality content from big stars on this premium streaming service that generally focuses on quality over quantity. You also can find some live sports here, as Apple has the broadcast rights to Major League Soccer and includes a MLB Friday Night Baseball broadcast with its subscription. |
June: STARZ
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Monthly Price: $9.99
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Outlander,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Spartacus,” “Black Sails,” “Rescue Me”
Top Movies: “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Sisu,”
Original Content: “Power,” “Shining Vale,” “The Spanish Princess”
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What You Need to Know About STARZ: Typically known as a collection of cable TV channels, STARZ content can now be accessed via a standalone streaming subscription. And while you may associate the brand with “just out of the movie theater” films, it actually has made an investment in original TV series as well. If you haven’t tried this service before, you may find a couple of new favorites by the time this month is over. |
July: Amazon Prime Video
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Monthly Price: $8.99 (video subscription only)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Jack Ryan,” “Friday Night Lights,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Reacher,” “Psych”
Top Movies: “No Country for Old Men,” “Moneyball,” “Memento”
Original Content: “The Terminal List,” “Fleabag,” “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”
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What You Need to Know About Amazon Prime Video: Many people know Amazon as the do-it-all delivery subscription for consumer goods, but it’s also a really big player in the streaming business. Prime Video has a deep library of on-demand content including some originals like Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” It’s also the exclusive home of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” You may not need to pay extra for this: If you’re an Amazon Prime member, access is included in the cost. Just use your Amazon username and password to log in on the Prime Video app. |
August: Hulu
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Monthly Price: $7.99 (ad-supported, on-demand only)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Family Guy,” “Shark Tank,” “Justified,” “Fargo,” “How I Met Your Mother”
Top Movies: “Die Hard,” “Se7en,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”
Original Content: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Futurama,” “The Kardashians”
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What You Need to Know About Hulu: As one of the original on-demand content providers, there’s a good chance that you’ve already experienced Hulu at some point. It has shifted some of its focus to the Hulu + Live television model and has battled attrition as newer streaming services have claimed their content back. But Hulu remains one of the top video streaming services at $7.99 per month. It’s still the streaming home of some very popular TV series such as “Family Guy” and “Shark Tank.” It also has some budding original series. You can get this service in a bundle with ESPN+ and Disney+ for $14.99 per month. |
September: MGM+
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Monthly Price: $5.99
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “The Addams Family,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “A Spy Among Friends,” “War of the Worlds,” “Rogue Heroes”
Top Movies: “Legally Blonde,” “Rocky,” “Dances with Wolves”
Original Content: “The Winter King,” “Billy the Kid,” “From”
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What You Need to Know About MGM+: Formerly known as Epix, MGM+ is another traditional premium cable channel turned video streaming service. This one is ad-free and reasonably priced, but it does not have quite the depth of content that some of the top services in the market possess. Still, there are enough original series unique to MGM+ to keep us entertained for a month. |
October: AMC+
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Monthly Price: $4.99 (with ads)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “Mad Men,” “The Walking Dead,” “Killing Eve,” “Lucky Hank,”
Top Movies: “Halloween,” “The Lost King,” “Quicksand”
Original Content: “This Is Going to Hurt,” “Anne Boleyn,” “Gangs of London”
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What You Need to Know About AMC+: This streaming service gives you access to content from AMC and several other brands: Shudder, Sundance, BBC America and IFC Films. We all know October is the month for spooky and frightening things. I thought it was a good month to check out the service that includes Shudder, which is AMC’s streaming service created specifically for all things horror. |
November: Disney+
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Monthly Price: $7.99 (ad-supported tier)
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “The Simpsons,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Bluey,” “Boy Meets World,” “Mickey Mouse and Friends”
Top Movies: “Star Wars” series, “Marvel superhero” collection, Disney classics
Original Content: “Loki,” “The Mandalorian,” “WandaVision”
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What You Need to Know About Disney+: This one is likely to be a favorite for all ages in the household. Not only will you get access to Mickey Mouse and the 100 years of animated Disney goodness, but you’ll also get new and cutting-edge content from the Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic branches of the service. |
December: Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
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Monthly Price: $11.99
Bingeworthy TV Shows: “NCIS,” “Billions,” “Survivor,” “Sponge Bob Squarepants,” “South Park”
Top Movies: “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Star Trek” collection, “Mission Impossible” collection
Original Content: “1883,” “1923,” “Tulsa King”
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What You Need to Know About Paramount+: We could’ve gone cheaper with an ad-supported Paramount+ subscription for $5.99 per month. This includes content from CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and Nickelodeon. But for an additional $6 for the month, we’re able to go ad-free, get a live stream of our local CBS affiliate and gain access to the entire SHOWTIME content library. Paying that extra amount will get you access to a show like “Billions.” And if you’re an NFL fan, you’ll be able to watch live games on Sunday during this month with the access to your local CBS affiliate. |
If You’re Looking for Live TV…
As discussed at the beginning of this article, this plan was devised as a way to enjoy the top on-demand streaming services at the lowest price possible.
It’s not intended to be a direct alternative to live television streaming services. Those can be much more expensive.
Here’s what you need to know:
Subscription Live TV Services
Services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV or Sling TV can be a great way to watch all of the top live television stations, but the costs go well beyond our $100 limit for the year. In fact, YouTube TV’s pricing is now so high that you couldn’t even get two months of its service within our chosen budget.
But if you’re looking for live sports and popular news channels, these services are likely your best alternative to cable TV.
Team Clark has tested and reviewed all of the major live TV streaming options on the market as part of our guide for the best live TV streaming services. I’d encourage you to check that out if you’re thinking of subscribing to one of those.
Free Live TV Services
If you want live television but don’t want to pay the monthly bill that comes with it, consider free services such as Pluto TV or Tubi. Keep in mind that these services often have dated content and don’t carry many of the name-brand channels you’d expect from one of the paid services.
However, using one or more of these services in conjunction with our $100 video streaming game plan is a great way to supplement your streaming experience with some live content.
Team Clark has a guide for free streaming TV, as well as reviews on individual services, to help you pick the right option.
Some Helpful Tips For This Exercise
Are you now ready to attempt the challenge of keeping your streaming bill under $100 for a calendar year? Here are some things you may want to consider for the months ahead:
- Invest in a good streaming device. If you’re going to be committed to 12 different streaming services in 12 months, you’ll want to make sure you have an easy way to watch each of them on your television. Some of you may be covered by your smart TV’s built-in apps, but others may need to consider purchasing a Roku, Amazon Fire or Google streaming device.
- Download the apps on your phone. While watching on your television is probably the ideal streaming experience, there are going to be times that you’re going to want to watch content on the go. By downloading the app for your “streaming service of the month,” you’ll ensure that you’re just a couple of clicks away from watching the shows you’re binging during that particular month.
- Set calendar reminders for cancellation. Since we’re moving in and out of streaming services each month, this is an important step. You’ll want to set a reminder on your phone or calendar to make sure to cancel a subscription at the end of the month. Forgetting to do that could mean you get charged for an extra month of service.
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t done the math yet, the plan I just went through would cost approximately $96 (before taxes) for the entire year.
And for that investment, you should have on-demand access to almost every top television show on the market for at least one month of the year.
But you don’t have to follow this list step-by-step to achieve success.
Instead, I hope that you use it as a sample guide to inspire you to customize your own path to a financially sound streaming plan.
These streaming companies would gladly take our money each and every month if we let them. It’s up to us to recognize that there’s only so much content we can consume in one month and then plan accordingly to get the biggest bang for the buck.
Good luck and happy streaming!
Do you have some tips for saving money on video streaming? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the Clark.com community.
