Best overall
Apple TV+
8.4Small library, but nearly every show is worth watching
Best forSomeone who just bought a new Apple device and gets 3 months free — or a selective viewer happy paying $9.99/mo for a small library where almost nothing is filler.
Scores — click any row to see our rationale
Monthly Cost & Tiers▼7/10
Original & Exclusive Shows▼7/10
Simultaneous Streams & Sharing▼8/10
4K & Video Quality▼10/10
Ads & Ad-Free Options▼10/10
Pros
✓Every title streams in 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos at no extra charge — there is no lower-quality tier
✓Zero ads on every plan, with no option to add them — Apple TV+ is the only service in this comparison that is 100% ad-free by default
✓Up to 6 simultaneous streams, shared across an Apple Family Sharing group — the most streams per account of any service here
✓New Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV) buyers get 3 free months — effectively free for most Apple households at least once
✓Severance, Slow Horses, and The Morning Show have won or been nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe Awards — the hit rate per title is high
✓Apple One bundle at $19.95/mo adds Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ storage alongside TV+ — strong value if you already pay for Apple Music
Cons
✕The library is tiny — Apple TV+ has no licensed catalog of older TV shows or films; everything is an Apple Original or nothing
✕If you finish the shows you want to watch, there's almost nothing else to browse — the depth problem is real and ongoing
✕No live sports, no live TV, no news programming of any kind
✕$12.99/mo is harder to justify as a standalone subscription given the limited content volume — most subscribers pair it with at least one other service
✕The 3-month free trial requires a qualifying new Apple device purchase — it's not available to long-time Apple users who aren't upgrading
✕No option to pay less and get ads — the single $12.99/mo price means you can't reduce cost by tolerating commercials