Streaming feels like a bargain. Enormous libraries, a few quid a month, no shelf space required. But add up a full year — or a decade — and the maths gets uncomfortable fast.
Take the premium, ad-free, 4K-with-Dolby-Atmos tier of each major service, and the annual bills stack up quickly. Netflix lands at £227.88 a year, matched by arthouse specialist Mubi at £227.88 (its Go plan even throws in a weekly cinema ticket). Disney+ costs £179.88, while Paramount+ runs to £131.88. Cheaper corners of the market include Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV at £119.88 each, Crunchyroll at £83.88, and Shudder at £59.88.
Those top tiers cost £18.99 and £14.99 a month for Netflix and Disney+ respectively — small enough that most people barely notice the direct debit. But stretch the timeline and the numbers turn eye-watering:
- Netflix / Mubi: £1139.40 over five years, £2278.80 over ten
- Disney+: £899.40 over five years, £1798.80 over ten
- Paramount+: £659.40 over five years, £1318.80 over ten
- Amazon Prime Video / Apple TV: £599.40 over five years, £1198.80 over ten
- Crunchyroll: £419.40 over five years, £838.80 over ten
- Shudder: £299.40 over five years, £598.80 over ten
And that assumes prices stay frozen — which they won’t. Netflix has raised its UK prices four times since 2021. Run two services in parallel and the sums balloon: a Netflix-plus-Disney+ household is looking at over £400 a year, more than £2000 across five years and roughly £4000 over a decade.
Here’s the kicker: you own none of it. Cancel, and every film and show you loved simply vanishes. By contrast, the equivalent of one year’s Netflix subscription buys around 11 4K Blu-rays at £20 each — nearly one a month, each yours to keep forever, in superior picture and sound.
There’s a psychological cost too. Faced with an infinite carousel where everything feels free, you scroll endlessly, hunting for something better even when you’ve already found it. Prestige films and disposable filler flatten into the same beige stream. A Blu-ray, meanwhile, is a considered purchase — something you’ll revisit, complete with special features.
A note on the numbers: these are the priciest tiers, chosen on the assumption that quality-focused viewers want the best picture and sound without ads (family plans would push totals higher still). Annual plans, Sky bundles and Prime membership can shave costs, but each comes with its own strings — lock-in periods, extra subscriptions or à la carte charges for titles that aren’t included, a habit Prime Video is especially fond of.
Great value? Once you total it up, streaming starts to look surprisingly expensive.
