Featured image: Anastasia Shuraeva/Pexels

With many different streaming services, students have many choices. Alongside social media and YouTube, watching entertaining and readily available shows and movies seems more popular than TV. There are a variety of streaming services for everyone, some including exclusive discounts for students and bundles for entertainment fanatics. Getting a good deal is arguably one of the core values of being a student, while ensuring you’re getting something you know you’ll actually use.

Amazon Prime Video – Maybe the best deal on the market 

Amazon Prime has big promises for students, offering six months free, then £4.49 a month or £47.49 a year. This includes Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music. They are one of the only platforms with a student discount. Picking Amazon is arguably the best value because of all the perks, all while being one of the cheapest of all streaming services out there. This choice will give you lots of binge-worthy series’ with a range of fantasy, drama and action, such as The Boys, The Legend of Vox Machina, Fallout, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Mr and Mrs Smith. 

Disney+ – One for nostalgia and comfort 

Although Disney+ does not offer a student deal, their standard subscription sits at a generous £4.99 a month for viewing with ads. However, it does jump to £7.99 a month for an ad-free experience. It could be suggested that the low price is due to the fact that they are the only platform providing content of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star. Socially, this may be considered as a secondary streaming service alongside something with a wider variety of movies and shows. However, if you’re a Disney fan and have no desire for a regular soap or reality TV, this would be a great money-saving choice. Content involves all childhood classics such as Phineas and Ferb and Big Hero 6, infamous Marvel movies such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avengers: Endgame, and nature-focused shows and documentaries such as Baby Sharks and Welcome to Earth.

Hulu Bundles – Spoilt for choice 

Hulu on its own is a good streaming service, but for £9.99 a month, it’s not very attractive for the bargaining student. However, for people who love anything and everything and want to be extra picky about their post-study movie, this deal might be for you. Hulu’s Disney Bundle Duo Basic includes Hulu and Disney+ for £10.99 a month. For even more choice, the Disney Bundle Trio Basic provides Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ (a streaming service for everything sports) for £16.99 a month. 

YouTube Premium – Not a movie fan? 

You don’t need to spend hours getting invested in a drama-filled series to be entertained anymore. YouTube is highly popular among students due to the fact that it’s free and the content is made by its users, making it a more relatable, interactive experience. YouTube offers a one month trial for Premium, which is YouTube ad-free (including YouTube Music). After the trial it’s a steady £7.99 a month. YouTube Premium is not very decorated with perks and objectively won’t be everyone’s choice. This is possibly the least attractive choice, as it’s unlikely that money-savers wish to cough up another expense to remove a few ads. 

Channel 4+ – When you miss TV but will not catch yourself paying for a TV license 

Channel 4+ is a subscription service for all of their TV shows, 100s of box sets. Prices remain steady at £3.99 a month or £39.99 a year. This is a good option for those who miss their British favourites while staying in student accommodation. Content includes nationally adored Gogglebox and Taskmaster, comedies such as Peep Show, reality such as First Dates, and crime shows, like Suspect.

Streaming services are definitely something worth investing in as a student. Relaxing away from studying can take many forms, but this one might actually be the choice that will hurt your bank account the least.