Which streaming service offers the best value for money?

Our MoneyHub guide to all the streaming service options in Estonia. From Apple TV+ to Netflix – including which to sign up for according to your tastes.

Estonia’s streaming options seem almost endless, with thousands of shows each.

Each platform has its terms and conditions while offering a selection of shows and movies catering to different tastes.

They also have a rundown of the easiest to cancel and which service to pick according to your viewing tastes.

Read their definitive guide on media subscriptions below.

Netflix

What is it? Netflix is the market leader regarding subscribers, with 15 million people paying to choose from thousands of shows. Netflix is the 24th most visited website globally, and the service has 220 million global memberships.

Best for: Original drama.

How do I sign up, and how much does it cost? Visit netflix.com/signup and choose the best option for you. The standard plan is €7.99 a month ad-free and allows you to watch in full HD, rising to £11.99 for the Premium Plan, where the resolution is 4k, and you can watch on more devices simultaneously (four instead of two on the standard plan). You can cancel your subscription before your next billing period begins.

Is it easy to use? The homepage can be overwhelming, and it takes a while to scroll down through the 41 categories. Based on previous shows you’ve watched, Netflix is the best service for recommending choices. 

So, for example, if you’ve watched the British thriller Fool Me Once, it will present you with dozens of programmes with similar appeal. There’s also a category called ‘Top Picks’, again based on previous shows you’ve watched. You can fast-forward through episodes at various speeds (once, twice or three times the average speed), but hitting the exact spot you want in a particular show can prove tricky. And if you have to resume an episode, it invariably takes you back to the very start rather than where you left it.

What do I get? The streaming giant has produced over 1,500 original shows since 2013 and is unafraid to splash the cash in making them. The Crown (see below) cost almost £8 million per episode, and comedian Chris Rock was paid more than £30 million for two comedy specials. The emphasis is on entertainment instead of sports affairs and news, which other services offer. The content volume grows daily, and Netflix flags up what’s new on its homepage with a special section. Mindful that many subscribers have families, switching your account to the children’s setting is easy.

Go3

What is it? Go3 is a local streaming service tailored for Baltic viewers, offering a variety of local and international content, including live TV channels, movies, and series.

Best for: Local Estonian and Baltic content, as well as a mix of international shows.

How do I sign up and how much does it cost? Visit go3.tv to subscribe. The basic plan starts at €7.99 per month, offering access to a selection of movies, series, and live TV channels. A more comprehensive package is available at €17.99 per month, which includes TV, films and HBO content and additional live TV options. They have huge discounts but only if you commit to a 24 month contract – which naturally is harder to cancel and you’ll pay for the entire contract.

Is it easy to use? Kinda, Go3 features a straightforward interface with easy access to live TV, on-demand movies, and series. The platform allows users to resume watching from where they left off and offers smooth fast-forwarding and rewinding functions. To cancel a 24 month contract will be difficult.

What do I get? Go3 offers a mix of local Estonian content, popular international series and movies, and a range of live TV channels. The service regularly updates its library with new releases and provides a dedicated section for kids. It also features exclusive Baltic content not available on other platforms, making it a unique choice for regional viewers.

Amazon Prime

What is it? Prime Video is a streaming service similar to Netflix but offering a slightly wider range of content, including live football, original movies, dramas, and even a legendary soap opera. Unlike other services, Prime Video offers the chance to rent or buy films and TV shows that are not included in the basic subscription fee, and you can pay for add-on subscriptions to channels such as Hayu.

Best For: Movies and sports.

How do I sign up and how much does it cost? Go to www.amazon.com/gp/video/offers to start a 30-day free trial. After that, it’s €6.99 a month. The fee allows you to watch three different Prime shows on three other devices simultaneously. You can cancel anytime by selecting accounts and lists, then Prime Video channels, then Cancel Channel and confirm. Your subscription end date will show on the screen.

Is it easy to use? Reasonably. If you go to the homepage, you can press the button ‘All’ near the top and open the door to a torrent of content, including more than 100 categories of comedies, movies, the ten most popular Prime shows currently available plus, unusually among the primary services. These shows will disappear from the platform over the next 30 days. Once again, it’s not easy to fast-forward and rewind accurately, but resuming a show starts precisely where you left it.

What do I get? It’s challenging to find a weakness in the selection, with every Bond movie available, plus an impressive roster of high-quality classics, live Premier League football, Clarkson and co on their Grand Tours, and outstanding original dramas. You can also watch the revamped Neighbours through Amazon Freevee, which, as it suggests, is free of charge but does come with ads, although Amazon says there are fewer commercials than on a traditional TV show.

Prime Video, one of the largest libraries, has 26,300-plus movies and over 2,700 TV shows. On top of all that, you can take advantage of other Amazon services. Subscription comes with unlimited one-day delivery on products ordered from the Amazon store. You’re also eligible for all the other perks of Amazon Prime, such as a same-day grocery delivery service from Amazon Fresh, Co-op and Morrisons.

Apple TV+

What is it? An American subscription service launched in 2019 that emphasises big names and high-end drama, often with a strong comedic edge.

Best for: Original drama.

How do I sign up and what does it cost? Go to www.tv.apple.com to begin a free seven-day trial (or a three-month free trial if you buy an Apple device), after which the subscription costs €9.99 a month, a deal that allows you to watch Apple+ shows on six different devices. To cancel your account, click on the circled face in the top right-hand corner of the home screen to go to your account, where you can scroll down to subscriptions and cancel by pressing the word ‘manage’, followed by ‘cancel subscription’. You can cancel any time before your monthly or annual fee becomes payable.

Is it easy to use? Yes. Go to the home page and scroll down to see the shows under neatly arranged sections such as Newest Releases, Home Grown Originals And Binge Entire Seasons. There’s also a search bar in the top right corner; simply key in the name of the programme you’re looking for. Click on a programme, and a trailer will appear, after which you have the option in the bottom left of the screen to play an entire episode. If halted, show your resume just a little before the point at which you left it.

What do I get? Top-quality drama – and lots of it. The service has gone for stars such as Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, and Jennifer Aniston to bring people to the platform, and they are adding new products at a rate of knots. In January alone, these included three significant new releases: Masters Of The Air (see below), Killers Of The Flower Moon – a western starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio – and Criminal Record.

Disney+

What is it? Launched in 2020, this service draws heavily on Disney’s extraordinary back catalogue of animated classics, plus imaginative, big-budget spin-offs from the Star Wars and Marvel franchises. It’s been a ringing success: Disney+ generated $8.4 billion in revenue in 2023, a 13 per cent increase year over year.

Best for: Animation and fantasy dramas.

How do I sign up and what does it cost? Go to DisneyPlus.com. The standard plan, which is contains ads, is 59kr (Swedish) per month. There is a Standard plan without ads and the premium service is 119kr a month or 1,190kr a year, allowing four people to watch on four devices at any time without ads. You get 12 months for the price of 10 with an annual subscription. To cancel, log into your Disney+ account and cancel your subscription before payment is due for the next month/year.

Is it easy to use? Fairly straightforward. The homepage invites you to check out the various sections, such as New To Disney and Comedy Movies or other programme portals, including Pixar and Star Wars. Click on Star Wars, for example, and 14 different sections of Star Wars-related entertainment appear on the screen – including six documentaries and 11 films. A button on the left of the home page invites you to type in the name of the Disney+ programme you want to see. This can be laborious and fiddly. Resumption of episodes is good – it slips back to the point you left it – but fast-forwarding through a show can feel a bit haphazard, and it’s challenging to click on precisely the point at which you want to rejoin the action.

What do I get? Access to some superbly made high-action fantasy dramas, including every film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus a chance to dive deep into the Star Wars universe. Along with Star Wars on the homepage is a section called Star, which features more mature content, including the acclaimed Steve Martin series Only Murders In The Building, in which Steve’s character Charles-Haden Savage and his friends set out to solve murders committed in their New York apartment block, and the documentary Welcome To Wrexham charting the rise of the football club under the ownership of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The Disney+ library contains 7,500 TV episodes and 500 films.

YouTube

What is it? The American online site launched in 2005.

Best for: Music videos.

How do I get it? Go to Youtube.com

Is it easy to use? Yes. Go to the website and look for the programme you want in the search bar at the top of the homepage. The service is free, but you can go ad-free for €8.99 a month with a one-month free trial. You can cancel anytime.

What do I get? Everything from a series of dramas to lessons in playing the violin.