Netflix rolled out a new subscription plan that would enable watching streamed content to four different devices simultaneously.  This will allow each family member to watch a video of their choosing without having to fight other household members for control.  The Family Plan comes with an $11.99 price tag that Netflix hopes people would fall in love with.

So how does this new subscription compare to what other services offer?

Netflix vs Amazon Prime & Hulu Plus

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Netflix

For $7.99, Netflix subscribers get to enjoy video on demand streaming on two devices.  The new Family plan that costs $11.99, entitles you to on-demand streaming on four devices simultaneously.  What this means is that four people can watch four different shows at the same time, on four different devices.

When you sign up for Netflix, you have a one-month free trial.  And since Netflix has a monthly subscription model, you can terminate the service whenever you want to, without having to worry about early termination fees.

Amazon Prime

For a yearly subscription fee of $79 (that’s about $6.58 per month), subscribers are entitled to watching thousands of movies and TV shows, free two-day shipping to items ordered on Amazon with no minimum order size, access to thousands of Kindle Books.  Amazon Prime content can be streamed on your computer or TV but also on mobile devices.  You can try out the service for a one-month free trial, after which you have to fork up $79.  But if you don’t want the service, you can opt out of it at no charge.  Since Amazon uses a yearly subscription model, you will be charged an early termination fee if you want to suddenly cancel your subscription.

Hulu Plus

This is the better version of Hulu.com, as more content is available, and on more devices.  For a $7.99 monthly fee, subscribers get to enjoy full seasons, current and past, of shows with limited advertising.  Aside from watching it on your TV via a compatible set-top box from Roku or Blu-ray players from Sony, Samsung and Vizio, you can enjoy content using your iPad, iPhone, Xbox and PlayStation 3.

Hulu Plus offers a one week free trial.  Like Netflix, because it adopted the monthly subscription plan, if you no longer want the service, you can easily terminate it without having to worry about early termination fees.

Where to place your money

Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime don’t really talk about simultaneous consumption of content on multiple devices unlike Netflix.  When it comes to subscription fees, Amazon is the cheapest, and Amazon Prime comes with several other perks outside of streaming video (like free shipping).  Though an advantage of Netflix and Hulu Plus is that subscribers aren’t obligated to stick to the service.  They can choose to terminate anytime they want to.  But Amazon has a greater advantage when it comes to parental controls of content.

Still, the simultaneous consumption of content poses a great advantage, added to the fact that Netflix’s original series offerings are quite good.  For this round, the money is on Netflix.