The ever-increasing cost of streaming services has been a hard burden to carry for cord-cutters. As they add more and more subscriptions to their bills, Hulu became the latest addition, increasing prices alongside Disney+.

This means Netflix has always been costlier than its competitors, and this was the last increase, in January 2022. However, with Netflix introducing an ad-supported tier at a cheaper price, consumers may want to shift to the platform.

Looking beyond the price increases, however, there's much to adore about both Hulu and Netflix. For some subscribers, though, it might be a very tough decision to drop one or the other. Here are our thoughts on Netflix versus Hulu and why we think each streaming service is the best bang for your buck.

Netflix original content library is more robust
The service company, Netflix, has existed for 15 years, therefore, the streaming company is armed with an exhaustive list of contents and original titles take the lead in subscription.

From hits like "Wednesday," "Squid Game," "Stranger Things," "Bridgerton" and "Ozark" to large budget films featuring various A-listers like Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in "The Gray Man," entertainment options are almost unlimited. Netflix also has rights to the majority of movie studios, as well as TV programming such as "Good Girls" from NBC, "Shameless" from Showtime and more.

Still, Hulu originals shouldn't be dismissed-think "The Handmaid's Tale," "Only Murders in the Building," "The Dropout," "Nine Perfect Strangers," "Tell Me Lies," and more. The service has a handful of binge-worthies, but the catalog can't touch Netflix's offerings.

Another significant reason subscribers enjoy the service is because of Netflix's binge-streaming model. For most titles, the streaming service uploads an entire season of shows versus rolling one episode out per week like Hulu.

In 2022, Netflix emerged victorious with 26 wins after being nominated for 105. "Squid Game" became the first non-English series in history to win the Outstanding Drama category. For comparison, Hulu only won 10 Emmys after being nominated 58 times — which marked a new record of noms for the streamer.

The second point of difference lies in its provision of interactive series such as "Bandersnatch," "Cat Burglar," "Trivia Quest," and an all-new trivia series called "Triviaverse.".

The company is also foraying into cinematic franchises, which Hulu has only partially done. Netflix had confirmed the sequel and a spin-off show of "The Gray Man" besides a spin-off series "Stranger Things." Besides, the streaming giant had secured the rights to "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" and "Knives Out 3" for a reported $450 million.

Plus, the company will make reality TV history with its next competition series, "Squid Game: The Challenge," which will have 456 contestants-the biggest cast ever of any reality TV series.

While we keep talking about reality TV, we will throw in the fact that Netflix has really been running a bit of a distance on the category. On that note, the fact that the unscripted show "Is It Cake?" has only an audience score of 40% via Rotten Tomatoes sets off a little alarm as does the audience score in "The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On" where it attained only 11%.

Thus, as Netflix churns out engrossing true crime, dramas, documentaries and stand-up comedy specials, the streaming giant has been under heavy fire for its reality TV show offering.

Hulu is good for reality TV addicts
Arguably, Hulu has one of the best reality TV offerings, except for Discovery+. Hulu's "The Kardashians" and "The D'Amelio Show" have done well for the streamer, and the biggest draw is the large selection of traditional TV shows, which Netflix lacks.

Hulu's vast TV catalog is thanks to ties to ABC, FX, Fox, Food Network, Freeform, TLC and many other content partnerships. The blow, however, came when it lost its licensing agreements next day episodes of NBC and Bravo shows; Peacock now owns the exclusive rights for those next-day accessibility. On-demand access to programs like "Saturday Night Live" and "The Voice" were also eliminated. Still, it remains in possession of older titles such as "Law & Order SVU," "Friday Night Lights," and "30 Rock" among many others.

On top of that, if you also select Hulu Live TV, you'll get access to more than 75+ live channels, which include Bravo, Comedy Central, E!, Freeform, Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, MTV, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Discovery, History, National Geographic, ESPN, CNN, Fox News, ABC News and the rest.

Low-Cost Ad-Supported Streaming Plan Launches, Adding Stiffer Competition to Hulu and its Ad-Supported Streaming Services by Netflix
Since earlier this month when it launched its very low-cost, ad-supported plan, Netflix has mounted stiffer competition to streaming services such as Hulu and a few other ad-supported streaming services.

Netflix is launching its new plan, called "Basic with Ads," for just $6.99 per month, cheaper than the ad-supported plan offered by Hulu for $7.99 a month. Furthermore, its Standard plan at $15.50 per month comes out cheaper than the $14.99/month no-ads option at Hulu.

Netflix promises users around four to five minutes of commercials per hour, and the ads are only around 15 to 30 seconds long. In addition, new Netflix movies just get pre-roll ads; older movies get mid-roll, pre-roll, which seems to be on par with Hulu.
Netflix's ad-supported plan is finally here

The Netflix cheaper plan, aside from sitting through ads, has downsides of its own: it offers video at 720p quality, streams to only one device at a time, and doesn't offer downloading for offline viewing.

It also does not allow for offline viewing on Hulu. However, Hulu does have the feature to watch in up to 1080p with a few things available at 4K. The basic plan with 4K Netflix content would be an extra $19.99 a month.

Hulu also allows users to stream at two devices at one time with their ad plan, while the "Basic with Ads" on Netflix can only allow one.

The most obvious, the subscribers to the service are not allowed access to about 5% to 10% of content on Netflix because of the licensing restriction. It also said it is working hard to continue negotiating with the studios in order to enable more content to be carried on the ad-supported tier.

Hulu also faces issues with licensing one of its ABC shows—Grey's Anatomy—so even on the ad-free plan, the show still has ads. Hulu Live TV's ad-free tier also has ads with some on-demand titles.

Hulu's Disney bundle is a great value
Disney is combining Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu in one neat package at a discounted rate to give your entire home the best entertainment, such as movies and TV series on demand, sports packages, and original content-all for a low price.
Late 2022 bundled plan with ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu with advertisements, meanwhile, will be offered at $14.99 a month. The bundle featuring ad-free Hulu, Disney, and ESPN+ will start at $19.99 a month.

Hulu has add-on channels
Hulu's premium add-on channels is an optional cherry on top. Subscribers can add on premium subscriptions: HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and STARZ at additional fees ranging from $8.99 to $14.99 monthly.

But with Hulu Live TV, which carries Español channels, Entertainment, and Sports, you also get add-ons as low as $4.99/month. Users of Hulu Live TV can also add another $9.99/month for the ability to stream on an unlimited number of supported devices at one time.

Netflix does not offer add-ons.

And the champion is….
That's really up to you to decide. If you prefer an enormous, diverse library of content and enjoy being able to stream all the episodes of your favorite show on one weekend, Netflix wins. If you like accessing a wide variety of programming that is traditional television—especially reality TV—and especially if you like bundling or including other subscription services on your plan, Hulu is right for you.