Who Are Netflix’s Biggest Competitors? 9 Streaming Rivals Compared

Netflix’s biggest competitor is YouTube, which gets about twice as much US TV viewing time as Netflix. Its other main competitors are Disney (Disney+ and Hulu), Amazon Prime Video, Skydance (HBO Max and Paramount+), Peacock, Apple TV, free services like Tubi, and live TV services like YouTube TV and Sling TV.

The streaming market changed a lot in 2026. Paramount bought Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney began folding Hulu into Disney+. Netflix stopped reporting subscribers every quarter in 2025, and Disney stopped reporting them in 2026. This guide compares each rival using the latest numbers from Nielsen and company reports.

Key Takeaways

• YouTube had 15.8% of US TV viewing in August 2026, more than double Netflix’s 7.7%, according to Nielsen.
• Netflix made $12.9 billion in revenue in Q3 2026, up 12%, with a 34.6% operating margin.
• Paramount completed its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026, putting HBO Max and Paramount+ under one owner.
• Peacock reached 48 million paid subscribers and turned a profit in 2026.
• Fox, owner of the free service Tubi, agreed to buy Roku for about $22 billion in June 2026.

Netflix Competitors at a Glance

Viewing shares from Nielsen’s The Gauge. Other figures from company reports and news coverage listed in the sources.

Who Is Netflix’s Biggest Competitor?

By viewing time, YouTube is Netflix’s biggest competitor. In August 2026, YouTube took a record 15.8% of all US TV viewing, while Netflix had 7.7%, according to Nielsen. Streaming as a whole made up 49.6% of TV time.

By company size, Disney is the closest media rival. Nielsen’s ranking of media companies, which counts streaming, cable, and broadcast together, put Disney at 9.3% and Netflix at 7.7% in August 2026.

Which media companies get the most US TV viewing? In April 2026, Nielsen’s media company ranking looked like this, as reported by MediaPost:

These shares include streaming, cable, and broadcast TV owned by each company.

For me, the YouTube number is the one to watch. Netflix competes with every service for subscribers, but it competes with YouTube for the same hours of the day.

1. YouTube (Alphabet)

YouTube makes its money mainly from ads, not subscriptions. That makes it a different kind of rival, but it wins the most US TV time. Tubefilter reported that YouTube now gets twice as much watch time on US TVs as any other platform.

YouTube also earns big ad money. Its ad revenue was $11.2 billion in Q3 2026, up 9%. YouTube is part of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, as we explain in who owns Google.

2. Disney+ and Hulu (Disney)

Disney is Netflix’s largest traditional media rival. Its streaming business (Disney+ and Hulu) earned $582 million in operating income in the quarter ended March 28, 2026, up 88%, according to Variety. Streaming revenue rose 13% to $5.49 billion.

Disney stopped reporting subscriber numbers in fiscal 2026. Its last count showed 127.8 million Disney+ subscribers. It is also phasing out the standalone Hulu app in the US as Hulu moves inside Disney+. Disney, now led by CEO Josh D’Amaro, also owns ABC, as covered in our guide on who owns ABC.

Disney also raised US prices on October 21, 2026. Disney+ with ads went to $12.49 a month, and Premium went to $21.49, Tom’s Guide reported. For me, that puts Disney’s ad-free plan within a few dollars of Netflix Standard at $19.99.

3. Amazon Prime Video (Amazon)

Prime Video’s ad-supported tier reaches more than 315 million viewers a month worldwide, according to Amazon’s own data reported by Advanced Television. That is up from 200 million in April 2024.

Ads now run on Prime Video in 16 countries. That puts Amazon in direct competition with Netflix’s ad tier for advertising budgets. See Amazon’s wider rivals in our list of Amazon competitors.

4. HBO Max and Paramount+ (Skydance)

This is the biggest change in streaming in 2026. Paramount completed its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026, Sky News reported. The new company is called Skydance, led by CEO David Ellison. It plans to combine services such as HBO Max and Paramount+. In March 2026, Ellison said putting the two together “gives us a little over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers.”

For now, both services still run separately. As of October 29, 2026, Paramount+ said no subscriber or plan changes had been announced. Paramount+ costs $8.99 a month for Essential and $13.99 for Premium. Engadget reported the services “will unify into a single service over time,” with no name or price announced yet.

Why does this matter for Netflix? For me, this is the closest paid rival in size. More than 200 million subscribers is still well behind Netflix’s 325 million plus, but HBO Max and Paramount+ content would sit in one app.

5. Peacock (Comcast)

Peacock, owned by Comcast’s NBCUniversal, is growing fast. It had 48 million paid subscribers in Q3 2026, up 17%, according to TheDesk. Revenue rose to $1.8 billion, and it posted $261 million in adjusted earnings, its second profitable quarter in a row.

Peacock had 1.6% of US TV viewing in August 2026, according to Nielsen. It also raised prices in August 2026: Select went to $8.99 a month, Premium to $12.99, and ad-free Premium Plus to $19.99, TechCrunch reported.

6. Apple TV (Apple)

Apple renamed Apple TV+ to simply Apple TV in October 2025. It raised the price to $12.99 a month in August 2025, as TheWrap reported. Learn more in our list of Apple competitors.

7. Tubi (Fox)

Tubi is free, paid for by ads. It reached 110 million monthly active users in 2026, up 14%, and its yearly revenue now tops $1 billion, according to Advanced Television. In April 2026, Tubi took a record 2.3% of US TV viewing.

Fox is also buying Roku. In June 2026, Fox agreed to pay $160 a share in cash and stock, valuing Roku at about $22 billion, Variety reported. Roku reaches more than 100 million streaming households worldwide. Shareholders approved the deal in October 2026, but it still needs US antitrust clearance and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Nielsen data cited by MediaPost showed the combined company would hold 9.9% of US TV viewing, the third-largest share among media companies.

Why does Fox buying Roku matter for Netflix? Roku’s platform is the home screen for more than 100 million streaming households. If Fox owns it, Fox could give Tubi a better spot on the home screen. For me, that is a quiet but real threat to Netflix’s ad tier.

8. YouTube TV (Alphabet)

YouTube TV is a paid live TV service. It crossed 10 million subscribers in late 2025, according to multiple reports cited by Cord Cutters News. At the time, it started at $82.99 a month.

YouTube TV is an indirect rival. It replaces a cable bundle, not a Netflix plan. For me, the bigger point is that Alphabet now competes with Netflix twice: free YouTube for viewing time and YouTube TV for live TV.

9. Sling TV (EchoStar)

Sling TV is a live TV service owned by EchoStar. It had 1.71 million subscribers on June 30, 2026, according to EchoStar’s Q2 2026 results. EchoStar’s total pay-TV base, including DISH TV, fell by about 241,000 subscribers that quarter.

For me, Sling is a low threat to Netflix. Its parent’s falling pay-TV numbers show live TV bundles are shrinking, while streaming already makes up 49.6% of US TV time.

The Wider Fight for Attention

Netflix’s own Q3 2026 letter to shareholders describes “intense competition and an explosion of content competing for consumer attention.” That means Netflix does not just compete with other streaming services. It competes with anything people do with their free time.

Direct vs Indirect Netflix Competitors

Which Netflix Competitor Is the Biggest Threat?

Here is how I rank each rival, based on the numbers above. The threat level is my judgment, not a company figure.

How should you read this table? Rivals that fight for time and ad money rank higher than rivals that only fight for subscribers. Netflix already leads on paid members, but it trails YouTube on time. To build a ranking like this for any brand, follow our competitor analysis framework.

How Does Netflix Stay Ahead?

Netflix is still highly profitable. Its operating margin was 34.6% in Q3 2026, and it expects $51.1 billion in revenue for 2026, up 13%. It says its audience is “approaching one billion people.” See its full strengths and weaknesses in our SWOT analysis of Netflix.

Netflix is adding live events to compete with TV. Its Q4 2026 slate includes the NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game, a Christmas Day NFL doubleheader, and a boxing match between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Netflix calls it its “biggest quarterly live slate to date.”

Not everything is working. Netflix cut its 2026 ad revenue forecast to about $2.7 billion from about $3 billion, citing a slower rollout of some ad tools. For more on what makes a lead last, read our guide to competitive advantage.

What Are the Best Netflix Alternatives?

If you are looking for a legal alternative to Netflix, here are the main options:

Prices as reported by each source above. Check each service’s website for current plans.

Bottom Line

For me, Netflix’s real rival is not another subscription service. It is YouTube, which already takes twice Netflix’s share of US TV time. Netflix’s margins are far higher than Disney’s streaming business (34.6% vs 10.6%), but the market around it is consolidating fast: Skydance now owns HBO Max and Paramount+, and Disney is folding Hulu into Disney+. Netflix’s answer is live sports and events, and 2027 will show whether that is enough.

Frequently Asked Questions