1. Amazon Prime Video: streaming bundled with a wider membership
Amazon Prime Video is a little different from most other streaming services in how it's sold. Rather than being a standalone subscription in its own right, it's typically included as part of a wider Amazon Prime membership, alongside benefits like faster delivery on Amazon orders. This makes it worth thinking about not purely as a TV service, but as one part of a broader membership whose value depends on how much of the rest of Prime you actually use.
For households comparing streaming options, it's useful to weigh up Prime Video alongside the full cost and benefit of Prime membership, rather than judging it purely against dedicated streaming subscriptions like Netflix. Our TV comparison guide has a broader look at how streaming subscriptions fit alongside satellite, cable and broadband-delivered TV.
2. What's included with Prime Video
Prime Video offers a large on-demand library of films and television series, alongside a growing slate of Amazon-original productions. As with most modern streaming platforms, Prime Video has introduced an advertising-supported tier as its default, with an ad-free option available for an additional cost, so it's worth checking the current terms if avoiding adverts matters to you.
Prime Video's content library, like Netflix's, is entirely on-demand rather than built around live broadcast channels, meaning it doesn't replace a traditional pay-TV service if your household wants rolling news or a full schedule of live sport in the way a service like Sky or Virgin Media provides.
3. Amazon Prime Video Channels
Beyond the core library included with Prime membership, Amazon offers Prime Video Channels, which let you add specific third-party channels and streaming services as paid add-ons within the same Prime Video app. This can be a convenient way to subscribe to a specific channel or niche streaming service without downloading a separate app or managing another standalone subscription, all billed through your existing Amazon account.
It's worth checking exactly which channels are available as add-ons at any given time, since the line-up changes, and comparing the cost against subscribing to those services directly, since Channels pricing doesn't always work out cheaper than going direct. One practical advantage of Channels, though, is consolidated billing: rather than juggling several separate subscriptions with different payment dates and separate apps, everything appears within the same Prime Video interface and on the same Amazon statement, which can make it considerably easier to track exactly what you're paying for each month and to cancel individual add-ons without needing to visit a separate website.
4. Live sport and events on Prime Video
Amazon has, at various points, held rights to specific live sporting fixtures and events through Prime Video, alongside its usual on-demand library. Because sports rights change from season to season and are frequently re-negotiated, it's worth checking directly with Amazon for what's currently included before assuming any specific fixture or competition will be available. If live sport is a priority for your household more broadly, it's worth comparing Prime Video's current offering against a dedicated sports package through Sky or a rolling sports pass through NOW.
5. Multi-device access and family viewing
Like other major streaming platforms, Prime Video is available across smart TVs, streaming sticks, games consoles, phones and tablets, and generally allows simultaneous streaming on more than one device at a time under a single membership, making it practical for households where different family members want to watch different things at once. Downloads for offline viewing are also available on mobile devices for a range of titles, useful for travel or areas with patchy internet access.
Prime Video also includes an X-Ray feature on many titles, providing background information on cast, music and trivia while you watch, along with support for multiple subtitle and audio language options on much of its catalogue, which can be a genuinely useful feature for multilingual households or anyone learning a new language through television.
6. Amazon Prime Video compared with Netflix
The most natural comparison for Prime Video is Netflix, since both are subscription-based, on-demand streaming services with their own original productions. The two hold largely different exclusive content, so many households subscribe to both rather than picking one, particularly if there's a specific show or film series only available on one platform.
The key practical difference is how each is sold: Netflix is a standalone subscription in its own right, while Prime Video typically comes bundled with the wider Amazon Prime membership. If you're already an Amazon Prime member for the delivery benefits, Prime Video effectively comes at no extra marginal cost, which can make it the more cost-effective starting point before adding Netflix or other services on top.
7. Weighing up the wider value of Prime membership
Because Prime Video is bundled into the broader Amazon Prime membership, working out whether it's genuinely good value means looking beyond video streaming alone. Prime membership typically includes benefits such as faster or free delivery on eligible Amazon orders, access to Prime Music, and occasional exclusive shopping deals, alongside Prime Video itself. Households that shop regularly on Amazon may find the membership pays for itself through delivery savings before even factoring in the video content, while households that rarely use Amazon for shopping should judge the membership primarily on Prime Video's library and price alone.
It's worth periodically reassessing whether you're actually using the wider Prime benefits you're paying for, rather than assuming the membership is automatically worthwhile simply because it includes video streaming. If you find you're barely using anything beyond Prime Video, it may be worth comparing the full membership cost directly against a standalone subscription to Netflix to see which genuinely represents better value for your household.
8. Fitting Prime Video into a wider TV setup
Because Prime Video doesn't cover live broadcast TV, most households pair it with something else. A common approach is Prime Video plus Netflix for the broadest possible on-demand library, with a traditional pay-TV service from Sky, Virgin Media or EE covering live channels and sport, or a rolling NOW pass for specific seasons rather than a full contract.
It's worth reviewing your full set of subscriptions periodically, since it's easy to end up paying for Prime Video Channels add-ons, a separate Netflix subscription, and a pay-TV package simultaneously without noticing how much of it genuinely gets watched. Our TV guides hub has further comparisons if you're reassessing your overall setup.
9. Cancelling or pausing Prime Video
Because Prime Video is generally tied to your Amazon Prime membership rather than sold as a completely separate product, cancelling it usually means reviewing your Prime membership as a whole, including the delivery and other benefits that come with it, rather than cancelling video access alone. If you're only interested in Prime Video and don't use the delivery or other membership benefits, it's worth weighing up whether the full Prime membership still represents good value, or whether a standalone service like Netflix might suit you better on its own.
If you're also looking to leave a broadband, mobile or pay-TV contract as part of a wider switch, our switching hub has detailed guides for individual providers, and our early termination fee calculator can help you work out whether leaving early makes financial sense.
10. International content and language options
Prime Video's catalogue, like most streaming services, varies by country due to regional licensing agreements, so titles available in the UK may differ from what's offered elsewhere, and vice versa if you're travelling and trying to access your usual library abroad. Within the UK catalogue, though, Prime Video generally offers a reasonably wide selection of subtitle and dubbed audio language options on its bigger titles, which can be genuinely useful for multilingual households, or anyone using subtitles to help learn a new language while watching something they'd enjoy anyway.
If you frequently travel between countries and rely on streaming services to stay entertained, it's worth checking in advance which titles you're hoping to watch are actually available in the region you'll be in, rather than assuming your full UK library will travel with you unchanged.
11. Is Amazon Prime Video worth it?
For households already paying for Amazon Prime membership for its delivery and other benefits, Prime Video is effectively an added extra rather than a separate cost, which makes it worth using regardless of whether you also subscribe to other streaming services. For households considering Prime purely for the video content, it's worth comparing the full membership cost and library against Netflix directly, and considering whether Prime Video Channels add-ons might cover any specific gaps in your viewing without needing a full separate pay-TV package.
Ultimately, Prime Video's value is easiest to judge as part of the whole Prime membership rather than in isolation. Households that already rely on Amazon for regular shopping, and who would happily pay for faster delivery alone, tend to get the most out of Prime Video, since the video content effectively comes at little to no extra cost once the wider membership is already justified on its other merits.
