The average person spends $50 a month on streaming services — here's what I'd get for that money

Tom's Guide

8 hours ago

Subscribing to the best streaming services can get expensive. In fact, it's expensive enough that I've even put together a list of how to save money on streaming services by bundling them with food delivery services.
But when a recent survey by Solitaired found that the average person in the U.S. spends $50.15 a month on just video and TV subscriptions, it got me thinking — can you put together a great lineup of streaming services for just $50 a month?
More importantly, what is the best lineup of streaming services you can put together on a $50 monthly budget?
I did some digging, and I've come up with a list of seven streaming services that you can get for just $50 a month.
This lineup gives you plenty to watch, with a great balance of new shows and movies, original content, live sports and deep libraries of classics. I had to make some painful cuts, but ultimately, I decided that this list of seven was the perfect list.
So without further ado, here are the streaming services I'd get on a $50 a month budget.
First, let's make sure we get the best bundle in streaming.
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No, I'm not talking about the Disney Bundle — I'm talking about the Disney Plus, Hulu and Max bundle.
Max (soon to be HBO Max) is currently our top streaming service, thanks to its combination of HBO shows, Warner Bros. Discovery content and live sports. With this bundle, you also get everything Disney has to offer, thanks to the inclusion of Disney Plus and Hulu.
Yes, you have to suffer through ads. And you lose the B/R live sports add-on that comes with the Standard Max plan. But in terms of value, this bundle can't be beat.
This is the best streaming bundle out there. For $17 a month, you get HBO shows like "The Wire" and "The Last of Us," Hulu shows like "The Bear" and "Only Murders in the Building," as well as everything Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars. You also get a deep library of movies and shows across all three services that can't be beat.
That's three streaming services out of the way, for the same price you'd normally pay for just the ad-free version of Max.
The reason you can save all that money? Ads.
As you'll see, every single one of these plans are ad-supported. Yes, ads suck, but they're pervasive to the point where suffering through them is just a part of life and streaming the latest hit shows and movies.
Besides, the prices for the ad-free plans are now exorbitant because the streaming services want to be profitable. Ads allow them to make a profit, so if you opt out of ads, they have to jack up the price to maintain their profit margins.
Netflix is no exception, so I'm opting for the Standard with ads plan at $8 a month.
The good news here is you still get all the Netflix original shows and movies through this plan, as well as Netflix live events. You do miss out on some of Netflix's library of licensed shows and movies, but with seven streaming services full of content to watch, you'll hardly miss it.
Netflix is the most popular streaming service for a reason. There are always new movies and shows to watch, including some of the most popular shows ever made like "Squid Game" and "Stranger Things." Even with ads, it's a must-have streaming service.
Okay, so now we have the best streaming service (Max) and the most popular streaming service (Netflix).
We also have the streaming service with all the Marvel and Star Wars you could ask for (Disney Plus) and the streaming service that's filled with Emmy-nominated shows (Hulu).
So now, let's add a trio of streaming services with live sports — including NFL games — and deep content library, but not as many hit originals as Netflix and Max.
First up? Paramount Plus Essential for $8 a month.
This tier gives you tons of Paramount shows and movies, including hit originals like "Landman" and "MobLand." It also gives you the NFL on CBS and UEFA Champions League livestreams. You even get select Showtime shows, though those are mostly reserved for Paramount Plus Premium.
Paramount Plus Essential is the ad-supported version of Paramount Plus. Yes, it has ads, but it also has most of Paramount's wide variety of movies and TV shows. You also get live sports, including the NFL on CBS and UEFA Champions League. Get a 1-week free trial today!
Next up? Peacock Premium.
Peacock Premium and Paramount Plus Essential are nearly identical services, just for different media conglomerates. They both even cost $7.99 a month.
The only notable differences are Peacock calls its entry level plan "Premium" and pools together all of Comcast's content (NBC, Universal, Bravo, etc.) instead of Paramount's content. But since you're getting both, you don't really need to worry about those differences.
Peacock Premium gives you tens of thousands of hours of original and licensed content, including new NBC and Bravo shows, as well as wide variety of live sports, including the English Premier League.
Peacock may not be the most popular streaming service, but it gives you a lot for just $8 a month. "The Office," "The Traitors" and "Poker Face" are all must-watch shows and NBCUniversal has a deep library of incredible movies. Add in live sports from the NFL, NBA (starting 2025-26 season) and the English Premier League, and it's a no-brainer to add Peacock to your streaming lineup.
Finally, for just $9 a month, you can add Prime Video.
Again, this service is pretty similar to Paramount Plus and Peacock. It's got tons of original shows and movies from Amazon MGM Studios, like "Fallout" and "The Boys," and has plenty of live sports. It's even adding the NBA for the 2025-2026 season (as is Peacock).
Now, the one caveat here is that Prime Video is included for free in Amazon Prime. So if you already have Prime, you don't need to pay for Prime Video.
If that's the case, take the $9 you just freed up in your monthly budget and add AMC Plus for $7 a month, which comes with the incredible horror streaming service Shudder.
Or, spend just a little extra and get Apple TV Plus, which at $10 a month will put you just a dollar over budget. For "Slow Horses" season 5, that's arguably a dollar well spent.
But for this exercise, I'm going to assume you don't have Amazon Prime, just like I'm assuming you don't get Peacock for free via your Xfinity internet subscription or one of the above streaming services for free from your cell phone provider.
I know these deals exist, and you should definitely take advantage of them if you can, but I want to just put together the best roster of streaming services you can buy for $50.
If you already have Prime Video through Amazon Prime, then you know why it's a service worth having. Shows like "Fallout" and "The Boys" are some of the best shows of the past decade and Prime Video also brings a deep library of movies, both from MGM Studios and other licensed films.Get a 30-day free trial today
If you sign up for all seven of these, you'll hit $50 exactly. You'll also get all the following content (and more):
That's an incredible amount of content available to you to watch. You'll never make it through all of it in a given month, and you won't miss out on many of the best shows and movies to come out in a given month either.
Arguably, you don't even need a live TV streaming service (or cable) if you subscribe to all seven of these. Despite that streaming services are just getting more and more expensive, I was pretty impressed by how much $50 will still get you.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
Here's what he's been watching lately: