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Streaming Service Calculator
Add your streaming services and see your total monthly cost, cost per hour watched, and which subscriptions are worth keeping.
Sources & Methodology
By Sean Baldwin · Last reviewed July 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the average person spend on streaming?
The average American household now spends $73/month on streaming services, according to JD Power (2025), up from around $35 just a few years ago. With bundles and price increases, it's easy to lose track of the total.
How do I figure out if a streaming service is worth it?
The best way is to calculate your cost-per-hour: divide the monthly price by hours watched per month. Under $1/hour is great; over $5/hour and you're probably not watching it enough to justify the cost.
Which streaming service is the best value?
It depends on your viewing habits. Netflix and Disney+ offer the largest libraries; Apple TV+ has the highest average content quality per dollar; Amazon Prime is often 'free' if you already subscribe for shipping benefits.
Is it worth canceling and re-subscribing?
Yes, many people 'rotation subscribe' by keeping 1–2 services at a time, bingeing what they want, then canceling and switching. Most services have no cancellation fees and are easy to restart.
Are streaming prices going to keep going up?
Historically yes. Most major platforms have raised prices significantly since 2020 and have moved toward tiered models with ad-supported tiers at lower prices. If cost is a concern, ad-supported tiers can save $5–$10/month per service.
How streaming costs add up faster than you think
The average American household now pays $73/month across streaming subscriptions, $876/year. But that number has been creeping up steadily: most major platforms have raised prices 20–40% since 2021, and the shift to ad-free tiers means the premium version of any single service now costs $15–$23/month. Netflix, Max, Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV+, Peacock, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime each seem affordable individually. Stacked together, they rival a cable bill. The real trap is that most households actively watch 2–3 services but are paying for 4–6. Streaming companies know that the friction of canceling is low but the friction of actually doing it is high, and they count on inertia to keep you subscribed through months where you barely open the app.
Cost per hour: the only metric that matters
The most honest way to evaluate any streaming service is cost per hour watched. Divide your monthly fee by the number of hours you actually watched last month. Under $1/hour is excellent, movies and TV on demand for less than a cinema concession stand. $1–$3/hour is acceptable. Over $5/hour and you're approaching pay-per-view territory, which defeats the purpose of a subscription. Netflix at $22.99/month is worth it if you watch 20+ hours. It's a bad deal if you watched 4 hours. Apple TV+ at $9.99/month is cheap even if you only watch one show a month, but that same $9.99 is wasted if you've run out of things to watch and haven't canceled.
The rotation subscribe strategy
One of the highest-ROI moves for streaming is to stop maintaining multiple subscriptions simultaneously and start rotating through them. Watch everything you want on Netflix, cancel. Subscribe to Max for a month, binge your list, cancel. Most services offer easy cancellation with no fees and allow you to resubscribe with one click. A household spending $80/month on four services could get the same content value spending $20–$25/month on one service at a time. The only downside is that you can't watch multiple services simultaneously, which for most households isn't a real constraint. The rotation approach also forces you to actually use what you're paying for rather than maintaining a passive subscription you'll 'get to eventually.'
Ad-supported tiers: when they make sense
Every major streaming platform now offers an ad-supported tier at $6–$9/month, typically $6–$14 cheaper than the ad-free version. If you're watching 2+ hours per day, ad interruptions may be worth avoiding. If you're watching an hour a week, paying $14 extra for ad-free is hard to justify. The ad load on most streaming services is currently much lighter than traditional TV, typically 4–5 minutes per hour versus 15–20 on broadcast. For many viewers, this is a reasonable trade-off. If you have children who watch heavily, ad-free is worth the premium to avoid age-inappropriate advertising. For adult casual viewing, the ad-supported tier is often the smarter financial choice.
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How We Calculate Your Score
The Worth It Score starts at 75 and adjusts based on three factors: your cost per hour of content watched, your total monthly streaming spend, and whether you are paying for low-value services. Higher cost-per-hour and higher total spend produce lower scores.
- · Base score: 75
- · Cost per hour: over $3/hr subtracts 20 points; over $1.50/hr subtracts 10 points
- · Total monthly spend: over $100/mo subtracts 15 points; over $60/mo subtracts 8 points
- · Low-value services: more than one service you rarely use subtracts 10 points
Cost per hour is calculated as total monthly cost divided by hours watched per month. Streaming 100+ hours/month across multiple services can score well even at high spend; paying $15/month for a service you watch 2 hours/month scores poorly.
Cite this calculator: Worth It Calculators, "Which Streaming Services Are Actually Worth Keeping in 2026?," worthitcalculators.com/streaming/ (updated July 2026).