Watching TV shows and movies has steadily moved from the actual television set to peoples’ laptops over the years, and there is a multitude of ways that people can stream them online. The three biggest names in online streaming are Netflix, Hulu Plus and now Amazon Prime. All of them do different things better than others, and are each great for different things. The folks at lifehacker.com did a lot of legwork for this and counted the top 250 TV shows on IMDb and compared each service side-by-side, and here we’re going to break down which streaming service might be best for you, depending on what you like.

Top for TV shows overall: Netflix

Netflix: Out of top 25 TV shows, it has 17 (Roughly 70%).

  Out of top 250 on IMDb, it streams 122.

Hulu Plus: Out of top 25 TV shows, it has 10 (40%). Most are only recent seasons.

       Out of top 250 on IMDb, it streams 92.

Amazon Prime: Out of top 25 TV shows, it has 6 (24%), and not all seasons included.

       Out of top 250 on IMDb, it has 226, but for purchase. Only streams 58. 

Top for NEW TV shows: Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus: 52 of the 92 shows it streams are the most recent season airing, or even the most recent episode.

Amazon Prime: It has 226 out of the top 250 shows, but for purchase, not to stream if you pay for the service. It stinks, but you have to remember Prime does a lot more than just TV show streaming.

Netflix: This service is great for finding a show you want to watch, because there is a 48.8% chance that they’ll have it for you for free. When it comes to most recent episodes though, Hulu Plus is the way to go. 

Top for purchasing: Amazon Prime

Paying for Amazon Prime comes with a lot of perks like faster shipping on orders, free student perks, Amazon exclusive shows, music services, books and more, but it doesn’t excel in free streaming. It does, however, have almost every single top 250 show for purchase by individual episode. 

Conclusion: Different people want different things, and different people can afford different things. Our advice to you is to take advantage of each service’s free 30-day trial and explore them yourself. Each service excels in different areas, so you have to try them out for yourself!