Streaming Cost Calculator: Cost Per Hour and Per Movie
Streaming services have largely replaced cable television for many households, often at a fraction of the cost. But with four or five subscriptions adding up to $60 or $80 per month, understanding the value you are getting from each service requires looking at how much you actually watch. The cost per hour is a simple and revealing metric: divide the monthly cost by the number of hours you watch per month. A service costing $15 per month that you watch for 30 hours delivers content at $0.50 per hour, which compares favourably to a $20 movie ticket. A service you watch for only 3 hours per month costs $5.00 per hour, which is less competitive. A complementary metric is cost per movie-equivalent: comparing the monthly cost against how many movies you would have to rent at $5 each to justify the price. This calculator lets you enter your monthly cost and viewing hours to produce a cost per hour, break-even hours, and a value score to help you decide which services to keep.
Cost per hour: -- | Value score: --
How it works
The calculator divides your monthly cost by your hours watched to produce a cost per hour. It then compares this against a $0.50 per hour benchmark to determine a value score. Services priced at $0.50 per hour or less earn "Great value." Services between $0.50 and $1.00 per hour earn "Fair value." Above $1.00 per hour is "Poor value" and may indicate the service is underused.
The break-even hours figure tells you how many hours you would need to watch per month to reach the $0.50 per hour benchmark. Watching more than break-even hours means you are getting competitive per-hour value.
For movie-equivalent value, the calculator uses the number of movies you enter (or estimates it as half of your viewing hours if you leave the field blank or enter 0). Each movie is valued at a $5.00 rental equivalent. The surplus or deficit compares this total against the monthly cost.
Prices for named streaming services change frequently. This calculator uses your own inputs rather than embedded prices, so it remains accurate regardless of price changes.
Streaming cost: frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per hour for streaming?
Under $0.50 per hour is generally considered good value compared to cinema ($1.00 to $2.50 per hour) or physical media. Most streaming services deliver good per-hour value if watched regularly. The benchmark deteriorates quickly with low usage.
How do I count hours for a service I share with family?
Count your personal viewing hours only to assess your individual value. However, if the cost is shared with others in the household, divide the monthly cost by the number of regular viewers before entering it here.
Should I cancel ad-supported tiers or pay for ad-free?
Estimate the time cost: at $0.20 per minute of viewing time, 5 minutes of ads per hour over 20 hours per month costs approximately $20 in time value. Compare that to the price difference between tiers.
How does streaming compare to cable TV in cost per hour?
Cable averages $80 to $120 per month. At 4 hours per day of viewing, that is $0.67 to $1.00 per hour, typically worse value than individual streaming services watched regularly.
What streaming services are available and what do they cost?
Check each provider's website for current pricing as prices change frequently. This calculator works with any monthly cost you enter, regardless of provider.
References
- Federal Communications Commission video competition reports: fcc.gov
- BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey entertainment spending: bls.gov/cex/
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 14 June 2026. This calculator is for personal finance guidance only. Streaming prices change frequently; always verify with the provider. See our methodology.