Best Streaming Service Ireland (Live Prices, Hand-Checked)

Every streaming service in Ireland ranked and compared. Netflix, Disney+, NOW, Prime Video, Apple TV and more — which is actually worth your money?

By SmartSaver Team | Published 1 July 2026 | Updated 8 July 2026 | 9 min read

Topics: best streaming service ireland, streaming ireland, netflix vs disney plus, streaming comparison, now tv ireland

Seven streaming services now compete for your money in Ireland, and the average household pays for three of them without ever comparing what they cost. The cheapest way into streaming right now is €3.99/month (NOW Entertainment) — but the best service depends entirely on what you watch. Here's our ranked verdict on every major streaming service available in Ireland.

Prices and rates on this page are checked by hand against each provider's Irish pricing page. Correct as of 8 July 2026.

Every Streaming Service in Ireland (Live Prices)

Service	Cheapest Plan	Price	Ads
NOW	Entertainment	€3.99/mo (then €8.99)	Yes
Paramount+	Basic (with Ads)	€5.99/mo	Yes
Prime Video	Prime (Amazon.ie)	€6.99/mo	No
Disney+	Standard with Ads	€7.99/mo (then €8.99)	Yes
Apple TV	Apple TV	€9.99/mo	No
Netflix	Basic	€10.99/mo	No
YouTube Premium	Individual	€13.99/mo	No

Prices checked by hand against each provider's Irish pricing page. Prices correct as of 2026-07-08. Full comparison: https://www.smartsaver.ie/streaming

Prices shown are each service's cheapest way in. Where you see a "then" price, the headline figure is an introductory offer that reverts after the initial term.

Best Streaming Service at a Glance

| Service | Best For | Ads? | Free Trial | |---------|----------|------|------------| | Netflix | Overall library | No ad tier in Ireland | None | | Disney+ | Kids & families | Optional ad tier | None (6-month intro offers) | | NOW | Sport & Sky content | Yes, unless you add Boost | 7 days (Cinema) | | Prime Video | Value (delivery included) | No | 30 days | | Apple TV | Prestige originals & films | No | 7 days | | Paramount+ | Films & Showtime series | Optional ad tier | 7 days | | YouTube Premium | Ad-free YouTube + Music | No | Varies |

Best Overall: Netflix

Netflix is still the default for a reason: the deepest library in Ireland, the most consistent pipeline of new originals, and the best apps on every device. Current Irish pricing runs €10.99 to €23.99/month depending on tier.

What you should know before subscribing:

Ireland has no ad-supported Netflix tier. The cheap "with ads" plan you'll see mentioned on UK and US sites doesn't exist here — every Irish Netflix plan is ad-free, which also means the entry price is higher than in ad-tier markets.
The entry-level Basic plan is 720p on a single screen. If you're watching on a decent TV, you'll want Standard (1080p, two screens) or Premium (4K, four screens).
Standard and Premium let you add extra members outside your household for a monthly fee — often cheaper than a second full subscription.

The catch: Netflix has raised Irish prices repeatedly and no longer offers a free trial. If you're price-sensitive, it's the first service to rotate rather than hold year-round — see our cheapest streaming strategy.

For a full plan-by-plan breakdown, see our Netflix price guide.

Best for Sport: NOW

If you want live Premier League, GAA on Sky, golf or F1 without a satellite dish or a 12-month TV contract, NOW is the only real game in town. Sports membership gets you all twelve Sky Sports channels; check the live table above for what you'll actually pay, because NOW's pricing is heavily promo-driven — committing to a 12-month term costs less than half the flexible monthly rate, and day passes exist for one-off matches.

What you should know:

Base NOW memberships are 720p, one stream, with ads. Full HD, a second stream and ad-free on-demand viewing require the Boost add-on. Factor that in when comparing.
Entertainment membership runs a 6-month introductory price for new members — genuinely good value while it lasts.
The Entertainment & HBO Max bundle is the cheapest legitimate route to HBO content in Ireland.

The catch: it all adds up. Sports plus Boost costs more per month than Netflix and Disney+ combined. NOW is for people who'd otherwise pay for a full Sky subscription — against that, it's a bargain.

Best for Kids and Families: Disney+

Nothing else comes close for children: the entire Disney and Pixar back catalogue, Marvel, Star Wars, and enough animated films to survive any midterm break. Disney+ also quietly carries a strong adult slate (FX, Hulu output) that gets overlooked.

What you should know:

Disney+ raised Irish prices across all tiers in 2026, but runs 6-month introductory offers at close to the old prices — worth grabbing if you're new.
The ad-supported Standard with Ads tier is one of the cheapest ways into any premium library in Ireland.
Annual plans effectively give you around two months free versus paying monthly.

The catch: content drops are slower than Netflix's, and once you've exhausted the franchises the library is narrower. Many families rotate it: subscribe for the school holidays, cancel for the term.

Best Value: Prime Video

Prime Video is the sleeper pick, because you're not really buying a streaming service — you're buying Amazon Prime, and the streaming comes bundled. Since Amazon.ie launched, that includes free Premium Delivery on Irish orders, plus the annual plan works out cheaper again per month. What you should know:

Irish Prime Video is ad-free — Ireland wasn't included in the ad-tier rollout that hit the UK and US.
You get 4K, three simultaneous streams, and a proper 30-day free trial — the longest of any service here.
If your household already orders from Amazon even once a month, the streaming is effectively free.

The catch: the library is streaky — superb originals, patchy depth. As a only service it can disappoint; as a bundled extra it's unbeatable value.

Best for Films: Apple TV (and NOW Cinema)

Apple TV — Apple dropped the "+" in the rebrand — has the highest hit rate per euro of original content anywhere: fewer shows, better ones. Everything is 4K HDR ad-free at one flat price, with six simultaneous streams, and Apple hands out free access generously: three months with a new Apple device, bundled in Apple One, a 7-day trial otherwise.

For sheer volume of recent cinema releases, NOW's Cinema membership (all ten Sky Cinema channels) beats everyone — with the same 720p/Boost caveat as the rest of NOW.

Paramount+ deserves a mention here too: a solid film library plus Showtime series, with both ad-supported and 4K tiers and annual plans that meaningfully undercut paying monthly.

Best for Box Sets: NOW Entertainment & HBO Max

The NOW Entertainment & HBO Max bundle is the strongest pure box-set package in Ireland: Sky Atlantic, HBO's catalogue, and current US prestige TV in one membership — content you simply can't get on Netflix or Disney+. Between that and Netflix, a serious TV watcher is covered.

What About YouTube Premium?

YouTube Premium is a different animal: you're not paying for a library, you're paying to remove ads from something you already watch — and it bundles YouTube Music, background play and downloads. If YouTube is your most-watched app (for a lot of Irish households under 40, it is), it arguably delivers more watch-time value than any service on this page. Note that the cheaper "Premium Lite" tier isn't available in Ireland, and there's a discounted student plan.

Which Should You Pick?

One service only: Netflix for range, or Prime Video if you shop on Amazon anyway. Sport: NOW Sports — take the 12-month term if you'll use it year-round, day passes if you won't. Young kids: Disney+ Standard with Ads, on the 6-month intro offer. Film buffs: Apple TV plus rotating NOW Cinema. Prestige TV: NOW Entertainment & HBO Max bundle. Tightest budget: the ad-supported tiers — Disney+ Standard with Ads and Paramount+ Basic are the two cheapest doors into premium content (current prices in the live table above).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest streaming service in Ireland?

The cheapest current entry point is €3.99/month (NOW Entertainment). Introductory offers change frequently — the live table above always shows the current cheapest plan for each service, including any "then" price it reverts to.

Does Netflix have an ad-supported plan in Ireland?

No. Unlike the UK and US, Ireland has no Netflix ad tier — all Irish plans are ad-free. That's why Netflix's entry price here looks high next to Disney+ or Paramount+, both of which do offer cheaper ad-supported tiers in Ireland.

Is NOW the same as Sky?

NOW is Sky's contract-free streaming arm: same channels and content, no dish, no long TV contract (except discounted 12-month Sports terms). The trade-off is that base memberships stream in 720p with one screen and ads unless you add Boost.

Which streaming services offer free trials in Ireland?

Prime Video offers 30 days, Apple TV and Paramount+ offer 7 days, and NOW runs trials on some memberships. Netflix and Disney+ no longer offer free trials in Ireland — though Disney+'s 6-month introductory pricing is the effective substitute.

Can I share a streaming account with family?

Within one household, yes on every service — plan tier sets how many simultaneous streams you get. Netflix charges for members outside your household; Disney+ restricts sharing similarly. YouTube Premium Family covers up to five extra household members aged 13+.

How often do streaming prices change in Ireland?

Roughly once a year per service, and almost always upward — Netflix, Disney+ and NOW have all raised Irish prices since 2024. We check every provider's Irish pricing page by hand and the tables in this guide update from that data, so the figures above reflect the latest verified prices rather than the date this guide was written.

Summary

Our top pick for most people is Netflix — the deepest library and the best apps, provided you accept there's no cheap ad tier in Ireland. The best-value subscription in the country is Prime Video once the delivery benefits are counted, and the best single-purpose buy is NOW for sport.

But the real money-saving move isn't picking one winner — it's refusing to hold all seven at once. Rotate two or three services with the seasons, ride the 6-month intro offers, and you'll see everything worth watching for half the price. We've written up exactly how to do that in our cheapest streaming guide.

Compare every plan side by side on our streaming comparison page.

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