Starz is an internet streaming platform like Netflix. It first started out as a premium cable channel, and even had a lot of its original content on Netflix until the two ended their partnership and Starz built its own streaming service.
Important note: USA and Puerto Rico customers use the native Starz app & website, while users from Europe, Canada & Middle East have access to the Starzplay app & website. Both Starz & Starzplay offer identical features and almost the same shows and films, depending on licensing agreements for each country.
Who is Starz for?
Starz is currently a great alternative for people who have exhausted most of the interesting content on Netflix or Hulu and want something new to watch, especially since Starz has a lot of exclusive content not available anywhere else.
Starz generally excels at historical TV series such as Outlander, Black Flag and Spartacus.
That being said, Starz carries modern series with very interesting plots, such as Counterpart, where a Cold War spy must confront his “clone” from a parallel dimension, and Power, where there main character has a double life as a club owner for powerful elite & as a drug kingpin.
On the movie front, Starz has dozens of Oscar worthy movies plus hundreds of others that have been very well received, both by critics and audiences.
Summary table: Is Starz worth it or not?
| Reasons Starz is worth it | Reasons Starz is NOT worth it |
|---|---|
| 7,500 unique films and series episodes not available on any other streaming platform | Competitors still have 5-6 times more content than Starz (22,000 – 30,000 films and TV series episodes). |
| Reasonable price – $8.99 per month – with no long term contract or cancellation fee | Very slow new content growth |
| 7 day free trial | No 4k support, 1080p Full HD is the best quality possible |
| Unlimited number of users per account, but can stream on maximum 4 devices at the same time. | Almost no foreign language content |
| Internet Live TV channels included + easy to use app | |
| Compatible with nearly every device (except PlayStation 4/5) |
As an overall assessment, Starz is a great streaming service to subscribe to for a few months every year, however it simply doesn’t have enough content to justify a permanent subscription like Netflix or even Hulu.
7 reasons Starz is worth it
Starz costs $8.99, can be added-on to other streaming services
The price of a Starz subscription is $8.99 per month, with no cancellation fee or long term contract.
Overall, it’s a fair price for the amount and quality of the content it offers, and you have the freedom to cancel whenever you want if you don’t like the service anymore.
You can also buy Starz as an add-on to other streaming services such as:
- Amazon Prime: $9.
- Sling TV: $9 per month.
- Hulu + Live TV: $9 per month
- AT&T TV: $11 per month
- Youtube TV: $9 per month
- Philo: $9 monthly
Unfortunately, there is no Netflix add-on.
Starz has a 7 day free trial
To sign up for the free trial, you will have to provide your credit / debit card information.
If you don’t cancel within the 7 days, you will be automatically charged the $8.99 monthly subscription fee at the end of the trial period.
Cancelling the trial still gives you access to the remainder of the 7 day period. So if you cancel on day 2, you can still watch Starz for the remaining 5 days of your trial.
Many exclusive shows and films not available anywhere else
Starz has a ton of shows and films not available on other streaming platform, and the only way to watch all of them is to subscribe to Starz.
Overall, if you haven’t seen much Starz original programming already, then you can expect to have at least 3-4 months worth of series and films to watch, such as:
Outlander | 87 episodes | 8.4 IMDB score | Seasons 1-4 on Netflix
An English combat nurse from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.
Outlander is Starz’s flagship series, and will conclude in late 2021 with its 7th season.
Netflix currently carries only the first 4 seasons, so you’ll have to subscribe to Starz for the remaining 3 seasons.
Black Sails | 38 episodes | 8.2 IMDB score | Starz, Hulu
The adventures of 18th century Caribbean pirates as they seek wealth and greater ideals, whilst facing their own turbulent internal politics.
Black Sails is a completed TV series, spread across 4 seasons. The show is only available on Starz and Hulu.
Spartacus | 34 episodes | 8.5 IMDB score | Starz exclusive
The life of Spartacus, the gladiator who lead a rebellion against the Romans. From his time as an ally of the Romans, to his betrayal and becoming a gladiator, to the rebellion he leads and its ultimate outcome.
Counterpart | 20 episodes | 8.1 IMDB score | Starz Exclusive
A hapless UN employee discovers that the agency he works for is hiding a gateway to a parallel dimension that’s in a cold war with our own, and where his other self is a top spy. The war slowly heats up thanks to spies from both sides.
Power | 63 episodes | 8.1 IMDB score | Starz, Hulu
James “Ghost” St. Patrick, a wealthy New York night club owner who has it all, catering to the city’s elite and dreaming big, lives a double life as a drug kingpin.
American Gods | 26 episodes | 8.0 IMDB | Starz Exclusive
A recently released ex-convict named Shadow meets a mysterious man who calls himself “Wednesday” and who knows more than he first seems to about Shadow’s life and past.
The Missing | 16 episodes | 8.1 IMDB score | Starz Exclusive
When Tony and Emily Hughes travel to France with their 5-year-old son Oliver, their family holiday turns into a nightmare when Oliver disappears from a large celebrating crowd in Northern France.
Party Down | 20 episodes | 8.2 IMDB score | Starz, Hulu
A group of actors move to Los Angeles to make it big, but end up working as caterers.
Luther | 21 episodes | 8.4 IMDB Score | Starz, Hulu, HBO MAX
DCI John Luther is a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions.
There are many other TV series available on Starz such as The White Princess, The Spanish Princess, Rescue Me, Damages, Ash vs The Evil Dead and many more.
In terms of films, Starz has dozens of high quality, exclusive movies that are not available on any other streaming platform such as:
Whiplash | 8.5 IMDb Rating: Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
Léon: The Professional | 8.5 IMDb Rating: Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin’s trade.
Dallas Buyers Club | 8.0 IMDb Rating: In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is diagnosed with the disease.
Edward Scissorhands | 7.9 IMDb Rating: An artificial man, who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands, leads a solitary life. Then one day, a suburban lady meets him and introduces him to her world.
Good Will Hunting | 8.3 IMDb Rating: Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Office Space | 7.7 IMDb Rating: Three company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.
Groundhog Day | 8.0 IMDb Rating: A weatherman finds himself inexplicably living the same day over and over again.
Heat | 8.2 IMDb Rating: A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.
Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood | 7.6 IMDb Rating: A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | 8.2 IMDb Rating: Eddy persuades his three pals to pool money for a vital poker game against a powerful local mobster, Hatchet Harry. Eddy loses, after which Harry gives him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds.
Starz runs on most devices
Starz is compatible with a wide variety of devices, allowing you watch content from pretty much anywhere.
These include:
iOS devices with version 10.3 (released in September 2016) or newer.
- Android devices with Android 5 (also released September 2016) or newer.
- Kindle Fire devices: 2014 or newer.
- Roku devices (2012 or newer).
- Roku Stick.
- Android TV
- Apple TV (2nd generation or newer, meaning from 2012)
- Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox Series X|S.
- Smart TV’s: 2014 or newer.
- Any PC or laptop with a modern browser.
Unfortunately, Starz does not work on PlayStation consoles, of any generation including PS5. This is unfortunate, especially since PlayStation has slightly more than 50% of the total console users in the USA.
Stream on up to 4 devices at the same time.
Starz allows sharing of your account and password with an unlimited number of people, however there can be no more than 4 simultaneous streams at the same time.
Another neat feature of Starz is it remembers your place when watching a film or TV series.
This means if you switch from tablet to PC, Starz will keep your place in the show or film where you stopped watching last time.
Almost no ads, good buffering & downloading content
The Starz streaming service has no ads, with the exception of those for its own productions that are displayed at the end of shows and films.
The streaming service has no buffering issues and everything loads quickly at the desired resolution.
If you’re a parent, you’ll be happy to know Starz comes with a fairly robust parental controls system. It allows you select what a child can watch by two age rating sliders, one for TV series the other for movies.
Another neat feature is that you can download shows & films for later viewing. You can only do this on mobile devices though, such as iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
4 reasons Starz is NOT worth it
Starz only has enough content for a 4-5 month subscription
There is no nice way to say this, but Starz simply doesn’t have enough films and TV series to justify a permanent, year-round subscription like Netflix.
The existing content is generally pretty good, but after finishing the big heavy hitter shows and films you’ll spend more time looking for something to watch, rather than actually watching stuff.
It’s for this reason that the most cost effective way to use Starz is to subscribe 1-4 months every year, watch what you need and then cancel.
Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do since there are no long term contracts or cancellation fees.
After canceling, you can check up on Starz every few months or so and see if it has built up a new stack of shows or films that are worth resubscribing for.
Very slow content growth
Another problem for Starz is that the platform receives very little new content compared to its leading competitors.
Because of this, the content gap between Starz and its competitors is actually increasing every year.
Just as an example, Starz added only 10-15 new shows in 2020 and 2021. By comparison, Netflix added 21 new shows in it’s drama section alone, with tens of others more spread out across other genres.
As a regular user, you’ll will really feel this lack of new stuff to watch. After a while, you’ll basically end up browsing the same shows and movies over and over again.
Starz does not have 4k support, just 1080p
As of 2021, Starz does not have 4K support for its content and you’re essentially stuck with a 1080p (or Full HD) viewing experience.
That being said, even at 1080p the viewing experience is acceptable and did not take away from the actual shows and films.
Starz has very little foreign content
If you’re a fan of watching foreign shows and movies, such as “Dark” (German series) or “Parasite” (Korean Oscar-winning drama), then Starz is kind of a let down since it basically has no foreign language content.
This may or may not be a big deal to you, but it’s worth pointing out regardless.
Is Starz worth it and good enough for the money?
If you’ve run out of interesting shows and films on Netflix or Hulu, then Starz is absolutely worth the money and subscribing to for a few months, since it has a small, but exclusive library of high quality shows and films not available anywhere else at a cost of $9 per month with a 7 day free trial.
Starz Alternatives
If you’re out looking for a temporary Netflix replacement, then there are multiple other streaming services at around the same price point, each with their own unique streaming content.
Showtime | $11 per month
Showtime is another producer of high quality TV shows, and is home to some iconic TV series and films”
Dexter | 96 episodes | 8.6 IMDB rating
He’s smart. He’s lovable. He’s Dexter Morgan, America’s favorite serial killer, who spends his days solving crimes and nights committing them.
Homeland | 96 episodes | 8.3 IMDB rating
A bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.
Twin Peaks | 30 episodes | 8.8 IMDB rating
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
Ray Donovan | 82 episodes | 8.3 IMDB rating
Ray Donovan, a professional “fixer” for the rich and famous in Los Angeles, can make anyone’s problems disappear except those created by his own family.
Penny Dreadful | 27 episodes | 8.2 IMDB rating
Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.
The Tudors | 38 episodes | 8.1 IMDB rating
A dramatic series about the reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Californication | 84 episodes | 8.3 IMDB rating
A writer tries to juggle his career, his relationship with his daughter and his ex-girlfriend, as well as his appetite for beautiful women.
Billions | 72 episodes | 8.4 IMDB rating
U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades goes after hedge fund king Bobby “Axe” Axelrod in a battle between two powerful New York figures.
AMC+ | $9 per month
Many of AMC’s best shows, including Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and the Walking Dead are on Netflix, but there are a few still exclusive to the platform that might interest you:
Mad Men | 92 episodes | 8.6 IMDB rating
A drama about one of New York’s most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm’s most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper.
The Terror | 20 episodes | 8.2 IMDB rating
Supernatural, semihistorical, horror anthology series, where each season is inspired by a different infamous or mysterious real life historical tragedy.
Halt and Catch Fire | 40 episodes | 8.4 IMDB rating
Follows some players in the 80s technological revolution that lead to information society.
Hell on Wheels | 57 episodes | 8.3 IMDB rating
The Civil War is past, but former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon can’t put it behind him. Fresh are the memories of the death of his wife, killed at the hands of the Union soldiers, an act that sets him on a course of revenge.
The Night Manager | 6 episodes | 8.1 IMDB rating
The night manager of a Cairo hotel is recruited to infiltrate an arms dealer’s inner circle.
Preacher | 43 episodes | 8.0 IMDB rating
After a supernatural event at his church, a preacher enlists the help of a vampire and his ex to find God.
Peacock | $5-10 per month
Peacock TV is one of the newer streaming services and is owned by NBCUniversal.
It comes in 2 pricing plans, the $5 per month one comes with ads, while the $10 per month plan is ad free.
As for shows, below are some of the best, exclusive series available on Peacock TV:
Vikings | 93 episodes | 8.5 IMDB rating
Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore – and raid – the distant shores across the ocean.
Parks and Recreation | 124 episodes | 8.6 IMDB rating
The absurd antics of an Indiana town’s public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place.
Suits | 134 episodes | 8.4 IMDB rating
On the run from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant college dropout Mike Ross finds himself working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City’s best lawyers.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine | 153 episodes | 8.4 IMDB rating
Comedy series following the exploits of Det. Jake Peralta and his diverse, lovable colleagues as they police the NYPD’s 99th Precinct.
Bates Motel | 50 episodes | 8.1 IMDB rating
A contemporary prequel to American Psycho, giving a portrayal of how Norman Bates’ psyche unravels through his teenage years, and how deeply intricate his relationship with his mother, Norma, truly is.
Psych | 121 episodes | 8.3 IMDB rating
A novice sleuth is hired by the Police after he cons them into thinking he has psychic powers which help solve crimes. With the assistance of his reluctant best friend, the duo take on a series of complicated cases.
Battlestar Galactica | 74 episodes | 8.7 IMDB rating
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet – the last of humanity – as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
The Office | 188 episodes | 8.9 IMDB rating
A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium.
Starz FAQ
What is Starz Encore? How is Encore different from Starz?
Starz Encore is one of 15 channels belonging to the Starz Network. Subscribing to Starz on-demand video streaming gives you access to all Starz Encore content, as well as content from all other 15 Starz channels such as Starz Comedy and Starz Edge.
What is Starzplay and how much does it cost?
Starzplay is the regional branding given to the Starz on-demand streaming service popular in the USA. Both platforms offer the same features, and almost the same content, depending on regional licensing agreements.
Is Starz on Netflix?
Unfortunately, Starz does not have an add-on for Netflix, however some Starz content is available on Netflix, such as the first 2 seasons of Outlander,
How much is Starz on Amazon? Is it included in Amazon Prime?
Starz on-demand streaming is not included for free with Amazon Prime, and is a separate add-on subscription to your Amazon account that costs $8.99 per month.
Is Starz available on Hulu? How much does it cost?
Starz is available as an add-on for Hulu, however it is free only for a 7 day free trial, after which the Starz add-on costs an extra $8.99 per month on top of your chosen Hulu plan.
Do you need cable to watch Starz? Can you watch Starz online?
Starz on-demand online streaming requires only an Internet connection in order to subscribe, meaning users without cable TV can view Starz content with 0 issues. The cost of a monthly Starz subscription is $8.99.
What does Starz offer?
A Starz subscription offers a unique library of some 7,500 films and TV series episodes not available on any other streaming platform, such as Outlander, Spartacus, Power, American Gods and more.
Is Starz on Roku? How much does it cost?
Starz is available as a channel on all Roku devices, and costs $8.99 per month.
Is Starz on Apple TV? How much does it cost?
Starz is available as a channel for Apple TV users, however it is not included for free. The service costs $8.99 per month, and grants access to over 1,000 unique films and TV series episodes.
Does Starz have a free trial? How long is it?
Starz does have a free trial that is 7 days long. To start the free trial you are required to input your credit or debit card details, and will be automatically charged at the end of the 7 days. However, there is no cancellation fee if you choose to end a Starz trial or subscription.
Is Starz on PlayStation 4/5?
Unfortunately, Starz does not currently have an app for PlayStation 4 or 5 consoles for US users. Only Starzplay subscribers from regional markets outside the USA have access to a Starz PlayStation app.
What is Starz app I see on Comcast, Amazon, Xfinity or Apple TV?
Starz is a video-on-demand streaming service similar to Netflix, with around 6,000 unique films and TV series episodes. Starz has multiple partnerships in place with Comcast, Amazon, Xfinity and more so you can subscribe directly from them, often at a discount.