Peacock has quietly become one of the most useful streaming services in the U.S. It may not have the prestige-TV cachet of HBO Max or the sheer volume of Netflix, but Peacock has something a lot of its competitors would very much like to have: a ridiculous amount of live programming.
Over the past year, Peacock has been the place to watch the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl and, thanks to Telemundo, Spanish-language broadcasts of the 2026 World Cup. It also carries NFL, NBA, WNBA and MLB games, as well as the Premier League. And then there's the regular TV fare: "The Office," "Yellowstone," Bravo's reality-TV universe and Universal movies like "Wicked: For Good" and "Disclosure Day."
Tom's Guide's streaming team is constantly watching the latest movies and TV shows. That means we're also constantly using and evaluating the streaming services those movies and shows live on. To make it easier to figure out which services are actually worth your money, we've put together report cards for the biggest streaming services in the U.S., grading each across the categories that matter most: price, library, originals, interface and live content.
So, with that in mind, let's see how Peacock stacks up — and whether its unusually strong live-TV lineup is enough to make it one of the best streaming services of the past year.
Peacock: Pricing
Tier |
Price (monthly) |
Ads |
Live sports |
Concurrent streaming |
Offline downloads |
Peacock Select |
$7.99 |
Yes |
No |
3 devices |
No |
Peacock Premium |
$10.99 |
Yes |
Yes |
3 devices |
No |
Peacock Premium Plus |
$16.99 |
No |
Yes |
3 devices |
Yes |
For the past year, Peacock has been one of the better deals in streaming. Subscribers got a ton of value for a fairly low price, but that's all changing as the platform is raising prices on all of its plans by $1-3 a month. That will most likely lower this grade in next year's report card.
Peacock offers three tiers: Select, Premium and Premium Plus. The Select plan ($7.99 through August 2026) is the budget option, but there is a big catch: It gives you access to Peacock's library of TV shows while excluding sports, movies and originals. In other words, it's the plan for people who want the NBCUniversal back catalog for less.
Peacock Premium (previously $10.99 a month) is where Peacock's real value starts to emerge. You get the full library, originals, movies, live sports and next-day NBC programming, though you'll have to put up with ads. Premium Plus costs $16.99 a month and removes most ads, adds downloads for select titles and includes your local NBC station live.
Premium ($16.99) isn't exactly a steal, but the sheer amount of live programming makes it easier to justify than many similarly priced streamers. And if you're using Peacock primarily as a sports service, it's considerably more compelling.
Grade: B
Peacock: Library
Peacock's library is one of those things that's better than it looks on paper. NBCUniversal has decades of television to pull from, and Peacock has made particularly good use of that vault.
"The Office" remains a major draw, but it's hardly alone. There's the "Law & Order" universe, "Parks and Recreation," "30 Rock," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Saturday Night Live," Bravo's extensive reality-TV lineup and a rotating selection of movies. And then there's "Yellowstone," which has become one of the service's biggest calling cards despite not actually being a Peacock original.
The Bravo collection might be Peacock's secret weapon.
The Bravo collection might be Peacock's secret weapon. If "Real Housewives," "Below Deck," "Vanderpump Rules" and "Top Chef" are your idea of a relaxing evening, you could probably move into Peacock and not come out for months.
The weakness is that Peacock doesn't quite have the depth or breadth of the very best libraries. HBO Max has HBO, Warner Bros. and a deep bench of prestige television. Disney+ has Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar. Netflix has an almost comically large selection. Peacock has plenty to watch, but its library is strongest when you're specifically into NBCUniversal's particular flavor of television. That makes it a very good service, rather than an indispensable one for everyone.
Grade: B
Peacock: Originals
This is where Peacock has the most work to do. The service has produced plenty of originals over the years, but it hasn't established the same kind of must-watch identity that HBO Max, Netflix or even Apple TV have. There are good shows here, but Peacock's originals don't consistently feel like the reason people subscribe.
Peacock has figured out that you don't necessarily need a prestige drama with Emmy ambitions
Its reality programming is the big exception. "The Traitors" has become a genuine phenomenon, and "Love Island USA" is exactly the sort of addictive, highly bingeable reality television that makes a streaming subscription feel worthwhile. Peacock has figured out that you don't necessarily need a prestige drama with Emmy ambitions when you can instead give people a castle full of reality-TV contestants scheming against one another.
There are also scripted originals worth watching, and Peacock has had some real successes. But the overall slate remains a little too inconsistent to make originals a major selling point.
That's not necessarily fatal. Peacock has something many other streamers would kill for: a deep back catalog, NBC programming, Bravo and live sports. But when we're talking specifically about original programming, Peacock is playing catch-up.
Grade: B
Peacock: Interface
If Peacock's library and live programming are reasons to subscribe, its interface is a reason to sigh heavily. The service has improved over time, but navigating Peacock can still feel unnecessarily busy.
There's a lot competing for your attention, particularly when you're trying to move between live programming and on-demand content. The service wants to show you what's trending, what's live, what's new and what it thinks you might want to watch, sometimes all at once. Having a lot to watch is great. Making users dig through it to find what they actually want is less great.
Peacock has the programming; it just doesn't always make finding it as effortless as it should.
The live-TV side of the service can also be awkward compared with traditional TV interfaces, where you generally know what channel you're on and what's coming next. Peacock has the programming; it just doesn't always make finding it as effortless as it should. It's functional. It's just not elegant.
Grade: C
Peacock: Live content
This is where Peacock is a real winner. Over the past year, Peacock has had an almost absurd amount of major live content. It was the home of the 2026 Winter Olympics, giving subscribers access to an enormous selection of events and an easy way to view them. It also streamed the Super Bowl, making Peacock one of the rare streaming services that can legitimately say it carried one of the biggest television events of the year.
In terms of sheer variety and the importance of the events it carries, it's hard to beat.
Then there's the 2026 World Cup. Through Telemundo, Peacock offered Spanish-language broadcasts of all games in the U.S. Its coverage was so good, with palpably passionate announcers, that it drew many English-language viewers. Beyond these special sports events, Peacock is home to the NFL's Sunday Night Football, NBA and WNBA games, Premier League and Bundesliga soccer, and niche sports like cycling.
No, Peacock doesn't have every sport or every game. But in terms of sheer variety and the importance of the events it carries, it's hard to beat.
Grade: A+
Peacock overall grade: B
Peacock isn't the best streaming service for everyone. But it may be one of the easiest to justify keeping around for the variety it offers.
Its originals aren't quite at the level of HBO Max or Apple TV, its interface needs decluttering and the price isn't the screaming bargain Peacock once was. But the combination of NBCUniversal's enormous TV library, Bravo's reality-TV machine and the live-sports lineup makes Peacock unusually versatile.
Peacock has carved out a very different — and increasingly valuable — niche. And that's why it lands at No. 2 among the major streaming services we've evaluated.
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