Prime Video Report Card 2026: The price is right, but what about the shows and movies?

Prime Video is one of the most popular options among the best streaming services. Or, rather, it's one of the most widely used. Whether or not you like Amazon's premier streamer, chances are that you probably have it. And that's because it's included free with Amazon Prime. But just because it's free doesn't mean it's good.

Tom’s Guide’s streaming team is constantly checking out the latest movies and TV shows. That means we're also constantly using and evaluating the various streaming services those movies and shows reside on. So in an effort to share our experience — and so you don't have to test every service yourself — we’ve put together report cards for the biggest streaming services in the U.S., including Prime Video. We've graded each across the most important categories over the past 12 months, including pricing, overall library, original content, and more.

So, without further ado, let's put Prime Video under the spotlight. And, just as importantly, let's see if it's a streaming service worth using regularly, whether it's free or not.

Prime Video: Pricing

Prime Video is technically the cheapest streaming service among its competitors. That's because if you have Amazon Prime already, Prime Video is included with your subscription.

If you don't have Amazon Prime, though, you can still subscribe to Prime Video. At $8.99 for an ad-supported tier, the price is still on the lower end of the streaming services. Are you getting the best value for your money? Perhaps not. But on price alone, it's tough to ding Prime Video's entry-level tier.

Similarly, Prime Video Ultra is relatively reasonably priced. For just $4.99 extra a month, you get to ditch ads, add 4K streaming and stream on two more devices. You also get to download an additional 75 movies or episodes.

Again, can you argue it's frustrating that Ultra now costs nearly twice as much as the $2.99 it used to cost to ditch ads? Especially since Prime Video didn't used to have ads at all? Absolutely. But, setting that aside, compared to other streaming services, getting to ditch ads and stream in 4K for just $5 a month extra is considered a good deal.

Grade: A-

Prime Video: Library

Prime Video's library may not feel like it's on par with Netflix, but it actually surpasses the streaming giant in terms of sheer size. This is likely due to the inclusion of free, ad-supported content on Prime Video that doesn't require a subscription, but even then, it's got an impressive 20,000+ movies and thousands of episodes of television.

Within those tens of thousands of hours to watch, there are also plenty of quality titles. If you read our Prime Video coverage regularly, you'll find that every week we're able to recommend new shows and movies, and that every month Prime Video adds at least a handful of critically acclaimed films to its library.

That said, we've found that while Prime Video's library wins when it comes to quantity, it often comes up short in quality. While it now has MGM's library to pull from (though it bafflingly keeps some MGM titles strictly on MGM+), it doesn't have the same well of content to pull from that HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount+ do.

It also lacks major franchises. This is arguably more a knock against its original content (more on that shortly), but it still hurts the score of its overall library. Disney+, by comparison, at least has Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel to pull from. Prime Video has "The Boys," "Project Hail Mary" and whatever movies it can license from other studios. Often, that's just not enough to edge out the competition.

Grade: C+

Prime Video: Originals

As I just alluded to, Prime Video sometimes comes up short in original content. It doesn't have any major franchises, save James Bond, and it still hasn't put out a single Bond movie or show since acquiring the rights to 007. Unless you count the reality-competition show "007: Road to a Million."

However, over the past 12 months, Prime Video has had some originals worth bragging about. "Fallout," "The Boys," and "Reacher" (which technically just missed our 12-month window of August 2025-2026) are all must-see TV. Shows like "Cross" and "House of David" have fervent fan bases. It's also managed to carve out a younger audience with shows like "56 Days," "Off Campus," and the very popular "The Summer I Turned Pretty."

So clearly, Prime Video is getting things right when it comes to TV, even if it isn't exactly competing with HBO just yet. But what about original movies?

Typically, this has been a weak spot for the streaming service, and the past 12 months have had some rough patches. In terms of Amazon movies, only "Hedda" really managed to leave an impression on me.

However, Amazon owns MGM Studios, and I think it's fair to count the MGM films as originals. "Project Hail Mary" is still considered one of the best movies of the year, and "Crime 101" (technically a co-production with Sony) was a pleasant surprise earlier this year. Is this as impressive as what Warner Bros. and Universal are putting out? No. But it is a noticeable step forward.

Grade: B-

Prime Video: Interface

Let's address the elephant in the room. Every streaming service has some degree of a terrible user interface. None of them get it totally right. Our highest-rated one among all the streamers over the past 12 months was Apple TV, and even it only scored a B.

That said, Prime Video's UI is still awful. If you Google "Prime Video interface," the results are not complimentary. If I log on right now, I'll get a carousel of popular titles Prime wants me to watch and a row of shows and movies to continue watching. And that's about where the interface stops being good.

Want personalized recommendations? Tough luck. Looking for live sports? Better hope there's a massive game on; otherwise, you're relegated to tabbing over to the Sports menu in the top navigation bar.

But the worst part might be that not everything that appears on Prime Video's user interface is available to Prime subscribers. Prime Video offers subscriptions to other streaming services, as well as movies to buy or rent, and it just sprinkles these throughout its UI wherever it wants. There is a Prime menu in the top navigation bar, but I shouldn't have to put in the work to filter shows and movies. I'm paying the streaming service to provide me with content to watch, not content I can't.

Grade: D-

Prime Video: Live content

At this point, most people probably know that Prime Video offers Thursday Night Football. It's a marquee program for the streaming service. But it's far from the only live programming that Prime Video offers.

In addition to NFL games, Prime Video also offers a selection of NBA and WNBA games. It offers G League games as well, for those in desperate need of basketball. There's also a decent selection of National Women's Soccer League matches. In select U.S. markets, you can also get baseball (New York) or hockey (Seattle).

So, no, Prime Video may not have everything. It notably lacks college football, college basketball, or any major soccer tournaments save the NWSL. But between the NFL, NBA and some niche leagues, it has enough for most people to casually watch sports.

Note: This is just an evaluation of the live programming on offer in the U.S. Live programming varies by market.

Grade: B+

Prime Video overall grade: C+

Overall, it really helps that Prime Video is so affordable. If you had to pay $10.99, which is the entry-level price for HBO Max, I don't know if I could recommend it to most people. But it's not $10.99. Instead, it's free with Amazon Prime, which also comes with other perks, and just $4.99 a month more for Prime Video Ultra.

Besides, it's not like there's nothing to watch on Prime Video. Sure, the selection of quality programming is slim, despite the literal tens of thousands of options to choose from. But there are enough must-watch shows and a few original or exclusive movies that you'll find something to watch. If you can't, you still might find an NFL, NBA, WNBA or NWSL game to enjoy.

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