Both services have raised prices, cracked down on sharing, and added ad-supported tiers that feel uncomfortably close to cable. Canadians are right to ask whether they need both — or just one, or neither. This guide cuts through the marketing to tell you what each service actually delivers, what it costs today, and which one deserves a spot on your monthly bill.
📍 Manage Your Subscription — Direct Links & Support
Both services are app-based — you subscribe and manage everything online. The map below helps you find Bell Store locations for Crave bundle assistance, or electronics retailers where streaming devices (smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast) are sold. There is no walk-in Crave or Netflix office in Canada.
📌 Subscribe and manage online — no store visit needed.
Sign up: crave.ca ·
netflix.com/ca ·
Crave support: 1-888-759-2728 ·
Netflix support: help.netflix.com
These are the questions people type before their free trial ends — and the ones that prevent them from paying for something they’ll barely use.
No. HBO content is exclusively available in Canada through Crave, which holds the Canadian rights to all HBO and Max programming. This is the single most important distinction between the two services for many viewers. If you want to watch Succession, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, True Detective, Euphoria, The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, White Lotus, or any other HBO series, Crave is the only legal streaming option in Canada — regardless of which Netflix plan you hold. Netflix has no access to HBO content in Canada, and HBO Max (the American service) is geo-blocked for Canadian users without a VPN. Crave’s exclusive hold on this library is its most compelling reason to subscribe.
Netflix now defines a “household” as people who share the same physical address and internet connection as the account holder. If someone outside your home — a child at university, a sibling in another city, a parent in another province — uses your account, Netflix will detect it and prompt the account holder to either transfer the account to that person or pay an extra-member fee. Adding one extra member outside your household costs $7.99 per month (without ads) or $5.99 per month (if the extra member uses the ad-supported version). Standard plan allows one extra member; Premium allows up to two. The practical impact: the “family and friends share one account” era is over in Canada. Whether that affects you depends entirely on whether anyone outside your home currently uses your account.
It is watchable — but with meaningful device limitations that catch many subscribers off guard. The Crave Standard With Ads plan at $11.99/month grants access to the full Crave and HBO library including all Crave Originals, but it is restricted to mobile devices and web browsers only. It does not work on smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, PlayStation, or Xbox. It also does not support AirPlay. If your primary viewing is on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, the Standard With Ads plan is a genuine bargain. If you want to watch on the living room TV, you need the Crave Premium plan at $22/month. This device limitation is not clearly highlighted in Crave’s marketing and surprises many new subscribers.
Yes — Starz content is available through Crave as a paid add-on, not included in the base subscription. The Starz add-on costs $5.99 per month on top of any Crave plan, giving access to Starz original series and movies (Power, Outlander, The Great, BMF, and others). Notably, the Starz add-on is only available if you subscribe to Crave directly through crave.ca or the Crave app — it is not available through Bell Mobility mobile plans. If you bundle Crave through a TV provider like Bell Fibe TV, you can get both Crave and Starz together. The Crave Premium plan already includes the entire HBO library — Starz is a separate catalogue requiring a separate decision, not a standard inclusion.
Netflix is the stronger choice for family households, particularly those with young children. Netflix has a dedicated Kids profile mode, a robust library of animated series and films, and content at a wide range of age levels from toddlers through teens. Crave’s content skews toward adult drama, prestige television, and mature themes — it’s genuinely excellent at what it does, but it’s not designed as a family-friendly service. Crave does include some family content and has expanded its kids section in 2025–2026, but families who want animated favourites, family films, and safe browsing for children will find Netflix’s family infrastructure more developed. Disney+ is the alternative to consider for animated Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars content — it complements Netflix better than Crave does for family households.
Crave offers a 7-day free trial for new subscribers who sign up directly through crave.ca or the Crave app — you can cancel before the trial ends without being charged. Free trial availability may vary if you sign up through a cable provider or Bell bundle. Netflix Canada does not currently offer a free trial for the general public; the free trial that Netflix originally offered was discontinued years ago. However, Netflix occasionally runs promotional offers through specific partners (internet providers, device manufacturers) — it’s worth checking your internet provider’s homepage or a new device’s app store for any active promotions. For both services, the ad-supported tiers are the lowest-risk entry point if you want to test without committing to a full premium subscription.
Yes — this is a significant and recent change. In November 2025, Bell Media announced a major expansion of Crave that added live and on-demand access to CTV and Noovo content directly within the Crave service, increasing Crave’s content portfolio by approximately 30%. The standalone CTV and CTV News apps were shut down as of May 1, 2026, with all CTV content migrating to Crave. This means Crave is now also the streaming home of CTV News, CTV dramas, and Noovo programming for French-speaking Canadians. Bell Media also introduced a free, ad-supported tier that carries a selection of CTV content — making some Crave content accessible without a paid subscription for the first time.
This one is genuinely close, but Crave has a slight edge on blockbuster theatrical releases. Crave’s partnership with Warner Bros. and its HBO/Max relationships mean major studio films often arrive on Crave sooner than they appear on Netflix, particularly Warner Bros. titles. Netflix focuses more heavily on Netflix Original films and licensed content — its theatrical film catalogue is expansive but the most recent releases often have a longer windowing period before arriving on the platform. For new releases specifically, Crave and Prime Video tend to land major films faster than Netflix. That said, Netflix’s original film output (which includes high-production titles across all genres) is enormous and consistently reviewed as world-class. It comes down to whether you prefer curated originals or recent theatricals.
All pricing and plan details are current as of 2026 based on official Bell Media and Netflix Canada published rates. Always verify directly at crave.ca and netflix.com/ca as prices and features change periodically.
| Feature | 📺 Crave | 🎬 Netflix Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level price | $11.99/mo (Standard With Ads) | $7.99/mo (Standard With Ads) |
| Mid-tier (no ads) | No mid-tier — jumps to $22/mo Premium | $18.99/mo (Standard, no ads) |
| Premium price | $22/mo (ad-free, 4 streams) | $23.99/mo (4K, 4 streams) |
| 4K streaming | Select titles on Premium | ✅ Premium only — full 4K HDR library |
| Simultaneous streams | 2 (Standard) · 4 (Premium) | 2 (Standard) · 4 (Premium) |
| Downloads for offline | ✅ Premium only | ✅ All paid plans except ads tier (limited) |
| Smart TV support (ads tier) | ❌ Mobile & web only on Standard With Ads | ✅ All devices including smart TV |
| HBO content | ✅ Full HBO library · Max Originals · Exclusive in Canada | ❌ No HBO content available |
| Starz add-on | ✅ $5.99/mo add-on (direct only) | Not available |
| Canadian originals | ✅ Shoresy · Letterkenny · Canada’s Drag Race · CTV shows | ✅ Canadian Netflix Originals |
| Live TV / news | ✅ CTV live · Noovo (from Nov 2025 expansion) | ❌ No live TV |
| Family/kids content | Limited — content skews adult | ✅ Strong kids library · dedicated Kids mode |
| Password sharing | Not enforced the same way as Netflix | Extra member: +$7.99/mo outside household |
| Free trial | ✅ 7-day free trial (direct signup) | No free trial (promotions vary by partner) |
| Owned by | Bell Media (Canadian) | Netflix Inc. (American · global) |
| Annual plan discount | ✅ Available (2 months free equivalent) | Monthly only in Canada |
Crave is Canada’s premium television streamer and the exclusive home of HBO content in this country. It does not try to be all things to all viewers — it is deliberately focused on prestige drama, Canadian content, and the kind of television that wins Emmy Awards. That specificity is its strength and its limitation.
The Crave Standard With Ads plan at $11.99/month provides access to the full Crave content library — including the complete HBO catalogue, Max Originals, Crave Originals, the biggest Hollywood blockbusters, and French-language content — with ads. The price is competitive for what’s included, but the critical limitation is device support: this plan is restricted to mobile phones, tablets, and web browsers. It does not work on smart TVs, Roku devices, Apple TV, PlayStation, Xbox, or via AirPlay. If you want to watch Crave on your living room television, you must subscribe to Crave Premium at $22/month. The ads-tier also does not support downloads for offline viewing. Despite these limitations, for seniors or commuters who primarily watch on a tablet or laptop, $11.99 for the full HBO library is a genuinely good deal. A 7-day free trial is available for new subscribers at crave.ca.
Crave Premium at $22/month removes all device and ad limitations — it supports all devices including smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox; allows up to four simultaneous streams; enables downloads for offline viewing; and provides access to select 4K titles. This is also the plan from which you can add the optional Starz add-on ($5.99/month extra) if you want programming from Power, Outlander, BMF, and other Starz originals. Annual payment is available and saves approximately two months’ cost compared to monthly billing. For households with multiple viewers or anyone who wants Crave on their TV set, Premium is the only practical option. The $10 monthly gap between the two Crave plans exists entirely because of device restrictions — the content library is identical across both tiers.
Crave’s case for subscription rests almost entirely on its exclusive hold over HBO’s entire catalogue in Canada. That means every season of Game of Thrones and its successor House of the Dragon; all of Succession; every series of True Detective; The Sopranos and The Wire for anyone who missed the prestige TV era; Euphoria and White Lotus for contemporary drama; and The Last of Us for those who haven’t yet watched. Crave also holds the Max Originals available in Canada. Beyond HBO, Crave produces its own Canadian originals — Shoresy and Letterkenny (the beloved Sudbury hockey comedy) are the flagship examples. The November 2025 expansion added CTV programming, meaning Crave now streams CTV News live, The Doctors, The Talk, and other Bell Media properties. Crave also gets major Warner Bros. theatrical releases faster than most competing services, making it the place for recent blockbusters alongside classic HBO television.
Netflix is the global streaming default for a reason — it has something for almost everyone, its recommendation algorithm is genuinely useful, and the app works flawlessly on virtually every device. But “default” also means it’s the service most people keep paying for without watching, and the price increases of recent years have made that habit more expensive.
Netflix’s Standard With Ads plan at $7.99/month is the lowest-cost legal streaming option from either service and works on every device — including smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast, phones, tablets, and computers — from day one. The viewing quality is 1080p Full HD; the content library is nearly identical to the ad-free tiers (a small number of titles are unavailable due to licensing restrictions). Two simultaneous streams are supported. The main trade-offs: ads appear during viewing, and you cannot add an extra member from a different household to this plan. For a solo viewer or a couple who can tolerate a few minutes of ads per hour, Netflix Standard With Ads is the most cost-effective way to access the full Netflix catalogue in Canada — including all Netflix Originals, licensed series, and films.
Netflix Standard at $18.99/month removes ads, allows two simultaneous streams, and adds the ability to add one extra member outside your household for an additional $7.99/month. Netflix Premium at $23.99/month adds 4K Ultra HD with HDR, four simultaneous streams, spatial audio support, and downloads on up to six devices — it also allows up to two extra members at $7.99 each. The Basic plan (one screen, no 4K, no extras) has been phased out for new subscribers in Canada. The jump from Standard With Ads ($7.99) to Standard ($18.99) is significant for what you get: primarily ad removal and the extra-member option. For households that genuinely need two separate locations to share a single account, the Standard plan math often works out to $26.98/month total — which starts to look expensive compared to having both subscribers get their own Standard With Ads accounts at $15.98 combined.
Netflix’s content strength lies in the volume and variety of its originals across every genre and demographic. Drama: The Crown, Ozark, Stranger Things, Mindhunter. Comedy: Never Have I Ever, Schitt’s Creek (for Canadian viewers), Sex Education. International: Squid Game (Korean), Money Heist (Spanish), Dark (German). True crime documentaries. Stand-up comedy specials. Kids and animated series across all ages. Reality competition (Selling Sunset, Love Is Blind). Adolescence and similar prestige originals demonstrate that Netflix has closed much of the quality gap with HBO for dramatic series. Netflix’s original film output is also enormous — though theatrical releases from major studios still tend to arrive on streaming via Crave and Prime Video before Netflix. For breadth, variety, and reliable everyday viewing across all ages and tastes, Netflix’s library remains the largest and most consistently replenished of any Canadian streaming service.
Netflix’s interface remains the most polished in Canadian streaming. Profiles work cleanly — each household member gets their own viewing history, recommendations, and watchlist. The Netflix recommendation algorithm is genuinely useful: it surfaces content you’re likely to enjoy rather than simply promoting its newest releases. The app performs reliably on low-bandwidth connections, a meaningful factor for seniors in rural areas or anyone with slower internet. Downloads for offline viewing work on all paid plans. Crave’s app has improved significantly in the 2025–2026 period but still occasionally draws complaints about buffering on some devices and a less intuitive browse experience — particularly for users managing both English and French content in the same session. If seamless, no-friction daily streaming is a priority, Netflix’s execution edge is real.
The honest version of the pricing comparison that neither service’s marketing page presents clearly — because the cheapest option on each isn’t always the one worth choosing.
The Crave Standard With Ads plan at $11.99/month is a genuine bargain if you watch on a phone, tablet, or computer — full HBO library for less than most streaming alternatives. The moment you want to watch on a television, however, the economics change: $11.99/month produces no value whatsoever on a smart TV, so you’d be paying $22/month (Premium) regardless of whether you wanted ads. There is no Crave middle tier — it jumps from $11.99 (mobile only, with ads) directly to $22 (all devices, no ads). If you want Crave on your TV, Premium is your only option. Annual billing saves approximately two months’ cost and is worth considering if you’re confident in committing. The Starz add-on at $5.99/month makes sense only if Starz originals are specifically something you want — don’t add it reflexively.
Netflix Standard With Ads at $7.99/month is the smartest value entry in Canadian streaming right now — it works on all devices, delivers the full Netflix library in 1080p, and costs less than any comparable service. The jump to Standard at $18.99 is justified primarily by three things: removing ads, gaining the ability to add one extra member outside your household, and a cleaner viewing experience for longer sessions. The jump to Premium at $23.99 adds 4K HDR, four simultaneous streams, and up to two extra member slots. For a solo viewer who tolerates ads, Standard With Ads is the pick. For a household that watches regularly on a 4K TV, Premium’s $5 premium over Standard is genuinely worth it. The math on extra members: if you and a family member in another home both have Netflix, two separate Standard With Ads accounts ($15.98 combined) cost less than one Standard account with one extra-member add-on ($26.98 combined).
Crave is non-negotiable for you, and Premium is likely the right tier if you watch on a television. The Last of Us, Succession, House of the Dragon, White Lotus, True Detective: Night Country, Euphoria, The Wire, The Sopranos — none of these are available on Netflix, Disney+, or any other Canadian streaming service. Crave has an exclusive hold on the entire HBO catalogue in Canada. Subscribe directly at crave.ca to access the 7-day free trial, choose Premium ($22/month) if you want TV access, and consider whether to add the Starz add-on only after you’ve determined you’ve run out of Crave and HBO content to watch — which will take longer than you expect. Whether to also subscribe to Netflix is a separate question from whether you need Crave — the two libraries barely overlap.
Netflix is the better single-service choice for family households with children, primarily because of its dedicated Kids mode, age-based content filtering, the ability to create separate profiles per family member, and its sheer breadth across genres and age levels. Crave’s library is genuinely excellent but skews adult — it’s not designed as a family service. If the adults in the house are HBO drama fans and the household also has children, the practical solution is Netflix as the primary family subscription (Standard or Premium depending on how many TVs you’re watching simultaneously) plus Crave Premium when a specific HBO series is running that the adults want to follow. The combined cost of Crave Standard With Ads ($11.99) and Netflix Standard With Ads ($7.99) is $19.98/month — less than a single mid-tier subscription to either service at their ad-free rates.
The sharpest value combination in Canadian streaming right now is Netflix Standard With Ads at $7.99/month plus Crave Standard With Ads at $11.99/month — a total of $19.98/month for access to the full Netflix and full Crave/HBO library simultaneously. Both plans support multiple streams; both cover mobile, tablet, and computer viewing; Crave’s ads tier is limited to those devices. If you primarily watch on a television, the calculation changes: you’d need Crave Premium ($22) to get TV access, plus Netflix at your chosen tier. For TV-first households, the Crave Standard With Ads tier at $11.99 is misleading value because it doesn’t do what most people think streaming does — play on their TV. Always check device compatibility before subscribing to the Crave ads tier.
Crave has a slight advantage on recent Warner Bros. theatrical releases and certain blockbusters, which tend to arrive on Crave faster than they appear on Netflix. Prime Video is also worth considering in this category — it often receives theatrical titles on a different release window than Crave or Netflix. Netflix’s strength is in its own original films (Extraction, Don’t Look Up, Bird Box, and ongoing investment in originals across all genres) rather than licensed theatrical releases. If new blockbusters are your primary reason to subscribe, the most efficient approach is to hold one service as a base and add the second only during periods when titles you specifically want are available — both Crave and Netflix allow cancellation at any time with no long-term contract.
Yes — and this is a relatively recent development that many Canadians don’t know about yet. Bell Media’s November 2025 expansion of Crave added live streaming access to CTV and Noovo directly within the Crave app. The standalone CTV app shut down on May 1, 2026, with all CTV content migrated to Crave. CTV News, live CTV programming, and Noovo for French-speaking Canadians are now part of the Crave experience. Bell Media also introduced a free, ad-supported tier with access to a selection of CTV content — meaning you can watch some CTV programming through Crave without paying anything. For paid subscribers, both Crave Standard With Ads and Crave Premium include live CTV access, making Crave a functional cable news and network TV replacement for Canadians who want to cut the cord without losing access to CTV.
Probably yes, if you’re actively using both. The Crave and Netflix catalogues have minimal overlap — HBO content is exclusive to Crave, Netflix Originals are exclusive to Netflix, and very few titles appear on both. If you’re watching content from both regularly, there’s no redundancy worth cutting. Where you might reconsider: if you’re paying for ad-free tiers on both and barely watching, downgrade to the ad-supported tier on one or both rather than cancelling. At $7.99 (Netflix) plus $11.99 (Crave), both libraries cost $19.98/month combined with ads — almost certainly less than you’re currently paying if you’re on premium tiers. The other check: if you watch fewer than 10 hours of streaming per week, a 30-day pause or cancellation of the service you use less frequently — knowing you can resubscribe with no penalty — is a sensible budget move.
This guide is for general informational and educational purposes only. Subscription prices, plan features, device compatibility, and content availability are subject to change at any time without notice. Pricing cited is based on publicly available Bell Media and Netflix Canada information current as of 2026. Crave and all related content brands are trademarks of Bell Media Inc. Netflix and all related content brands are trademarks of Netflix, Inc. Always verify current plan prices, features, and availability at crave.ca and netflix.com/ca before subscribing. Content availability may vary by province and device. This content is entirely original.