Foxtel’s Presto Movie Streaming Is Now Cheaper Than Netflix

Foxtel’s all-you-can-eat movie streaming service has just slashed its monthly fee in half. As of this Sunday, Presto will only cost you $9.99 per month, making it cheaper than paying for Netflix. Already pay for Presto? Great — you get a month for free, just because.

Foxtel Presto Review: Like Netflix, But Actually Meant For Australia

Presto is a great movie streaming service, but up until now it was a little expensive. At $19.99 per month for access to an admittedly large back catalogue of archive movies and a fair few new releases, it was a bit pricey but justifiable; at the new $9.99 monthly cost it is totally worth it — it’s half the price of a single movie ticket, for God’s sake.

Here’s the meat of this morning’s announcement:

Presto, Australia’s premier entertainment streaming service, is set to become more accessible than ever as it unveils a new ‘all-you-can-eat’ flat rate movie subscription price of $9.99 per month on a no lock-in contract. The new pricing, effective as of Sunday 17 August, puts Presto at the forefront of internet movie streaming services offering the most blockbuster hits at the best available value. Today’s news comes on the heels of Presto’s arrival on Chromecast, bringing it to household big screens. As a thanks for the ongoing loyalty, Presto is also offering one month free to current paying Presto customers.

Foxtel has been kicking a lot of goals with Presto recently — for example, you can cast movies from the iOS or Android app to your big-screen TV, courtesy of support for Google Chromecast. You get a lot for your flat $10 per month, but if you want to, you can also stream almost-brand-new movies on a pay-per-view basis. Best of all, it’s entirely legal, and your money goes to Australian content owners and rights-holders.

As for that outrageous “cheaper than Netflix” claim? Stand by for a bit of slightly creative accounting. Netflix costs US$8.99 per month, right? — at today’s exchange rate that’s $9.67 per month; a VPN like UnoTelly or GetFlix will cost you around $50 a year, very roughly $4.17 per month. Add those together and you have a monthly fee of around $13.74, far and away more expensive than the $9.99 that Presto is asking.

Of course, if you’re already paying for a VPN anyway, or if you’re using a free service like Hola, this argument is moot. That doesn’t change the fact that if you’re still in violation of Netflix’s terms of service (not that they’d probably care very much), though.

Gizmodo’s own review of Presto in March this year was positive, but did note that the pricing wasn’t perfect:

All in all, Foxtel Presto is a great first attempt at getting a movie streaming service for Aussies off the ground. We’ve badly needed something like Presto for the last two years, and it’s great to see that Foxtel recognises the challenge that new media platforms present and decided to build something rather than bitch endlessly. We’re big fans of Presto, and we can’t wait to see what else Foxtel has planned for it.

With that sorted, there’s really not too many legitimate reasons not to choose Presto if you’re looking for cheap and legal movie streaming. [Presto]


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