Streaming services aren’t just for watching blockbuster movies about intergalactic aliens and crime-fighting superheroes. They’re also great for educational content like documentaries about science, nature, crime, and society. In this guide, we’ll look at some of the best streaming services for watching documentaries.
Top 8 Best Streaming Services for Watching Documentaries
1. Curiosity Stream
It’s impossible to talk about the best streaming services for watching documentaries without mentioning Curiosity Stream. Founded in 2015 by John S. Hendricks, the same man who created the Discovery Channel, Curiosity Stream is a streaming service specializing in documentaries.
This service is filled to the brim with educational content, with thousands of titles – many of which are in 4K quality – on an array of subjects. From David Attenborough nature documentaries to history series and studies into the human body, there are so many options to choose from.
Curiosity Stream Pricing
| Standard 7-day free trial $2.99/ month | All streams in 1080P HD. Exclusive and original content. No limit on simultaneous streams. | SIGN UP |
| Premium 7-day free trial $9.99/ month | Upgraded 4K streaming. Exclusive and original content. No limit on simultaneous streams. | SIGN UP |
One of the best aspects of Curiosity Stream is its price. It’s one of the cheapest and best streaming services for watching documentaries, costing just $2.99 a month. You can also pay $19.99 a year to save even more cash, or opt for the 4K plan at $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year.
2. Paramount+
Next up, we have Paramount+, which is one of the fastest-growing streaming services. It may be known for its shows and movies, but Paramount+ has an impressive collection of documentaries, too.
It’s a great platform to choose if you love music documentaries, as well as political, social, health and entertainment documentaries, too. Some of the best documentaries to watch on Paramount+ include 76 Days, Console Wars and An Inconvenient Truth.
Paramount+ Pricing
Paramount+ has several different payment plans, starting from just $4.99 per month for the Essential plan, which is supported by ads. You can pay $9.99 per month for the Premium plan to remove ads or pay up to $14.99 per month for the Paramount+/Showtime plan to get Showtime content, too.
3. Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is another contender when you’re looking for the best streaming platforms for documentaries. As well as having its own massive library of fictional content, this service offers lots of quality documentaries, including a lot of originals and exclusives.
Some of the top documentaries on Amazon Prime Video include All In: The Fight for Democracy and Generation Wealth. A lot of the documentaries on this platform focus on politics, society and the modern world.
Amazon Prime Video Pricing
| Amazon Prime Video 30-Day Free Trial $8.99 / month | 100+ Channels Award-winning content 2 simultaneous stream | SIGN UP |
In terms of pricing, if you already have Amazon Prime, which costs $14.99 a month, you’ll have access to Prime Video as part of your subsciption. You can also pay for it as a standalone service at $8.99 a month.
4. Hulu
Next up, we have Hulu, widely-regarded as one of the best value for money streaming services and another great place to find documentaries. As well as its low monthly costs, this service stands out for its cloud DVR features and the fact that it can be bundled with other platforms like Disney+ and ESPN.
You can watch a lot of entertainment and celebrity-oriented documentaries through Hulu, such as documentaries about The Beatles or fashion icon Alexander McQueen. Sport and nature documentaries also feature on this platform.
Hulu Pricing
| Hulu + Live TV No Hassle TV $69.99/ month | 75+ Live TV Channels 2 simultaneous streams Unlimited DVR Disney+ and ESPN+ Included | SIGN UP |
| Hulu + Live TV No Ads $79.99/ month | 75+ Live TV Channels 2 simultaneous streams Unlimited DVR Disney+ and ESPN+ Included | SIGN UP |
Pricing for Hulu begins at just $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year. This will allow you to enjoy the full library of documentaries, with ads. If you want an ad-free experience, the price goes up to $12.99 a month.
5. Netflix
One of the biggest streaming platforms of them all, Netflix is famous for its giant content library, which not only includes movies and shows, but also a plethora of documentaries and educational content.
This platform is a good choice for true crime documentaries, home to the likes of Making a Murderer and American Murder, as well as other successful documentaries The Social Dilemma and The Great Hack
Netflix Pricing
There are three different payment plans available with Netflix. The Basic plan starts at just $9.99 per month, while the top-tier Premium plan is $19.99 per month. The more expensive plans come with better quality content and more simultaneous streams.
6. Kanopy
Kanopy is a leading streaming service aimed at the whole family. Launched in 2008, this service focuses almost exclusively on documentaries. In fact, it was first created to provide content for schools and colleges.
It has since expanded, offering a library with hundreds of documentaries and thousands of hours of content from studios like HBO and Paramount. The best part of all is that this service is available free of charge.
Kanopy Pricing
As stated above, if you want to sign up for Kanopy, you don’t need to worry about paying any subscription fees. It’s free to use, without any monthly or annual ads. The only downside is that you need a library card or active university email address to sign up.
7. PBS Documentaries
PBS has been well-known for its documentaries for many years. The PBS Documentaries streaming service is a platform that is made just for documentary fans. It features hundreds of hours of educational content covering all sorts of subjects.
All of the classic PBS documentaries from the last 50 years feature on this service, including titles from studios like Independent Lens, Frontline, and American Experience.
PBS Documentaries Pricing
PBS Documentaries is a cheap streaming service for documentaries. It only has one payment option: $3.99 per month for total access to all content, without any ads or hidden charges.
8. Magellan TV
Last up on our list is Magellan TV. This is another streaming service that aims to rival the likes of Curiosity Stream and PBS Documentaries by focusing 100% on documentaries and educational content.
It offers more than 3,000 documentaries on a wide range of subjects. This includes military history, politics, nature and science. Most of the content on this service is available in 4K quality and new documentaries join the catalog all the time.
Magellan TV Pricing
There are several ways to pay for Magellan TV. You can either pay a monthly fee of $6.99, or you can opt for a quarterly plan at $17.97 a quarter. You can even try the annual plan for $59.98 a year.
