The past few years has seen the rise of streaming services in almost every vertical imaginable. From horror-themed Shudder to quality Christian content with PureFlix, we've discovered a variety of niche streaming services that most cord-cutters have never heard of. In this post, we've compile a list of the top 5 niche streaming services that you should try in 2020.
Sundance Now
Sundance Now offers subscribers an on-demand library of over 500+ independent films, TV series, and documentaries. Despite its small library size, Sundance Now will appeal to viewers looking for a highly curated, quality selection of content. Perhaps one of the most interesting features is their "collections" section, which groups various titles by theme. Examples include "Politicians: Heroes and Villains", "True Crime", "Wanderlust", and "Justice for All." A Sundance Now subscription will cost you $4.99/month and comes with a free, 7-day trial.
Acorn.TV
Acorn.TV brings television programming from the UK, Canada, Ireland Australia, and New Zealand to American audiences. Notable series you'll be able to stream include Murdoch Mysteries, A Place to Call Home, and George Gently. Acorn.TV's catalog is quite small, numbering just 138 titles according to JustWatch. However, over 60 of those shows are exclusives, meaning you won't' find them on any other streaming service. Acorn.TV offers a free 7-day trial, with a full subscription costing $4.99/month thereafter.
Shudder
Horror buffs will appreciate Shudder, a streaming service that focuses exclusively on horror films and TV shows. Shudder's library of 500+ titles includes hits like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Rec, and I Saw The Devil. Shudder is backed by AMC and contains more than 2X the horror content you'll find on Netflix (as we discovered in our review). A subscription for Shudder will cost you $4.99/month after the free 7-day trial.
PureFlix
PureFlix offers viewers interested in Christian and family-focused content a catalog of over a thousand titles to choose from. Notable titles include PureFlix originals like God's Not Dead, The Wager, and Home Beyond the Sun. You can check out our interview with PureFlix CEO Greg Gudorf here. A PureFlix subscription will cost you $9.99/month after the one-month free trial.
Mubi
Mubi, formerly called The Auteurs, is a streaming service that focuses on international arthouse cinema. Instead of offering a large library with hundreds (or thousands) of titles, Mubi offers a rotating selection of just 30 titles at any given time. Each day, one title disappears and a new one replaces it. The emphasis is very much on quality over quantity. A Mubi subscription will cost you $5.99/month after the 7-day free trial.
Desiree Wu • Editor
Desiree is a full-time Honours Business Administration student at Ivey Business School at Western University. She also works as the Editorial Intern at Flixed. Desiree is based in London, Ontario.