Streaming Services You Can Give As Gifts (And How Much They Cost)

With the cost of streaming services seemingly always on the rise, it might be worth considering gifting friends and family members with a gift subscription. Whether for the holidays, a birthday, or any other special occasion, a subscription can be a great way to give a gift while also helping to lower the cost of the recipient’s monthly streaming outgoings.

Unfortunately, not all streaming services offer the option to give a subscription. Below is a list of streaming services that do currently offer a gift subscription, along with the price.

How to gift a streaming service to someone

For services that offer a gift subscription, the act of gifting one is relatively easy, and most services will even list the option on the signup page.

In most cases, the giver will need to add their own email address, the recipient’s email address, gift message, and delivery date, select a subscription duration (if available) and pay.

Once the order is complete and paid for, the recipient will receive the gift subscription on the specified date via email. This is usually in the form of a digital code that can be used as a payment method when signing up.

Typically, there will be a redeem section available on the service’s website where the recipient can add the code to claim the subscription. For example, ESPN+ gift subscription codes can be redeemed on this page.

Once entered, the new subscriber will just to need to follow the on-screen instructions to finish redeeming the gift and setting up their account.

Gift subscriptions tend not to require the recipient to add a payment method, as the subscription will automatically come to an end once the prepaid period is over. At which point, they will need to either add a payment method or use another gift code to access the service again.

If the recipient is already a subscriber to a service you want to gift to them, it is worth making sure they can add a gift subscription to their existing account before purchasing. Otherwise, the recipient may need to cancel their existing subscription and sign up again with a different email address to redeem the gift.

Giving a streaming service gift card instead

While services like Apple TV+, Netflix, Hulu, and Paramount+ don’t offer a gift subscription, it is possible to purchase gift cards instead.

Whether purchasing a physical or digital card, a value is loaded to the person’s account and this can then be used against the cost of a subscription.

For example, while there’s currently no option to give Apple TV+ to someone, it is possible to buy Apple gift cards and redeem them against the price of Apple TV+. The annual Apple TV Plus plan costs $99.99 a year, so buying and gifting $100 in Apple gift cards should ensure the recipient is able to sign up and pay for a full year of Apple’s streaming service.

Not all gift cards can be used to pay for streaming services, so it is important to confirm whether they can before purchasing. For example, gift cards purchased from the AMC Shop cannot be used to pay for an AMC+ subscription.

The gift cards listed below can all be redeemed against the cost of a subscription.

Similar to gift subscriptions, the use of gifts cards might also require an additional payment method to be added when signing up.

Gift subscriptions versus gift cards — which is best?

Generally speaking, a gift subscription is a better option than a gift card as it removes some additional hurdles, including choosing a subscription length, and in some cases, adding an additional payment method.

However, most streaming services tend to either offer a gift subscription or a gift card, so consumers typically won’t need to choose one gift method over the other.

If looking to gift a service not mentioned in this article, first check to see if a gift subscription is available. If not, check retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart to see if they carry a gift card for the streaming service.