Top OTT Platforms in India

This blog lists down the best OTT platforms available in India.

When televisions emerged in the Indian market, people were struck with the idea of watching movies and shows from their homes. The concepts of advertising, entertainment, news also saw a gradual change when the shift from radio to television began. Similarly, nowadays OTT or ‘over-the-top’ platforms are gaining prominence over television with their phenomenal features. 

OTT platforms have gained immense popularity in recent years. Especially in the lockdown period when theatres were closed, OTT apps gave us a theatre-like movie experience within the comfort of our homes. Many famous movies were released on different OTT platforms.

OTT platforms consist of numerous regional, national, and international movies and web shows to attract a wide audience. Some OTT platforms also provide live streaming of cricket and football matches. You can watch them whenever you’re on the go. You just need a stable internet connection and a proper subscription. 

Today, there are an array of OTT apps in India. Whether you’re a Bollywood lover or a fan of English movies, there’s everything on offer on Indian OTT platforms. 

This blog will highlight some of the best OTT platforms in India, their plans, reviews, and ratings to help you choose the right fit for you!

13 Best OTT Platforms for every binge-watching lover!

Do you love binge-watching? If yes, then these OTT apps in India will give you a phenomenal binge-watching experience. So, let’s check them out!

1) Netflix

Netflix was presumably the first OTT platform to emerge in the Indian market. Soon after its emergence in India, Netflix started streaming regional and national movies apart from international movies/shows. 

This American-based OTT platform is widely popular for streaming ad-free movies and web series. What’s more? The subscription plans of Netflix start from an optimal rate of 199 INR to 999 INR. 

Netflix rules the hearts of the Indian audience with its abundant variety of shows and movies to spur the appetite of every viewer. Moreover, users can access Netflix from Mobile Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Smart TVs, and other streaming devices.

Netflix is very aggressive when it comes to OTT marketing. Whenever a new show is released, their marketing team goes on the front foot to promote it through outdoor media and mobile marketing.

Even if you’re a Hollywood or a Bollywood fan, Netflix has got everything covered for your entertainment! Though the theatres were closed due to the pandemic, Netflix took proper care for the entertainment of its audience. Several blockbuster movies and web series were released on Netflix even during the pandemic period. 

The platform also offers a 30-day free trial. After the trial period, as per the subscription you choose, the amount will be debited from your account. Moreover, you are always FREE to step back if you don’t want to continue with Netflix. 

Installs: 1 billion-plus download on Google Play Store.

Reviews: More than 14.6 million reviews

Ratings: 4.0 stars on Play Store

Most Popular shows/movies: Breaking Bad, Delhi Crime, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Sacred Games, The Big Bang Theory, Mirzapur, Money Heist among many other national and international movies. Apart from these, Netflix also provides a great deal for regional movie lovers. Shows like Hoichoi, CityShor, Planet Marathi, Koode, Thackeray are most beloved among regional audiences.

2) Amazon Prime Video

Looking for a fusion of regional and international shows and movies? Amazon Prime Video is nevertheless the right fit for you! 

Amazon Prime Video is popular among the Indian audience for its varied and fresh video content. To access Amazon Prime Video, users must be a prime member of Amazon’s e-commerce platform. 

Also, Prime membership gives you free access to Amazon Prime Music and e-books on Amazon Kindle. Moreover, a prime member also experiences quick delivery options, exclusive discounts, and deals on the e-commerce website along with the boons mentioned above. Isn’t it a win-win situation? 

What makes Amazon Prime even more special? Well, it offers movie downloads (on mobile and tablets), free audio streaming through Amazon Music (Bye, bye Spotify!), family sharing, and much more.

Apart from English, the platform also offers movies and shows in six different Indian languages to suit regional audiences. Amazon Prime Video has also delivered several super-hit Indian web series. Shows like One Mic Stand, Tandav, The Family Man on Amazon Prime Video have earned lots of acclaim from audiences.

The present cost of prime membership is 129 INR per month and 999 INR for a year.

Installs: 500 million-plus downloads on Play Store.

Reviews: 4.52 million reviews

Ratings: 3.9 stars

Most Popular shows/movies: Paatal Lok, Shameless, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Homecoming, Hanna, The Boys, Undone, etcetera. Movies/shows in an abundance of genres like animation, comedy, crime, science-fiction, historical drama, and many others are available on Amazon Prime Video.

3) Disney+ Hotstar

Disney+Hotstar is one of the most renowned OTT platforms in India, owned and operated by Walt Disney. The platform offers access to a plethora of content for children, young adults, and adults. Disney+Hotstar’s subscribers get access to all the Disney movies and shows such as Marvel, Star Wars, among many others. 

The platform offers tons of varieties of content such as cartoons, sports, web series, national and international movies, comedy shows, drama, etcetera. 

What I love about Hotstar – access to IPL matches, mobile & TV streaming, video quality (4K), original content (from Pixar, Marvel, Disney, etc.) and it’s smooth functioning on Amazon FireTV, Android TV & Apple TV.

Disney+Hotstar offers Premium as well as VIP subscriptions to its users. The Premium package includes complete access to international shows and movies while the VIP plan offers access to domestic and national movies and series. VIP plan also includes access to live sporting events including IPL and other tours of the Indian Cricket Team.

Installs: 500 million-plus downloads on Play Store

Reviews: 11.9 million reviews

Ratings: 4 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: 24, The Mandalorian, Star Wars-The Clone Wars, and American Crime Story. Also, How I Met Your Mother, Silicon Valley, Malgudi Days, Game of Thrones, Sharp Objects

4) Sony LIV

Sony LIV as an OTT app brings all the shows, movies, sports, and cartoons broadcasting on various domains of Sony Entertainment into one shed of an umbrella. It consists of more than 18 years of video content owned by Sony Entertainment available at a single click.

If you’re a sports lover, Sony LIV provides a great deal to watch all the live broadcasting of your favorite national and international sports tournament. Moreover, it offers premium quality content at the mere subscription cost starting from 199 INR/ month. 

Also, you might be pleased to know that Sony LIV is India’s first OTT platform to produce music content for the Hindi version of the blockbuster film ‘Passengers’. 

Installs: 100 million-plus downloads on Play Store

Reviews: 1.9 million reviews

Ratings: 3.8 stars

Most Popular shows/movies: Scam 1992, Girls Hostel, Gullak, Sandwiched Forever, Avrodh, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Hillary, Dark waters, Indebted, 1917, Alex Rider, Lincoln Rhyme, along with many other popular movies and shows.

5) ALTBalaji

ALTBalaji is another OTT platform in India offering plenty of regional content. It hosts several web series, shows specifically curated to suit the taste of the Indian audience. Also, ALTBalaji hosts adult content for an 18 plus audience.

Apart from English, the platform also has a bunch of series and movies in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi, etcetera. ALTBalaji app is available for Android as well as iOS users while laptop users can browse via the website. The content on this platform covers a wide range of genres ranging from romance, comedy, thriller, mystery, etcetera. 

The subscription plans of ALTBalaji are certainly pocket-friendly ranging from INR 100 for 3 months, INR 180 for six months, and only INR 300 for a year. 

Installs: 50 million-plus downloads on Play Store

Reviews: 332K reviews 

Ratings: 3 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: Bose: Dead or Alive, Cyber Squad, Dev DD, Home, Romil and Jugal, XXX, etcetera.

6) MX Player

The journey of MX player from being just another video streaming app to one of the most recognized OTT platforms in India is amazing. MX Player has been regarded as an OTT platform since 20 February 2019. 

MX Player is available as an app for Android and iOS users. Users can browse it via its website as well. It is completely FREE to use and operates on ads. The platform also claims to consist of 150,000 hours of digital video content available in more than 12 languages. 

The platform hosts MX players’ Originals as well as licensed movies and series from several partners such as Paramount Pictures, Sony Entertainment, Shemaroo, Hungama, along with many others. 

Though the content on MX Player is completely free of cost, the ads in between might strain a user’s experience.  

Installs: 1Billion plus downloads on Play Store

Reviews: 12.7 million reviews

Ratings: 4.1 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: High, Ashram, Cheesecake, Flames, Hello Mini, Damaged, etcetera.

7) Eros Now

Looking for blockbuster Bollywood movies? Eros Now is your one-stop destination! Eros Now is raising the bars in the OTT industry with its premium quality and quantity of contents. The platform hosts movies and series in Hindi as well as English to attract a majority of the Indian audience. Moreover, it also claims to host more than 10,000 movies, and a plethora of music videos, audio tracks, television shows, etcetera. 

With the sole aim to provide tons of entertainment options at the customers’ fingertips, Eros Now is constantly upgrading its content. Currently, it offers breathtaking features like HD videos, multi-language subtitles, and easy-to-download movies. 

What’s more? You get access to thousands of movies, hundreds of shows, and music albums at just INR 99 per month.

Installs: 10 million-plus downloads

Reviews: 120k reviews

Ratings: 2.6 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: Smoke, Metro Pack, Flip, Operation Cobra, Side Hero, Investigation, etcetera.

8) Discovery+

Discovery+ was launched in India in March 2020 and soon became one of the popular OTT platforms in the country. It is owned by Discovery Inc. It’s the same company that operates the iconic Discovery channel.

Discovery+ app has stood true to the reputation set by the Discovery brand. It is smooth and simple to use and navigate. It is loaded with ton of favorite content produced by Discovery over the last 3 decades.

In addition to it, Discovery+ also has several original contents which are produced taking into consideration local culture and events. Discovery has created a niche for itself by making a lot of interesting content around the history, science, and tech fields.

Furthermore, Discovery+ also showcases content from BBC, Animal Planet, Eurosport, DMAX, Trvl, Food Network, etc.

9) Jio Cinema

Hey Jio users, are you looking for an incredible binge-watching experience? What’s better than Jio Cinema! Jio Cinema is an exclusive OTT platform for Jio users. The most interesting thing about Jio Cinema is, it is available for FREE. 

Jio cinema offers a wide range of video content such as movies, documentaries, web series, music, originals, etcetera for its users. Also, Jio Cinema has collaborated with Disney India to host popular Disney movies for its audience. 

Looking for regional movies? Jio Cinema has covered everything for you! Recently, it collaborated with Hoichoi to telecast Bengali regional movies and many more! Jio Cinema’s app is available on Android as well as iOS. 

Installs:  100 million-plus downloads on Play Store

Reviews: 2M reviews

Ratings: 3.2 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: Jobs, The Kite Runner, Macbeth, Baywatch, The Founder, The Voices, Into The Wild, The Forgiven, The Sum of all Fears, etcetera.

10) Zee5

Do you love watching international drama series and movies? ZEE5 offers a hybrid of movies, web series, music, TV shows, etcetera available in more than 12 languages.

ZEE5 also claims to host more than 100,000 hours of TV shows along with more than 500 web series. Since its partnership with Ditto, Ozee, and ALTBalaji, ZEE5 users have free access to the maximum video content available on those platforms. 

To add more sprinkle on its content varieties, ZEE5 also hosts a bunch of international web series such as Turkish and Korean dramas. Moreover, the subscribers also get access to 90 plus Live channels to watch their favorite show, documentary, or sport LIVE.  The most interesting point is all these benefits come for only INR 99 per month. Isn’t it mind-blowing? 

Zee5 is available as an iOS and Android app. It runs smoothly on mobile, tablet and tv.

Installs: 100 million-plus downloads on Google Playstore

Reviews: 2.5 million reviews

Ratings: 4.4 stars

Most Popular shows/ movies: Code M, Mafia, Mentalhood, Poison, Rangbaaz etcetera.

11) Curiosity Stream

The founder of the Discovery Channel, John S. Hendricks, started CuriosityStream in March 2015. It grew rapidly into a popular OTT platform with 20 million subscribers worldwide through its direct and bundled subscription businesses in 2021. The service has over 50 partners all around the globe.

CuriosityStream has thousands of factual shows, documentaries, and movies. Users can choose their annual and month-to-month subscriptions or a 4K plan. The distribution of their programmings is done internationally using a mix of OTT players, broadband ISPs, and pay-TV operators.

CuriosityStream entered the Indian Market in November 2020. It partnered with Tata Sky and Airtel. So users can enjoy it on Tata Sky DTH, Tata Sky Mobile App, Airtel Xstream, and Xstream smart app. Additionally, CuriosityStream also has its own independent android and iOS apps for the Indian market.

For premium factual shows, CuriosityStream is the world’s first ad-free and on-demand streaming service. It has several features bundled in it. This includes continuous playback of episodes, bookmark & continue watching the shows from where it was left off, and can also filter shows based on time limits.

Installs: 1 million-plus download on Google Play Store

Reviews: More than 14.5 thousand reviews

Ratings: 3.3 stars on Play Store and 4.2 on Apple App Store

Most Popular shows/movies: The History of Food, Out of the Cradle, Amazing Dinoworld, Engineering the Future, Stephen Hawkings Favorite Places, Eclipse Across America, Deep Time History, Space Probes, etc.

12) Airtel Xstream

Airtel Xstream is an online streaming platform. It provides its users with the latest collection of movies, TV series, live shows, web series, and much more. Launched by Bharti Airtel, it’s one of the go-to platforms for the millennials.

It has more than 300 live TV channels and shows content in 15 different languages. Some popular content on Airtel Xstream is Flesh: The Origin of Evil, The Red Land, The Investigation, Ratri Ke Yatri, Jurn Aur Jazbaat, and a few more.

Airtel Xstream app offers free content to Airtel SIM users. You can subscribe to it at a minimum cost of Rs 153 per month that ranges high as per the plan you select.

Installs:  100M plus Installs on Google Play Store.

Reviews: 1.16M reviews

Ratings: 4.4 stars on Play Store

Most Popular shows/movies: Mumbai Local (TV Series), Projekti X, Vendetta, 22 Bullets, Safe House, Primal, Category, Impact Earth, Setup, Tracers, and many more.

Conclusion

Binge-watching is a new hobby in today’s era! The current market is brimming with plenty of OTT platforms available in India. The video streaming boom is here to stay in the future! 

So, if you’re contemplating a business idea that will help you make handsome profits and at the same time provide entertainment to the masses, OTT is the space! At Eiosys, we can help you create an OTT app that is user-friendly, and enriched with top-notch features. Get in touch to know more!