Don't fancy another year of Home Alone or Wallace & Gromit? The cheapest ways to stream your favourite movies this Christmas By Emma Gunn

Christmas is just around the corner, which means hours spent in front of the TV watching repeats of well-loved, but predictable, favourites in a turkey-induced coma.
But for those that would rather catch up on the latest releases, rather than switching on another Home Alone or Wallace & Gromit, there are now a whole heap of ways to download and stream movies from your sofa.
This week, Sky has jumped into the film-streaming ring by offering box office downloads to all for just £0.99. But with so much choice, where should you go for your Christmas movie fix? This is Money investigates.

 

New releases: Downloading new releases such as The Wolverine or

The Smurfs 2 will cost you £3.49 from both the Sky Store and Tesco's Blinkbox.

Monthly subscriptions VS one-off buys

The first decision you will need to make is whether you want to sign up to a monthly service or prefer to pay per film.
A subscription will mean you get more films for your money. Lovefilm Instant and Netflix both cost £5.99 for a month, while Now TV costs £8.99 a month. All three give you unlimited access to thousands of movies and TV shows.

TV BUNDLES

If your already signed up to a Sky, Virgin or BT TV package you should check to see whether any of your Christmas favourites are on offer - or if it's worth getting a movie add-on.
Sky's movies package costs an extra £8 a month.
You can also build Sky Movies in a Virgin bundle from £19.50 a month. Or choose an on demand film from £3.50.
BT Vision has a film and boxsets package costing £5 a month, or you can rent the latest blockbusters from £3.50.

Although you can cancel your subscription at any time, if you are likely to forget to do so, and therefore continue to pay even though you don't use the service, or you only want to stream on a one-off occasion, you might be better off with a pay-per-film service.
Paying for individual films, as opposed a subscription service, also means that you will have access to the latest releases.
Blinkbox and the Sky Store are likely to be the best-known providers. Both allow you to digitally rent movies for as little as £0.99 - or £3.49 for a new release. You could also try Google Play or iTunes (see box below).
But you will have to remember that when renting films in this way you will only have a limited watching time.
Films are usually available for a month - but once you click 'play', you will have to watch your choice within a matter of days.
Remember: you should check your broadband data limits as it could leave you with an eye-wateringly high bill if you stream too many movies and go over your allotted cap.

One-off payments

These options allow anyone to access films or TV series.
Obviously you will have to create an account to pay for your film choice, but you won't have to sign up to a long-term Sky or Blinkbox contract. Prices are the same, whether or not you are already signed up with Sky or Tesco broadband bundle.

Sky Store

There around 1,200 films available to stream from the Sky Store. Checking out the latest releases such as Man of Steel, The Hangover Part III, Despicable Me 2, and The Lone Ranger, will cost you a fairly standard £3.49.
It also has some older movies costing £1.99 in its library including The Godfather, Forrest Gump and Top Gun, as well as a selection of 99p offers such as Austin Powers, The Grind and 2-Headed Shark Attack.
You can access the Sky Store on your computer, through a NOW TV box or Roku, YouView and Sky+HD.
This is Money verdict
More competition is good news for families, and Sky Store does keep up with the rest of the field when it comes to the selection of the latest movies and price.
But, don't get drawn in by the promise of 99p movies as the selection is pretty poor and you probably won't recognise at least a few of the titles.
It is also a shame that you cannot currently watch films on mobile devices, but it is likely that this will be launched in the future.

Blinkbox

ONE-OFF: ANY OTHERS?

Google Play and iTunes will let you watch movies on your laptop, smartphones and tablets.
But it can be slightly trickier to watch on your TV as you will need to connect both devices using an HDMI connection or have a Google TV or Apple TV box.
It will cost you £4.49 to rent the most recent films on iTunes, while Google Play charges £3.49.
You could try the slightly lesser-known Wuaki TV which is owned by Rakuten (Play.com). It offers the same broad selection of movies on both a subscription and pay-per-view basis.

You can watch both movies and TV shows through Blinkbox on your smart TV, using an XBox or PlayStation, using some blue-ray players or via a tablet or computer.
The Tesco-owned streamer has pretty much the same selection of new release movies as the Sky Store - but it has about 9,000 titles to choose from.
There are some good download deals. This is Money spotted an offer for The Hobbit for £6.99 or Anchorman for £3.99.
Its 99p rental section showcases quite a few extra well-known movies than Sky, such as Superbad, Step Brothers and Matilda.
This is Money verdict
Blinkbox does offer the most choice when it comes to one-off downloads. It also comes with more ways to stream than Sky.
An added bonus - it will also reward you with one Clubcard point per £1 spent on movies and TV.

Blockbusters: You might be surprised at the selection of places you can stream the latest films such as The Hangover Part III

Monthly subscriptions

These options are available to anyone. You can usually cancel your subscription at any time, without incurring a fee.
With a monthly subscription options you will usually have a delay on the latest releases.

Netflix

You can sign up for one month's access to Netflix for a reasonable £5.99. It is impossible to find out exactly how many films or TV shows there are available, even after you have signed up.
It comes with a solid movie selection, offering films such as The Hobbit, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Magic Mike.
The choice of TV shows is where it really stands out though, with a whole host of programmes including all five series of Breaking Bad, 24, Planet Earth and The Office.
Netflix has also begun to make its own TV shows, most notably House of Cards and Orange is the New Black - it is even set to release a new children's series.
You can watch in a number of different ways, for example via games consoles such as PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, by streaming straight to your computer or smart TV - or to both Apple and Android phones and tablets.
This is Money verdict
If you are a TV buff, general consensus is that Netflix is one of the best options, with some good box sets and popular original content such as House of Cards making it the front runner.
But, it likely won't be your first choice if you are looking to watch the latest blockbusters as soon as they are released to rent or buy.

Lovefilm Instant

MAKE THE MOST OF FREE TRIALS

Netflix and LoveFilm both offer free 30 day trials. But you will have to remember to cancel before the end otherwise they turn into paid-for rolling contracts as you have to put in your card details to sign up.
Blinkbox will credit you £5 when you deposit just £1 in to your account.
NowTV offers a Free 30-day Sky Movies Pass when you sign up - again you will need to be on the ball and cancel to avoid being charged.

Lovefilm is best known for its DVD renting service, which sends you the movies you want to watch in the post.
But it also has an on-demand service, Lovefilm Instant, which you can sign up for as well.
It costs the same as Netflix, £5.99 a month, and offers access to around 2,700 films and 1,100 TV shows.
When This is Money checked out the selection, it had popular box sets such as Downton Abbey, Grey's Anatomy and I Am Alan Partridge.
Its film selection, although not bursting with the most recent releases, is fairly sizeable and a quick search for its most poplar films brings up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Johnny English Reborn and The Immortals.
You can stream movies to your KindleFire and Apple devices, but unfortunately it is not available on Android just yet.
You can also access programmes via a smart TV, blue-ray players, online or on an Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Wii.
This is Money verdict
While Netflix dominates on the TV show front, Lovefilm Instant does have a wider range of movies.
You won't find all of the last year's bestsellers, but if you are looking to rediscover some of the old classics or find some niche films, this might be your best option.
It is a shame that you can only access the newest films through its traditional DVD service, but you could opt to combine the two options for £9.99 a month.

Now TV

The Grinch: Keep the family happy over the holiday with unlimited access to classic Christmas films

NowTV, which owned by Sky, offers three packages: sports, entertainment and movies.
You can buy a one month Sky movies pass for £8.99, which comes with a library of around 800 films, with a new four added each week.
Some of the latest new films include The Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, Arthur Christmas and This is 40 – as well Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid.
Sports fans can also buy a 24-hour pass for all six Sky Sports channels for £9.99.
The entertainment package, which costs £4.99 a month, gets you access to 10 channels - Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic, Sky Artist 1, Fox, Comedy Central, Gold, Discovery Channel, MTV and the Disney Channel.
To access it you can buy a Now TV box costing £9.99, which also gives you access to catch up TV channels such as 4oD and BBC iPlayer.
You can also watch via your PlayStation or Xbox, with a Roku or YouView box, online or using a smartphone or iPad.
This is Money verdict
One of the best things about the NowTV box is that it turns your TV into a Smart TV for just £10 - letting you watch the latest catch-up TV on a big screen rather than having to resort to your laptop or tablet. However, costs will quickly add up if you keep paying for 24-hour sports at £10 a pop.
It is a good way to get access to Sky movies for just £8.99 a month, without signing up to a Sky contract - although of course you will have to stump up for the £10 NowTV box.
However, don't confuse Sky movies with the Sky Store - although you will have access to Sky's film bank, if you want the latest releases you will have to pay for them separately (as above).
The movie selection, although slightly smaller than Netflix or Lovefilm, is pretty good, and you are likely to get access to new films a little quicker than on the other two services.
But you will have to pay separately for access to TV channels and access to box sets, which are included in the price with Netflix and LoveFilm.