Amazon Prime Video boasts the largest video-on-demand (VOD) library in all of streaming. With over 31,000 titles, you’ll find a wide range of classic, unique, and popular new releases for movies and TV shows. It’s the kind of service that you can rely on for beloved films like The Royal Tenenbaums or episodes of TV shows like House and Downton Abbey. And with the streaming industry constantly growing and evolving, Amazon is riding the wave into live programming. As of now, Amazon Prime Video is trailblazing a path, getting its toes wet with some access to live NFL and MLB games. Typically, you’d need a cable-alternative service like fuboTV or Hulu + Live TV in order to watch live TV channels.
So if you’re trying to find out what’s on Amazon Prime, you’ve come to the right place. But, if you’re looking for a general overview of Amazon Prime Video, then you might want to first take a look at our full review. Or, learn more about pricing and what’s included with Prime Video with our in-depth analysis.
What is Amazon Prime Video?
Just like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video includes on-demand access to movies, TV shows, and award-winning original content. But Amazon Prime Video takes things even a step further than Netflix, as it experiments with live content, like NFL Thursday Night Football. So, it’s not purely VOD, and it’s not an over-the-top cable-replacement service like fuboTV — instead, it’s somewhere in between.
Amazon Prime Video works with a variety of compatible devices, from Android and iOS smartphones and tablets to streaming players like Amazon Fire TV and Roku. After you subscribe and download the Amazon Prime Video app, you can instantly begin streaming content. And if you want to leave off on one device and pick up on another, just be sure to download the app and sign in with your credentials on both devices.
Amazon Prime Video is formally part of the Prime membership plan along with other helpful perks like free two-day shipping. However, you can choose to get Amazon Prime Video without the rest of the Prime Membership apparatus. An Amazon Prime membership costs $12/mo. or $119/yr. — or $8.99/mo. for Amazon Prime Video without the Prime membership.
Amazon Prime Video content library
Amazon Prime Video’s content library is an expansive ecosystem that splits between on-demand titles that are available with its plan as well as extra channels and titles that are available to buy or rent. We’ve organized all of Amazon Prime Video’s list of content into a few primary categories.
Amazon Originals
All the major streaming services have invested fortunes into producing their own content, and Amazon Prime Video is no different. Through Amazon Studios, Amazon has generated beloved movies and shows, like its award-winning Bosch, Fleabag, The Man in the High Castle, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Amazon Prime Video delivers high-quality movies by working with the most talented filmmakers of this generation, with films from Alma Har’el, Chan-wook Park, Jim Jarmusch, and Lynne Ramsay, just to name a few. There are recognizable titles among Amazon’s Original movies like A Very English Scandal, Cold War, Gimme Danger, Honey Boy, Manchester by the Sea, Paterson, The Handmaiden, and You Were Never Really Here.
Another area where Amazon Prime Video parts with its competitors is documentaries and docuseries like Generation Wealth, One Child Nation, and The Last Narc.
Movies
Amazon Prime Video carries thousands of movies that include popular classics, unique art films, and groundbreaking blockbusters. Just to convey the depth of content, you can share in a few laughs and heartwrenching moments in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, or make a detour into horror with Midsommar, hightail it with a good ol’ boy narrative in Logan Lucky, or challenge everything you know with Inception.
Now, if the title isn’t part of the list of Amazon Prime movies, then there’s a good chance that you can still find it — but only to buy or rent. For starters, the once hard-to-find documentary American Dharma by Errol Morris has finally made the list, alongside The Fog of War. You can also find heavy-hitting masterpieces like Barton Fink, Barry Lyndon, Blade Runner 2045, JFK, No Country for Old Men, Synecdoche New York, The Godfather, and The Thin Blue Line.
Shows
There are all sorts of TV shows that you’ll find on Amazon Prime Video, like sitcoms, hour-long dramas, reality shows, and everything in between. So, you can expect shows like Downton Abbey, Mankind: The Story of All of Us, Mr. Robot, Orphan Black, Survivor, Too Old To Die Young, and Vikings.
Premium Channels
Did you know that you could add “channels” to your Amazon Prime Video account. Well, premium channels, for the most part. But, still, this is a feature that even Netflix doesn’t offer. These premium channels also include familiar streaming apps, with channels like AMC+, CBS All Access, Cinemax, CuriosityStream, HBO, Showtime, Shudder, and STARZ.
Live Sports
Yes, Amazon Prime Video delivers access to live sports — and no, you don’t need to upgrade. It’s pretty unique to have a VOD streaming service that simulcasts live games from MLB, the NFL, and the PGA Tour. Only time will tell if Amazon Prime Video goes full-on over-the-top (OTT) cable-alternative service. But for now, at least, you’ll have some access to live sporting events. That means you can tee off with Tiger Woods in the RSM Classic, tune into Thursday Night Football for your NFL fix, or catch the occasional MLB game.
Now, are you a fan of the NBA? Then you can stream upcoming games. The only catch is you’ll need NBA League Pass. But once you have it, you can tune into all of your games from the Amazon ecosystem.
More on Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video established a few ways for you to separate your content and interests from others in your household. You have the ability to create up to 6 separate user profiles with your Amazon Prime Video subscription. This works especially well if you’re someone who enjoys the recommendations with “Movies we think you’ll like” or “TV shows we think you’ll like” playlists. Amazon’s algorithm selects videos based on those you’ve already picked. So, with your own profile, it’s entirely procured for you and your interests. A separate user profile also allows you to keep your watchlist personal and uncluttered from everyone else’s. Now, if you’ve created an Amazon Household, you can share all of your profiles across your account for no extra cost. And anytime you want to opt-out, simply navigate to Manage Your Profiles in order to adjust.
Did you know that you can also download movies and shows when you’re away from Wi-Fi? That’s right, you can download titles on up to 2 compatible mobile devices at a time. (If you want to download to a separate device, you’ll need to delete from one of your devices and redownload on your preferred device.) Not every title is ready for download. So, to see if the title you want to download is available, go to the title’s detail page. Amazon doesn’t give a clear number of titles that you can download, but states on its help page: “Depending on your location, you can have a maximum of either 15 or 25 total titles.” After you download a title, you’ll have 30 days to open and start watching, and 48 hours after you press play.
You can adjust your alerts and notifications with Amazon Prime Video by accessing your Settings, selecting Sounds and Notifications, and clicking Manage notifications. Another way to toggle notifications is to reach your settings by going to Quick Actions panel (hold down the house icon on your Fire TV remote) and selecting the notification of the app that you want to alter.
The final cut
Amazon Prime Video is packed full of movies and shows that surpasses even Hulu and Netflix. The Amazon Prime Video movie list, for instance, seems limitless. That’s because Amazon Prime Video constantly cycles through newly released films with tried and true classics that ensures there are titles that appeal to every kind of audience. The same also rings true for Amazon’s TV shows. And with Amazon Prime Video’s move into live sports, like baseball and football, the streaming app has found itself in a newfound grey area between VOD apps and live TV service.
If you’ve never tried Amazon Prime before, you can try Amazon Prime Video for 30 days free with its free trial period. With all that time, you’ll know for sure if it’s right for you. To learn more about Amazon’s free trial and other discounts, hurry over to our Amazon Prime Video deals breakdown.