The service not only boasts an excellent catalog of classic NBC shows, but great original programming fr0m talented writers - which, more often than not, features huge stars in exciting new roles. (Craig Robinson in Killing It, anyone?)

NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service offers a lot of great movies and TV shows to stream on demand, along with live news and sports. Best of all, you can watch lots of its content for free, or watch all of it with a paid subscription starting at just $4.99 a month.

One reason why people may come back to Peacock is that it's getting relatively-recent movies from Universal Pictures. And if you're looking for new shows, Peacock's Poker Face (just like Apple TV Plus' Shrinking) is worth your first month's payment.

Big Number. More than 20 million. That's how many subscribers Peacock had as of December 31, 2022. That's far behind many rival streaming platforms including Netflix with 230.75 million, Disney+ with 161.8 million, Paramount+ with 56 million, Hulu with 48 million and Disney-owned ESPN+ with 24.9 million.

Peacock Free - the entry-level plan The entry-level Peacock plan is Peacock Free, which is ad-supported; it's estimated that viewers see around five minutes of ads per hour. In exchange for those few minutes every hour, viewers get access to 40,000 hours of TV shows and movies from the NBCUniversal library.

Peacock TV Free provides reduced access to Peacock's content library. That means you can stream 40,000 hours of incredible movies and acclaimed TV shows – two-thirds of the total figure – plus 50 curated “always on” channels, and some live news and sports coverage. All you have to do is register for an account.

Peacock ties at No. 5 in our Best On-Demand Streaming Services of 2023 rating. It's the streaming service of NBCUniversal. Launched in July 2020, it's a relatively new player in the streaming market, though it has amassed around 13 million subscribers as of mid-2022.

Peacock, though not as large as some of its rivals, looks similar to Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and HBO Max, with a simple tiled interface lined with famous network shows. You'll find shows, movies, news, live sports and skit-style clips, with standouts including Poker Face, The Office and Modern Family.

As of the second quarter of 2023, the number of Peacock's paid subscribers amounted to 24 million, marking an increase compared with the previous quarters. By comparison, the streaming service owned by Comcast had a subscriber base of nine million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Is Peacock good? Peacock is one of the cheaper big media streamers out there - that's a fat check in the “good” column. The $5.99 a month Premium plan (with ads) gets you access to 80,000 hours of content, including many NBC, Bravo, and Syfy favorites.

Peacock is one of the cheaper big media streamers out there - that's a fat check in the “good” column. The $5.99 a month Premium plan (with ads) gets you access to 80,000 hours of content, including many NBC, Bravo, and Syfy favorites. Overall, we think Peacock is a worthwhile addition to your streaming apps lineup.

Peacock has three tiers: a limited one that's free, an all-inclusive one that's $5 a month with ads and an all-inclusive one that's $10 a month without ads. The free tier limits how much you can watch. For example, Peacock offers only select episodes of its originals free, withholding the rest inside its paywall.

Lack of access to the platform, a limited library, and problems with the user interface are in the past for the NBCUniversal-owned streamer. Thanks to an impressive TV catalog, wide range of programming, and some of the cheapest prices on the market, Peacock is going strong.

Is Peacock free? Though Peacock originally offered a free entry-level plan, that option is no longer available to new subscribers. However, members who signed up for the free plan before February 2023 can still access select content without paying for a subscription.

Peacock now charges the same as rival streaming service Paramount+, but remains cheaper than Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, $14.99 without), Max (ranging from $9.99 to $19.99), Netflix (which has multiple tiers from $6.99 to $19.99 a month) and Disney+ ($7.99 with ads, $10.99 without).

The goal of its marketing was to drive viewership by highlighting different types of content and parts of Peacock's service, which includes a “trending” page to give viewers an idea of what most people are watching. Peacock was active with emails and push notifications to mobile users during the pre-launch.