Tom's Guide Awards 2025: Our favorite streaming services, movies and TV shows
From streaming live TV, to streaming new original shows and movies, to streaming sports, there's always something to watch no matter when you fire up your TV. To help you find what's actually worth your time and money, we've watched all of the big releases across a number of different platforms, both paid and free.
Our team of experts has tested and reviewed all of the best streaming services for the Tom's Guide Awards 2025. Below, we highlight our favorite new movies and shows and of course, the services that make watching them effortless from the last 12 months to make your viewing experience the best it can be.
HBO Max is built on HBO's legacy — decades of being the place for quality TV before streaming was even a thing. It's where the phrase 'prestige television' basically came from, and that standard still holds.
Their current shows are top-tier: "The Last of Us," "The White Lotus," "The Pitt," "Hacks." Their back catalog may be even more impressive: "The Sopranos," "Game of Thrones," "Succession." The movie library backs it up with everything from big new releases to cult classics, including a steady stream of A24 gems.
Netflix brings quantity, and the Disney/Hulu bundle is great value, but HBO Max feels curated, like your friend with excellent taste put together a streaming service.
This year, I re-reviewed all six of the mainstream live TV streaming services you can get in the U.S. I went in with an open mind, despite the fact that I was already a YouTube TV subscriber, because I was curious if I needed to make the switch to a different live TV service. Ultimately, I still felt that YouTube TV was the best choice for most people, thanks to a combination of popular channels, great features and a clean user interface.
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It was close, though. Hulu + Live TV and Sling both are great values, and might be better bang for your buck depending on what you're looking for from your cable TV replacement. But they come with enough caveats and shortcomings that YouTube TV reigns supreme.
Best sports streaming service is a tricky category. Is it about which service offers the most sports? Or is it about which service offers the best selection of sports? Maybe it needs to be about which has the best features for sports watchers? After examining these questions, I'm not sure there's a clear winner, but I landed on YouTube TV for a couple of reasons. Multiview, catching up with key plays and NFL Sunday Ticket integration are a combination of features that only YouTube TV can offer. That led me to the conclusion that YouTube TV was the best streaming service to watch sports on, even if it doesn't necessarily offer the most sports channels or most sports leagues of any streaming service.
Tubi is my go-to for free streaming. It's like wandering into a video store from 1997 and finding everything from cult horror to forgotten sitcoms to the dumbest action flicks. Where else can I watch a forgotten '80s slasher, a conspiracy doc, and an Oscar winner back-to-back — all without paying a dime?
The Roku Channel is solid, and Pluto TV scratches the live-TV itch when I'm feeling lazy. But Tubi gets the nod over them for live-streaming the Super Bowl this year, without a single glitch. Touchdown!
I fought long and hard for "The Pitt" to win this award, but I was overruled by a good amount of the streaming team here at Tom's Guide.
To be fair, I get it. "Adolescence" is an incredible show, and while I have "The Pitt" ahead of it for my best show of the past 12 months, there are some days I consider swapping their places. This Netflix limited series is intimate and chaotic and a technical marvel all at the same time. Watching it is akin to watching a play in four acts, each one of them leaving you emotionally raw at the end of it. I promise you, you won't watch anything else like it this year.
There was decent competition for this slot, but 'Woman of the Hour' was the streaming movie that left the biggest impression on the team at Tom's Guide (myself included), and I can see why: it was Anna Kendrick's directorial debut… and what a debut it was.
This genuinely chilling watch isn't the movie you expect it to be. It depicts the stranger-than-fiction story of serial killer Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) and aspiring actor Sheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick), who crossed paths when they were both cast on an episode of 'The Dating Game.' It's a compelling, tense, and well-composed feature, one that centers not on the killer, but the victims whose lives he cut short.
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