With a soft blanket in one hand and bags of snacks in the other, you settle down into the cushiony bed before your TV. Amidst the darkness, big bright red letters that spell “NETFLIX” light up the screen — a sight that always brings comfort. Sinking into coziness, the night ahead of you was already planned out to be hours full of binge watching the movies and shows added to your Netflix watch list, or one of the many other options available to you on the platform. What more could you possibly need? I mean, nothing can get better than this, and surely nothing can replace it.

     Netflix has been the king of streaming for years now with competition coming and going, one of the major recent ones being Disney+. Of course, this is valid as the platform is the only way to access the famed Marvel movies, Disney classics, and original Disney series. But if you look at the two services side by side, you’ll just find that Disney+ is unsuccessfully trying to beat Netflix at their own game.

     The best way to describe it is using the phrase “The more the merrier.” Netflix has a broader variety of programs when it comes to both foreign films and genres. You can be scrolling and scrolling through movies and shows for a while looking for what to watch, and while this may seem like a problem, it actually says a lot about the numerous possibilities you have — exactly like a kid in a candy store.

     Junior Gianella Miranda knows this all too well as she is particularly fond of how inclusive Netflix is of international shows. “The fact that they have so many different shows from so many different places is the main reason I keep paying month after month,” she explains. “I was looking for a place to watch K-Dramas and luckily Netflix had a lot available.” Not only does the platform have K-Dramas, but there are also Chinese and Japanese dramas, Filipino programs, telenovelas like Jane the Virgin, anime like The Promised Neverland, Spanish shows like Money Heist (La Casa de Papel), and so much more. The fact is, Disney+ doesn’t have the same to offer.

     But it doesn’t stop there. Netflix makes sure there’s something for everyone, including all ages. As sophomore Aakash Suresh perfectly puts it, “Netflix has original shows that relate to all viewers while Disney+ is more geared towards younger viewers.” Under Disney, shows are meant to be more kid-friendly and thus have a more innocent vibe to them. You can expect the real fun of action, horror, and comedy suitable for older ages on Netflix, and for us high schoolers, more relatable content. Still, Netflix is considerate enough to include a “Kids” profile feature in which there is an entire selection of movies and shows available for children, like Cocomelon, The Smurfs, iCarly, and others.

     Of course, we can also thank Netflix for blessing us with their Netflix Originals, some of the most popular and loved being the fairly recent Squid Game, Stranger Things, You, Outer Banks, and Lucifer. 

     To be completely honest, if I had the opportunity to use both Netflix and Disney+, I would take it without hesitation. Especially with Disney’s own original series like WandaVision and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, it’s difficult to make a decision between the two platforms. But let’s face the truth: while they’re both easily accessible and hold top-tier movies and shows, Netflix paved the way for all streaming services, and it continues to be the best.