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Which Streaming Service Has the Best Movie Catalog in 2026? Using WIRED’s Hulu Picks as a Benchmark

UUnknown

2026-02-17

10 min read

Use WIRED’s Hulu picks to compare Netflix, Hulu, Prime and specialists—build smart 2026 bundles for cinephiles and save on subscriptions.

Which streaming service has the best movie catalog in 2026? A cinephile’s guide using WIRED’s Hulu picks as a benchmark

Hook: You love movies but hate juggling ten apps to find one great title. With licensing churn, new AI curation, and shifting bundles in 2026, deciding which streaming package to keep feels impossible. This guide cuts through the noise by using WIRED’s January 2026 list of “The 45 Best Movies on Hulu” as a benchmark to compare the major streamers and build practical, budget-smart bundles for film fans.

Quick verdict — the short answer

There is no single “best” movie catalog in 2026. If you want breadth (blockbusters, global hits, and hit originals), Netflix still leads. For a balanced mix of contemporary indie, awards-season exclusives and eclectic licensed gems—exactly the kind WIRED highlights on Hulu—Hulu plus a specialist service (Criterion Channel or MUBI) gives the best value for serious movie fans. For family and studio franchises, Disney+ is unbeatable. For auteur and prestige catalogs, Max and the Criterion Channel deserve top billing.

Why I used WIRED’s Hulu picks as a benchmark

WIRED’s “45 Best Movies on Hulu” (Jan 2026) is a curated, journalist-driven list that emphasizes variety—classics, modern indies, genre cult entries, and awards contenders. That diversity makes it a useful litmus test for a catalog’s range and depth. If a service can match the variety WIRED values—international cinema, restored classics, prestige features, and cult fare—it’s doing well for film lovers.

"Together, The Toxic Avenger, and Heat are just a few of the movies you need to watch on Hulu right now." — WIRED, The 45 Best Movies on Hulu (Jan 2026)

How I measured “best movie catalog” in 2026

Number of titles alone is misleading. For this analysis I used a practical, weighted rubric—call it the Catalog Depth Score—that combines:

Genre breadth: Does the service cover blockbusters, indie, arthouse, horror, world cinema, documentaries?
Exclusives & originals: Are there headline originals and festival winners?
Archival & classics: Preservation, restorations and curated retrospectives.
Discovery & curation: Editorial features, themed hubs, and AI curation quality.
Stability & licensing: How often titles leave the platform and whether flagship titles are secure.
Price per value: Cost relative to what a serious film fan watches.

2026 streaming landscape trends that change the game

Before comparing catalogs, a few context points from late 2025–early 2026 are essential:

AI curation matured: Major services rolled out better AI-powered personalized hubs in 2025–26, making deep catalogs more accessible—provided the training data includes critic-driven lists like WIRED’s.
FAST and AVOD expansion: Free ad-supported streaming TV continues to grow. That means more catalog titles become available across AVOD windows—good news for budget-minded viewers. See infrastructure and delivery trends for modern streaming platforms in edge orchestration and remote launch pad notes.
Micro-bundles and a la carte rights: Several platforms introduced micro-subscriptions (e.g., festival packages, director hubs) to capture niche cinephile audiences. Tag-driven commerce and micro-subscription playbooks explain how to structure small, specialist add-ons.
Shorter windows & hybrid releases: Studios experimented with shorter exclusive theatrical windows in 2025; that affects when titles land on specific streamers. If you manage content calendars, see practical tips for serialized catalogs and delivery workflows.

Head-to-head: How the major streamers score (2026)

Netflix — Breadth, originals, and global reach

Strengths: massive slate of originals, strong international film output, reliable UI and offline downloads.

Weaknesses: rotating licensed titles; legacy classics and some prestige studio libraries are limited.

Verdict: If you want a one-stop shop for new films, global festival winners turned into originals, and mainstream blockbusters, Netflix is still the strongest standalone option for most viewers. However, it rarely wins on curated, archival, or niche arthouse depth compared with specialist services.

Hulu — The WIRED benchmark for eclectic, awards-friendly film mixes

Strengths: strong slate of contemporary indies and awards-season qualifiers, eclectic licensed library that often includes surprising cult and genre titles (illustrated by WIRED’s 45 picks).

Weaknesses: US-only restrictions (outside US it’s under Disney Star), licensing churn, and fewer restorations/classic retrospectives than Criterion or MUBI.

Verdict: Hulu is an excellent middleweight—great for people who want a mix of modern indies, prestige titles and some cult fare. Using WIRED’s Hulu list as a touchstone shows Hulu’s strength in variety and awards-season relevance.

Prime Video — Size, rentals, and buried gems

Strengths: Enormous catalog including many older and obscure titles; strong transactional (rent/buy) ecosystem for films not licensed to the subscription tier.

Weaknesses: Discovery issues (good titles can be hard to find) and uneven editorial curation.

Verdict: Prime is great as a backup. Its sheer breadth plus frequent deals makes it a cost-effective part of a bundle if you already subscribe for shopping perks.

Disney+ — Studio dominance for franchises and restorations

Strengths: Unrivaled access to Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and National Geographic titles; strong family catalog and increasing restorations of legacy Disney films.

Weaknesses: Limited appeal for arthouse or foreign-cinema fans.

Verdict: Essential if you want studio franchises, family content, and curated re-releases. Not the cinephile’s first pick for the WIRED-style variety, but indispensable for some film fans.

Max (formerly HBO Max) — Prestige, auteur cinema, and curated retrospectives

Strengths: Strong catalog of prestige films, director spotlights, and restored classics; curated content from cinephile-friendly partners.

Weaknesses: Pricier tiers for ad-free viewing and some regional rights fragmentation.

Verdict: If your wishlist emphasizes auteur work, prestige studio films, and critical darlings, Max often delivers what WIRED-values-based curation highlights.

Apple TV+, Peacock, Paramount+, and niche services

Apple TV+ — high-quality originals but intentionally small library; great for auteur-driven new films.

Peacock/Paramount+ — solid for catalog titles from Universal and ViacomCBS families, cheaper tiers but licensing shifts can be frequent.

Criterion Channel & MUBI — the true specialists for classics & arthouse. Criterion’s deep restorations and MUBI’s rotating, curated drops are indispensable for cinephiles.

Practical bundles for different types of film fans (2026)

Below are three actionable bundle recommendations, cost-aware and tuned to what WIRED’s Hulu picks signal about taste diversity.

1) The “Serious Film Fan” bundle (best for variety + curation)

Hulu (for the WIRED-style mix of indies, cult, and awards-season films)
Netflix (for originals and international cinema)
Criterion Channel or MUBI (for classics, restorations and arthouse)

Why this works: You get WIRED’s mix (Hulu), the breadth and premiere originals (Netflix), and archival depth (Criterion/MUBI). Swap Netflix for Prime if budget-conscious.

2) The “Family + Franchise” bundle

Disney+ (franchises, family titles)
Netflix or Prime Video (new family films and rentals)
Hulu or Max (for occasional adult picks and prestige films)

3) The “Cinephile Minimalist” bundle

Criterion Channel or MUBI
Hulu or Max (pick based on which one carries more festival winners you care about)

Why this works: Two focused services give curated depth without subscription bloat. Ideal if you primarily watch critically acclaimed films and retrospectives.

Actionable tactics to maximize catalog value

Here are battle-tested strategies to get the most out of your subscriptions and follow WIRED-caliber picks without overspending.

Use aggregator tools: Set up alerts and watchlists in services like JustWatch, Reelgood, or newer 2026 AI-driven aggregators. These tools track where titles are available and notify you when a WIRED pick lands on a service you subscribe to. For advances in streaming tooling and aggregator ecosystems, see recent predictions for creator and streaming tooling.
Rotate subscriptions: Keep a core of 1–2 services year-round, then rotate add-ons quarterly. For awards season (Oct–Mar), pick the streamer with the most festival/home-release exclusives. Tag-driven and micro-subscription playbooks are useful when planning short, targeted add-ons.
Leverage trials and promos: Studios and streamers still use limited-time promotions tied to releases—use trial windows to binge a director's filmography when retrospectives appear. Run simple communication tests before mass emails and promos to protect open rates and deliverability.
Follow editorial hubs: Use curated hubs and editorial pages on services. Platforms that invested in human curation (Netflix’s “Critic Picks”, Max’s retrospectives) align best with WIRED-style discovery.
Track licensing windows: Build a simple calendar for films you don’t want to miss. Some award contenders have very short exclusive windows on one streamer before moving elsewhere. Practical file-management workflows for serialized catalogs can help here.
Combine subscription + rental: For elusive titles, renting can be cheaper than keeping an extra service—especially useful for festival winners that land on transactional platforms first.
Use device features: Download for travel, set up profiles for genre-based recommendations, and use “skip intro” style features to speed browsing during discovery sessions.

Case study: Using WIRED’s Hulu list to build a weekend watchlist (real-world example)

Step 1: Pick three WIRED-suggested Hulu titles you haven’t seen—say a crime classic, a modern indie, and a genre cult film.

Step 2: Search aggregator (JustWatch/Reelgood) to see cross-platform availability and upcoming exit dates.

Step 3: If two are on your core services, schedule them. If one is leaving soon and requires a short-term subscription or rental, factor that cost into a two-week watch plan.

Outcome: You watch WIRED-recommended quality without paying for an extra month-long subscription you don’t need.

How to evaluate whether a movie catalog is “good” for you

Ask these questions before subscribing or bundling:

Do you prefer new releases, classics, or a mix?
How many films do you watch monthly?
Do you value editorial curation (curator notes, retrospectives) or sheer volume?
Are international and restored films important to you?
Do you need family-friendly content and parental controls?

Your answers map directly to the bundles above. For WIRED-style discovery, prioritize services that publish editorial guides and partner with festivals.

Predictions for streaming catalogs in 2026–2028

Based on late 2025–early 2026 moves, here are safe bets for the near future:

More curated mini-hubs: Expect micro-hubs for directors, studios, and festivals across big platforms—better alignment with WIRED-style lists.
Increased AVOD parity: More catalog titles will be available via ad-supported tiers and FAST channels, reducing the need for multiple paid subscriptions.
AI recommendation personalization: Services that combine critic-driven editorial picks with AI personalization will win cinephile engagement.
Fewer broad exclusives: Studios may license titles to multiple services over shorter windows to reach wider audiences—good for viewers but tougher for platform differentiation.

Final recommendation — pick a starting point

If you’re building a film-focused streaming stack in 2026 and want WIRED-level variety without excess cost, start with this combo:

Hulu (for contemporary indie, awards contenders, and the WIRED-style mix)
Criterion Channel or MUBI (for classics and arthouse)
Netflix or Prime Video as a flexible third option (pick Netflix for originals; Prime for price/value and rentals)

This trio covers the majority of what WIRED highlights on Hulu and plugs the holes (classics + global films) that mainstream streamers sometimes miss.

Parting practical takeaways

Don’t chase every headline—use WIRED-style lists as a curated shortlist and aggregate availability with JustWatch/Reelgood.
Rotate subscriptions seasonally: core + rotating specialist = best value.
Pay attention to ad-supported tiers and FAST channels—2026 makes them a smart way to expand your catalog cheaply.
For deep cinephile pleasure, always include one restoration/arthouse specialist (Criterion or MUBI).

Call-to-action

Want a personalized bundle suggestion based on the kinds of films you actually love? Tell us three movies you’d keep on a “desert island” watchlist and we’ll recommend the smartest, cheapest stack for 2026. Share your list in the comments or sign up for our weekly newsletter to get curated, WIRED-style picks and alerts when must-see films land on your platforms.

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