Best Streaming Service for Kids

The best streaming service for your kids will likely include all of the following: their favorite channels, superb parental controls, and a bonus of being a streaming service you will enjoy too.

So which streaming services have the kiddos’ favorites (Disney and Nickelodeon to name a couple), but also has a feature to block anything over G-rated movies from your little ones?

We have done the research for you. Below you will find that streaming service you can unconsciously click on and hand over to your children while you’re shopping, working, or talking with a friend.

Your children’s entertainment for an hour or more is at your fingertips.

• Netflix has excellent parental control settings
• “Netflix Kids” profile gives you increased control over titles, shows, etc.

Netflix has lots of great ways you can control what your children can watch or can’t watch. You won’t have to worry about their little eyes seeing anything inappropriate if you happen to leave them alone in the living room for an hour or two.

Netflix’s parental controls are the real deal.

In the Settings of your Netflix account under Parental Controls, you can create a PIN to restrict the following:

The Restrict by Maturity Level option lets you choose if you want to require a PIN for content that is for Little Kids (6 and Under), Older Kids (12 and Under) and above, Teens (14 and Under) and above, or Adults (15+).

Netflix’s parental controls are the best because they have features that no other streaming service has.

Restrict specific titles, regardless of maturity rating and a PIN will be needed to view those particular movies or series.

You can create an individual profile and set restrictions with a PIN, as mentioned above, or you can easily create a kid’s profile. By selecting the Kid? option, your child will automatically have access to only TV shows and movies for kids 12 and under.

The content is the same kids/family content you would see on the original Netflix homepage, but categorized in sections such as Popular, Animated, Girl Power, Funny, etc.

View Plans | Read Full Netflix Review

• Hulu Live has the most kids channels in the live TV streaming industry
• Create a kids profile with Hulu

With Hulu + Live TV, your kids will have access to the following channels:

• Boomerang
• Cartoon Network
• Disney Channel
• Disney Junior
• Disney XD
• Nickelodeon
• Nick Jr.
• Universal Kids

The downside to Hulu + Live TV is the dollar-to-channel ratio. To compare, Hulu Live charges about $1 per channel, YouTube TV charges 76 cents, and fuboTV charges 62 cents.

And if you would like 200 hours of DVR storage instead of 50, you’ll have to tack on another $10 to your monthly bill.

But it can be worth it for families. If you don’t want cable TV and your kids love Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon, you won’t be able to stream them anywhere else besides with Hulu Live. Not only do you get channels for everyone in the house, but you also get lots of on-demand content.

If you’re interested in just on-demand content, your child will have lots to choose from with Hulu.

They’ll have movies (such as Abominable or Shrek), educational series (such as Comeback Kids and Doc McStuffins), and classic cartoons (such as Rugrats and The Power Puff Girls).

View Plans | Read Full Hulu + Live TV Review

• Disney+ has almost exclusively kid-friendly content
• Solid bundling option the family will love
• Another streaming service with a Kids profile option

With Disney+, you’ll worry a little less about what your child might stumble upon.

Your child will have an endless amount of old and new Disney movies and series to watch, so you could say they will be entertained for hours.

Disney+ has Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars content. So this streaming service will be perfect if you have a princess-loving daughter and a son who absolutely loves BB-8.

Disney+ now gives you the option to bundle it with ESPN+ and Hulu Live for about $61 (which is $6 cheaper if you were to subscribe individually).

If you bundle with Hulu instead of Hulu Live, the monthly cost will be just $12.99. That’s a pretty good deal! I personally jumped on this deal. It’s not a bad price for thousands of hours of content.

We put this last for two reasons: the Disney+ parental controls are a little weak, but luckily there isn’t too much content on Disney+ that you wouldn’t want your children to see.

Disney+’s parental controls can prevent all PG and PG-13 titles from being watched, but a curious child can venture off into another profile that doesn’t have that restriction. No PIN is required in Disney+ to watch higher-rated shows, such as The Simpsons.

Again, Disney+ doesn’t have as strong of parental controls, but fortunately, there are far fewer high-rated shows they could be exposed to.

View Plans | View Full Disney+ Review

• Sling TV is one of the least expensive live TV streaming services
• It has parental controls you’ll like

Do your kids love to watch Craig of the Creek, Big City Greens, and PAW Patrol? Then why not save some money while keeping your kids entertained?

You can order Sling TV for $35 per month, and it offers the following kids channels:

• Cartoon Network
• Disney Channel
• Nick Jr.

But depending on where you live, these channels may not be available. So check out the channel lineup to find out what is available in your area.

View Plans | Read Full Sling TV Review

• Prime Video gives you and the fam perks you can’t get with another service
• It also has strong parental controls

For the price of one take-out meal, you get three things with Amazon Prime Video:

• On-demand content for the family
• Rent and buy new release and old movies
• Prime shipping

Prime Video gives kids Original Kids Series, Educational TV, Educational Movies, and PBS Kids TV shows. This streaming service is also perfect for kids who love Spongebob Squarepants, Arthur, and Kung Fu Panda.

Perfect for everyone in the family, you can rent old and new movies for $3.99 each or buy them for about $5–$20. So sit down and relax in the living room with your loved ones and watch Detective Pikachu or Rio.

With your Prime Video account, you get free expedited Prime shipping. We don’t know one person who doesn’t like lightning-speed shipping. So order whatever you’d like on Amazon and enjoy next-day or two-day shipping.

Prime Video is another streaming service that requires a child-proof PIN. We like the PINs.

In your Settings, select Parental Controls, then Viewing Restrictions. Here you can choose an age restriction and devices you want to apply them to. The parental controls will also block purchases unless the PIN is entered.

And lastly, there is a Kids option in Settings that you can easily tap without needing parental controls. It’s nice to unconsciously and quickly hand over your smartphone to your little one when they need a distraction.

View Plans | View Full Amazon Prime Video Review

Before we get to the recap of the best streaming services for kids, how about we touch on the best streaming devices for kids?

Kids might drop our new iPhone or our new Android tablet, so it might be best for kids to have their own devices to watch cartoons and play games on.

We sorted through more than a dozen streaming services to highlight some of the best. We considered parental controls, children’s programming, and on-demand content to determine which streaming service deserves your attention for your children. Overall, we can say this about each:

• Netflix: Netflix has the best parental controls by giving you four restriction age choices, the ability to restrict specific titles, the option to create a PIN, and a convenient “kids profile” selection. It might be the priciest on-demand streaming service at $9–$18 per month, but you’ll get access to the biggest on-demand library.
• Hulu: Perfect for families, Hulu and Hulu + Live TV has on-demand content for everyone to enjoy. Hulu Live has the most kids channels among all of the live TV streaming services in the industry. So if your kids love Cartoon Network, Disney, and Nickelodeon, this is your pick.
• Disney+: You won’t have to worry too much about your children accidentally watching explicit content since 90% of the content is kid-friendly. You and your kids can enjoy Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic content for $8 per month.
• Sling TV: Sling is the most budget-friendly live TV streaming service at $35 per month, but you do get what you pay for. Sling TV only has three kids channels, but it does have better parental controls than half of the live TV streaming services out there.
• Amazon Prime Video: Prime Video gives you many benefits, such as on-demand content for you and the kids, rent or buy movies, and Prime shipping. You can get all of this for $9–$13 per month.