Some video streaming services aim to replace cable entirely, while others primarily provide on-demand content.
Showtime, a streaming service offered by cable channel of the same name, falls into the latter category.
It offers a fair lineup of on-demand original programming, movies, and access to live streams of its broadcast channels.
Showtime's service mostly works fine in testing and may be worth a subscription if you truly enjoy the content it offers.
Otherwise, Showtime is just another monthly fee in the age of perpetual monthly subscriptions—and an expensive one, at that.
What's on Showtime?
Showtime's main stake in the crowded video streaming space is its lineup of generally well-regarded original programming.
Current shows include Black Monday, Billions, Homeland, Kidding, The Chi, Shameless, and Ray Donovan.
Showtime also hosts a good collection of previously aired content, such as Dexter, House of Lies, Penny Dreadful, and Twin Peaks: The Return. Another draw of Showtime is its pay-per-view boxing content, though that programming comes at a separate cost and does not require a Showtime subscription.
Still, Showtime can't compete with the original content produced by the likes of Netflix (Free at Apple.com) or Amazon Prime.
Streaming hits such as Netflix's Black Mirror and Stranger Things or Amazon's Homecoming and The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel enjoy more mainstream popularity.
HBO also surpasses Showtime in terms of its original content, with immensely popular shows such as Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Westworld.
When you factor in older titles also in HBO's library, such as Deadwood, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, and The Wire, the comparison isn't even close.
Showtime, like other similar services, also offers a good collection of movies for streaming.
For example, during the time of my review, the featured movies included Baby Driver, Molly's Game, Remember the Titans, Spotlight, and War Horse.
Other movies in the catalog include A.I.
Artificial Intelligence, The Chronicles of Narnia, Patriot Games, and Trainspotting.
Additionally, you can watch content that's live on Showtime's broadcast channels: Showtime East and West were both available to me during testing.
This is very similar to how CBS All Access (7-Day Free Trial at CBS All Access) works.
Subscribers to that service get access to both national and local CBS broadcasts.
Starz similarly offers a live stream of its main cable channel.
Showtime Pricing and Platforms
Showtime costs $10.99 per month, which is expensive, given its relatively narrow scope of content.
Alternatively, you can pay $109.90 per year, which equates to about a three-month discount compared to the monthly pricing.
Showtime, like HBO Now, does show in-house ads before some programming, but these 30-second previews are skippable by simply dragging the progress bar to the end of the ad.
A free seven-day trial is available for users who sign up via the mobile app.
Netflix and Hulu ($5.99 Per Month at Hulu) , by comparison, start at $8.99 and $7.99 per month, respectively, and offer a ton more content.
Hulu's pricing for its ad-supported base plan is also set to drop to $5.99 per month in the near future.
Showtime is cheaper than HBO Now, which costs $14.99 per month, but the latter has many more renowned shows in its library, as mentioned.
However, Showtime is more expensive than the comparable Starz, which costs $8.99 per month.
CBS All Access plans start at $5.99, though you will need to pay $9.99 per month for the commercial-free version.
Showtime is a CBS company, so you can combine it with a CBS All Access subscription at a discount.
The bundle will run you either $14.99 or $18.99 per month, depending on whether you opt for the ad-supported or commercial-free version of CBS All Access.
There are two ways you can stream Showtime content on your device: Showtime and Showtime Anywhere.
The former is the subject of this review and refers to the Internet-based streaming service that requires no prior cable subscription.
The latter is a platform for those who already subscribe to Showtime through cable.
Both plans offer access to the same content library; the only difference is how you pay for the service.
This is the same difference between HBO's two services: HBO Now (internet streaming) and HBO Go (cable-based subscription).
You can also subscribe to Showtime via Amazon Prime, fuboTV (7-Day Free Trial at fuboTV) , Hulu, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, and YouTube TV.
Showtime works on Android and iOS devices; Windows and macOS computers (via a web browser); a variety of streaming sticks and smart TVs; the Xbox One, and Oculus Go.
If your device is not specifically listed here, there's a good chance one of the other services that offer the Showtime add-on subscription can provide compatibility.
Showtime on the Web
Showtime's website is clean and organized.
The interface's dark elements and background are also conducive to nighttime viewing.
On the top right side of the screen, there's an option to access your profile settings.
From here, you can edit your billing preferences, set up viewing restrictions, and opt out of all the notification emails that Showtime enables by default (there are five categories, so I highly recommend doing this).
No matter where you are in the interface, you can hit the grid icon to reveal a hidden right-hand menu with the My List and Recently Watched content lists.
Adding a show to your list is a matter of clicking the Add to My List button on an individual episode or movie page.
Showtime displays all its offerings across the top of the screen, sorted by Series, Movies, Sports, Comedy, Reality/Docs, After Hours, Coming Soon, and Live.
If you mouse over the items, you can select specific shows or genres from the dropdown or just head to the landing page to see all the available titles.
These main pages arrange content alphabetically, or you can use the search bar on the top of the screen to find content.
The search is fine; it's best if you know the name of the show you are looking for, but keywords turned up somewhat relevant results.
YouTube TV has the best search functionality I've seen in the category.
Clicking on a title brings you to a show or movie's main page and you can launch the player by clicking the video thumbnail.
Alternatively, you can click on the description to get more information, such as the cast, duration, and advisories.
The playback screen retains the clean design of the rest of the interface, with minimal buttons along the bottom of the screen for playback and volume control.
Closed-captioning options are accessible directly from the playback screen as well.
However, there are no buttons for quickly rewinding or fast-forwarding through content, which is something I've grown accustomed to on other platforms.
I tested Showtime's performance on a Windows machine with an Ethernet connection rated at 200Mbps (download) per Ookla's Speedtest interface.
(Note that Daxdi's owner, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla).
I streamed several episodes of Twin Peaks: The Return without any issues.
A stream of live TV content also launched quickly and streamed at full quality in the browser.
Showtime on Android
I installed the Showtime app on my Google Pixel 3 running Android 9 and didn't have any issue signing in to my account.
I appreciate the app's dark theme and fluid navigation.
In the upper-right hand side of the app, there is a Chromecast button, an icon for accessing offline content, and a menu area for search, My List, and app settings.
I would prefer that the search and My List options have their own dedicated icons for easier access.
In the dedicated settings section, you can update your account info, see subscription details, set up viewing restrictions (which I discuss later), and control video playback preferences.
The Showtime app is divided into three sections: Home, Categories, and Live TV.
The Home section shows featured content currently available for streaming as well as upcoming Showtime events.
During testing, for example, I saw an ad for the welterweight fight between Pacquaio and Bonner.
To be clear, this is PPV content; the price for accessing the live stream was listed at $74.99.
Other shows featured on the front page included Black Monday, Inside the NFL, Ray Donovan, and Shameless.
The playback screen is pretty standard and mirrors what you see on the desktop via the web browser, including closed-captioning options.
Streaming on-demand content worked fine while connected to the same test network, but the live stream of broadcast content was a bit shaky, with occasional stutters in playback.
Some movies suffered from significant letterboxing as well.
Showtime allows you to download shows on Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire devices.
I tried downloading an episode of Homeland and was disappointed to find that my resolution quality options were 540p and 720p.
The Showtime support page says that 1080p episode downloads are limited to tablets.
This rule seems arbitrary, though, as most modern phones have at least 1080p screens.
Accessibility and Other Features
On the web, Showtime offers a decent number of closed-captioning options.
You can access these options from the web player whenever you launch a show.
At one point, the captions were incorrect however; the displayed captions were from a previous episode.
The problem resolved once I quit and then restarted the episode.
Amazon Prime Video (30-Day Trial of Ad-Free Streaming at Amazon) has some of the best accessibility options out of the services we've reviewed.
In addition to all the standard closed-captioning features (such as resizing, repositioning, and changing the color), Amazon integrates Audio Descriptions for some shows.
Netflix also offers audio descriptions for some of its content.
Essentially, audio descriptions are narrations of on-screen actions which are not otherwise audible, such as when a character leaves or enters a room.
Showtime allows you to set viewing restrictions for your account, which is useful for when you want to prevent your child from watching inappropriate content.
However, as you cannot set up individual profiles with their own restrictions, this setup is not ideal.
Of course, you could just keep changing the options depending on who is using the device, but that is a bit of a hassle.
Showtime and VPN
Many video streaming services will try to block you from streaming content over a VPN connection.
This is most likely due to content licensing agreements and other geographic restrictions on the available streaming content.
You may be able to unblock content with a VPN, but your individual results may vary.
Showtime is only available for users in the United States.
Showtime's Terms of Use page states "We may use technology to limit access to the Services from outside the US.
Your location may not be identified accurately by the technology we use, so you may be unable to access the Services or parts thereof even if you are located in an area in which we intend to provide access." This section is likely aimed squarely at VPN and proxy users, since Showtime's software would have a difficult time identifying their original location.
I tried to stream content on Showtime from both a web browser and my Android test device while connected to a US-based Mullvad VPN server.
I was able to stream content without issue on both devices.
However, when I selected a server in Switzerland, Showtime prevented me from streaming content.
Shows and Movies On Demand
Showtime is a competent video streaming service in many regards, but it probably is not worth the cost of entry for most people, especially over the long term.
Showtime offers a decent range of original shows and movies on demand, as well as live streams of its broadcast channels.
If you only want to watch one or two Showtime shows, however, you might be better off buying them outright on iTunes or Amazon Video.
Our Editors' Choices for the category are Netflix, Hulu, and Sling TV.
Our top picks respectively excel with top-notch originals, on-demand and live TV options, and value.
The Bottom Line
Showtime's on-demand video streaming service looks sleek and offers a decent selection of streaming content, but its monthly cost is steep.
