Amazon Prime Video works in a similar way to Netflix: you can watch the complete catalog of series or movies in exchange for a monthly subscription that is included in the price of Amazon Prime and with all the advantages. But beyond accessing the catalog, there are a series of movies that are not available to subscribers but since mid-2020 we can rent or buy movies on Amazon Prime Video but not watch them for free.
Although streaming platforms have been standardized and are usually the most recommended way to watch content such as series, movies or documentaries, they are not the only one. As is the case with Filmin, you can rent or buy more recent titles or releases that are not available to watch for free. You can also rent or buy movies on Amazon Prime Video in addition to the ones we see in the catalog so today we will explain how it is done but also if it is necessary or not, how much it is worth or if it is really worth it or not.
Amazon Prime Video Price
Let’s go in parts … Amazon Prime Video is not as such a platform like HBO or Netflix because you do not pay for it independently but rather it falls within a pack of benefits paid annually: the subscription to Amazon Prime users. That is, you can’t have Amazon Prime Video only, with a discount, if you don’t want Twitch Prime or if you don’t want free shipping. It is an indivisible pack. Amazon Prime has a price of 36 euros per year, although with discounts for students for 18 euros per year, and includes a series of services or advantages with respect to the rest of users who buy in the online store without subscribing:
- Amazon Prime Video with access to series and films and documentaries
- Free 1-day shipping on many products purchased on Amazon
- Amazon Prime Reading with hundreds of free ebooks for Kindle
- Launch day delivery on many products
- Amazon Photos with unlimited storage for photos
- Twitch Prime for video game lovers
- Amazon Family with discounts on diapers or recommendations for children
- Amazon Prime Music with thousands of songs included
- Prime Now with two-hour shipping in select cities
You can have all this for the annual price of 36 euros but you cannot pay for Amazon Prime Video independently. If you are a Prime customer, you get access to the streaming video platform with exclusive series and movies, cartoons, documentaries or television programs on demand. And, in addition, you can rent or buy new films or titles, fresh from the cinema.
What does Amazon Prime Video include?
Amazon Prime Video is a platform with thousands of series, movies or documentaries online. It has exclusive series that you cannot see on other platforms such as The Boys, Little Fires Everywhere, Inés del Alma Mía, Homecoming … But it also has other great television classics that it has bought the rights to broadcast on the platform, like all the seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Hospital Central or Spanish classics like Companions or When Out of Class.
And movies? Too. We also find a large number of available movies that we can see and that are included in the subscription. Original and exclusive films, like Father there is only one, but also classics like Jurassic Park, for example, or The Hobbit. All of them included in the annual Prime payment.
But the latest news or some more exclusive titles, which have not yet reached television or that we normally cannot see, are also available in paid format. For a few euros, we can rent or buy movies like when we went to the video store ten or fifteen years ago and we could have the tape at home for a day or two. Or for as long as we want if we choose to buy.
In short, there are movies on Amazon Prime Video (many, in fact) but there are also others that are not on the platform but for which you can pay a few euros if you want to see it once or if you want to always have it saved in your account to watch it anytime.
Rent or buy
Renting movies or buying on Amazon Prime Video is very easy to understand: you look for the title you want in the corresponding section of the catalog and you choose if you want to buy or rent it. Once you have chosen with the corresponding button, Amazon will tell you to log into your account, you will have to choose the billing address and choose a payment method from those associated with your profile.
The difference between renting and buying is also quite simple: If you rent a movie on Amazon Prime Video, you will pay to watch it for 72 hours as many times as you want. From the moment you rent it, you have 30 days in total to start seeing it, so if you have rented it and a better plan has come up, you don’t have to worry because it will be available in the catalog for a month. Once you start it, you have three days to finish watching it. In case you are watching it and you fall asleep you can continue watching it the next day without any problem.
The purchase, meanwhile, allows us to have access whenever we want to that movie. It will always be in the Amazon Prime Video catalog as long as the platform maintains the rights or as long as there are no problems with the content provider. But, in general and unless there is a problem, once you buy it you can see it as many times as you want during the time you have. It won’t go away even if you start it, even if you stop it, even if you see it over and over again. Of course, you will need to be an Amazon Prime Video subscriber to watch it.
Both one and the other allow you to access the content from the website or app itself. That is, you do not download the movie on your computer even if you buy it, but by accessing Amazon Prime Video you will be able to access it in the catalog.
Not all Amazon Prime Video movies in this section are available for rental or sale. Some you can only buy but not rent. You also have no need to buy or rent movies on Amazon Prime Video. Or rather, no obligation. You can simply opt for the film catalog offered by the platform at no extra cost if you don’t want to invest in it.
Catalog available
The options we have to buy or rent movies on Amazon Prime Video are many and varied. We can see different categories to navigate until we find a title that we want. Or use the search engine to find something specific. From animated films like Frozen II to classics like Ghost. We also see other great releases of recent times such as the Star Wars saga or the Avengers Endgame movie, available on Disney + but that you can also see here indefinitely if you buy it.
Some categories that we can see in the Amazon movie store are:
- Popular movies
- New in movies
- Of animation
- Golden Globe Nominated and Winning Films
- Oscar nominees and winners
- Drama movies
- Action and adventure cinema
- Horror movies
- Comedy movies
- Cinema for children and for the whole family
- Science fiction movies
- Fantastic cinema
- Documentaries
- Romantic movies
Buying options and quality
We must also bear in mind that Amazon Prime Video adapts to our screens and allows us several options depending on the quality we have. The price will vary if you buy the movie in UHD, HD or SD in some cases. There are other times that all the quality options maintain the same price, but it should be noted that it may vary. Therefore, always click on “More purchase options” to check if there is a better quality that is more worthwhile.
Prices
Prices vary depending on the movie you are going to rent or buy. In general, the rent can range from 0.99 euros to 5.99 euros. The average number of films that we can rent is around three euros, so it can be very economical if you are going to meet friends or if you want to enjoy a premiere cinema session but without leaving home. For its part, the price of the movies you buy will also vary according to the title and, as we have said, according to the quality. We can buy titles from 4.99 euros to 14.99 approximately. Most of the film that we can buy is around eight, nine or ten euros and we can always have them.
How to buy movies
As we have explained in previous paragraphs, it is essential that you have an Amazon Prime account and have access to Amazon Prime Video. Once you are inside, we will have to search for the corresponding category and the movie.
- Open Amazon Prime Video
- Login with your username and password
- Go to the “Store” section at the top of the page
- Explore available titles
- Choose the one you want to rent or buy
- See all the purchase options in “More purchase options”
- Touch on “Rent” or “Buy” as you want
- You will see that it redirects you to Amazon
- Choose your billing address
- Choose the payment method you want to use
Once you have completed your progress, you can return to the main Amazon Prime Video page. At the top, look in the menu for the option “My space”. Here you will see the follow-up list with movies and series that you have pending but you will also find the option “Titles bought and rented”.
You will be able to see all the movies that you have rented or bought and watch them as many times as you want during the time that you are going to have them available, depending on whether they are for rent or for purchase.
Worth?
It depends. It is worth buying or renting movies on Amazon Prime Video if you want to see a new title that is not on any streaming platform, for example, or that has just appeared in theaters. It can also be useful if you have met with friends and want to do a home theater session because for less than five euros you can see any movie one night if you rent it. It’s not worth it, in our opinion, if you want to rent movies every weekend or every two or three days.
We find, for example, a large amount of children’s content and Disney or Dreamworks titles but many of them are on Netflix or Disney + available permanently. Perhaps instead of paying 13.99 to see The Lion King, another 13.99 euros to see Frozen and 13.99 euros to see Finding Nemo compensates to pay the subscription to the Disney platform even a few months or during the summer in instead of buying individually. But it will depend on how we use it, what we want to see, how much we want to spend.
Other movie rental websites
Not only can you buy or rent movies on Amazon Prime Video, but there are other websites that allow this option, in case you want to browse which one has the catalog that best suits what you are looking for. You can do it from Google Play, for example, which allows us to rent some titles for less than one euro and with many options for only 0.99 euros. The way it works is similar: if you rent, you have 30 days in total to start watching it. When you start, you should finish it in 48 hours until it is removed. In addition, Google offers frequent offers. As in Google, Apple TV also has its own catalog that you can access from a PC or any Apple brand device. The operation is identical and you have the same time to watch it once you start or until you decide.
One of the main cinema portals is Filmin and it also has the option to watch recently released movies through voucher packs. You can buy a pack of 20 vouchers for 55 euros or 5 vouchers for 15 euros. These vouchers can be exchanged for movies without having to be a subscriber to the platform. You can rent them and you will have 72 hours to see it once you have paid for it. Its catalog is highly recommended so if what you are looking for is not on Amazon, it can be a very interesting option.