What to know about Curiosity Stream—the streaming app for documentary lovers

With so many streaming platforms available today, you might not be looking to subscribe to another streaming service. Curiosity Stream, however, is not only one of the cheapest streaming platforms, but it also has one of the largest libraries of documentaries—larger than Netflix or Hulu by hundreds of titles.

Curiosity Stream lives up to its name by covering 60 subcategories across science, nature, history, technology, society, lifestyle, and kids-oriented topics. There’s something for nearly everyone to dig into, whether you’re a true crime fan, a war history buff, or you want to learn more about our solar system. Curiosity Stream, well, feeds your curiosity, and its portion sizes are more than generous.

How much is Curiosity Stream?

Curiosity Stream has four subscription packages. For $2.99 a month you can get access to every film and show on the service in standard HD (1290 x 720). That price jumps to $9.99 a month if you want to watch everything in 4K.

Alternatively, you can pay for an entire year upfront for either tier. The SHD tier is $19.99 per year, while the 4K tier is $69.99 per year. That equates to less than $2 per month in SHD and under $6 per month in 4K.

Where can I watch Curiosity Stream?

Aside from the browser on your computer and phone, the Curiosity Stream app can be installed on a plethora of other major streaming devices and platforms, including Roku, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Playstation, Xbox, and many more. So you won’t have to worry about whether your preferred device can stream it or not.

What to watch on Curiosity Stream

Some of the more interesting documentaries include Obit, a documentary about the New York Times’ obituary writers, and Burt’s Buzz, which covers the compelling life of Burt Shavitz, the man who founded the personal care product line, Burt’s Bees.

Another great one is Can a Computer Write a Hit Musical?, which is about a team of scientists who use artificial intelligence to pen an entire theatrical performance from beginning to end. Then there’s my personal favorite, The Voynich Code, a mysterious book of symbols from an unknown author dating back to the 15th century that modern cryptographers have been unable to crack. (But some have claimed to.)

And I can’t forget about Cat Nation, which is a deep dive into the world of Japanese cat culture. Did you know there’s an island in Japan with federal cats you can visit? I didn’t before I watched this documentary!

Those films are only a handful of what I’ve been able to watch so far, but I enjoyed every minute of them. When I initially added films to my watchlist, my list quickly grew to nearly 50 documentaries that immediately interested me. I have months and months of viewing fun ahead of me!

Is Curiosity Stream worth it?

Many of these documentaries and docu-series are available on other streaming platforms. New Scotland Yard Files, for example, is available on IMDB TV and Tubi TV, as is The Secret World of Lego. However, you might be hard-pressed to find many of these on a major streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, so from an originality standpoint, Curiosity Stream is totally worth it—especially for just $2.99 a month (or less).

Major streaming platforms usually cost $10 or more per month, though you get a lot more content overall since those platforms don’t focus solely on documentaries. But if you compare Curiosity Stream’s entire library to, say, Netflix’s slate of documentaries, Curiosity’s 2,000+ catalog more than doubles what you’ll find on Netflix. There is a lot of similar content between the two, but there’s no cross-over between films. Hulu has even fewer, offering around 350 documentaries across film and TV.

I do wish Curiosity had more true crime documentaries and docuseries, though. With only 30 titles to choose from in the Crime and Forensic category, it’s slim pickings for those of us who still dream about being a detective or a crime scene investigator; Netflix and Hulu have conquered the true crime space for the moment with all the best titles.

But Curiosity Stream is adding new titles to its core categories every day. (Every time I log on I see a banner of thumbnails with a “New” label tacked onto them.) If you only or mostly watch documentaries, or if you’re a teacher looking for something to show your science or history classes, buying a monthly Curiosity subscription is a no-brainer based on how much you get for the price.

Sign up for Curiosity Stream from $2.99/month

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