Last verified: 11 August 2026. Compiled by the PremiumKing.in editorial team. Official prices are taken from each platform’s own India pricing or help pages. See Methodology.
Quick answer
For most Indian households the cheapest legitimate route is an annual official plan or a telecom bundle, not a monthly one. Resold shared accounts undercut official monthly pricing by roughly 30 to 60 percent, but they do not always beat the official annual price. Spotify is the clearest example: its own Rs 799 yearly plan works out cheaper per month than most reseller offers.
Official price vs market price, side by side
“Official price” is what the platform charges you directly in India. “Market price” is what PremiumKing.in currently charges for a resold shared or single-screen account. The trade-off column is the part most comparison pages leave out.
| Service | Official India price | Official per month | PremiumKing price | PK per month | Difference | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix (vs Premium) | Rs 649/mo | Rs 649 | Rs 1,200 / 12 months | Rs 100 | about 85% less | 1 screen instead of 4; you do not own the account |
| Netflix (vs Mobile) | Rs 149/mo | Rs 149 | Rs 1,200 / 12 months | Rs 100 | about 33% less | Mobile plan is official and yours; the resold one is higher quality but shared-sourced |
| Spotify Premium | Rs 139/mo or Rs 799/yr | Rs 139 or Rs 67 | Rs 350 / 4 months | Rs 88 | Official annual is cheaper | Buy Spotify’s own annual plan. Nothing to gain here |
| SonyLIV Premium | Rs 1,499/yr | Rs 125 | Rs 650 / 12 months | Rs 54 | about 57% less | Shared account; official yearly gives 2 devices in your name |
| YouTube Premium | Rs 149/mo | Rs 149 | Rs 1,050 / 12 months | Rs 88 | about 41% less | Usually a family-plan slot, so address checks apply |
| Amazon Prime | Rs 1,499/yr (Prime Lite Rs 599/yr) | Rs 125 | Rs 1,100 / 12 months | Rs 92 | about 27% less | If you only stream on one device, official Prime Lite at Rs 599 is cheaper |
| JioHotstar Premium | Rs 2,199/yr | Rs 183 | Rs 2,000 / 12 months | Rs 167 | only about 9% less | Thin saving. Official is the better buy |
| ZEE5 4K | Rs 1,499/yr | Rs 125 | Rs 1,300 / 12 months (HD Rs 450) | Rs 108 | about 13% less on 4K | Thin saving on 4K; the HD tier is where the gap is |
| Prime Video only | Not sold separately as a 6-month India plan | — | Rs 250 / 6 months | Rs 42 | no like-for-like official equivalent | Shared account; compare against full Prime instead |
Read that table honestly. Three of the nine rows say buy official. We publish those rows because a comparison that always concludes “buy from us” is not a comparison.
The cheapest legitimate route, service by service
If you want to pay less without buying a resold account, this is where the real savings are in India in 2026.
| What you want | Cheapest official route | Effective cost |
|---|---|---|
| Music streaming | Spotify Premium annual | Rs 799/yr, about Rs 67/month |
| Music, student | Spotify Student | Rs 69/month |
| Ad-free YouTube for a household | YouTube Premium Family, same address | Rs 299/month for up to 6 people, about Rs 50 each |
| Netflix on a phone | Netflix Mobile | Rs 149/month |
| Netflix plus 3 more apps | Airtel all-in-one prepaid OTT pack | Rs 279 for 1 month, includes Netflix Basic, ZEE5, JioHotstar and Xstream Play Premium |
| JioHotstar for cricket | Airtel Rs 979 / 84 days | 3 months JioHotstar included with the recharge |
| Prime Video on one device | Amazon Prime Lite | Rs 599/yr, about Rs 50/month |
| SonyLIV in 4K | SonyLIV Premium annual | Rs 1,499/yr, about Rs 125/month, 2 devices |
| An AI research tool | Perplexity Pro free for 12 months for Airtel customers | Rs 0 |
Why annual beats monthly by so much in India
In most markets an annual plan is roughly “two months free”. In India the discount is far steeper. Spotify’s annual plan is about 52 percent cheaper per month than its monthly plan. SonyLIV Premium annual is about 69 percent cheaper per month than monthly. JioHotstar Premium annual is about 39 percent cheaper than monthly.
That single fact removes most of the reason to buy a resold account. If you were going to keep the service for a year anyway, the official annual plan is often within a few rupees a month of the reseller price, and it is yours.
Full workings and every source are in our India Subscription Price Index.
The cheapest legitimate route, service by service
If you want to pay less without buying a resold account, this is where the real savings are in India in 2026.
| What you want | Cheapest official route | Effective cost |
|---|---|---|
| Music streaming | Spotify Premium annual | Rs 799/yr, about Rs 67 a month |
| Music, student | Spotify Student | Rs 69 a month |
| Ad-free YouTube for a household | YouTube Premium Family, same address | Rs 299 a month for up to 6 people, about Rs 50 each |
| Netflix on a phone | Netflix Mobile | Rs 149 a month |
| Netflix plus three more apps | Airtel all-in-one prepaid OTT pack | Rs 279 for 1 month, includes Netflix Basic, ZEE5, JioHotstar and Xstream Play Premium |
| JioHotstar for cricket | Airtel Rs 979 for 84 days | 3 months JioHotstar included with the recharge |
| Prime Video on one device | Amazon Prime Lite | Rs 599/yr, about Rs 50 a month |
| SonyLIV in 4K | SonyLIV Premium annual | Rs 1,499/yr, about Rs 125 a month, 2 devices |
| An AI research tool | Perplexity Pro, free for 12 months for Airtel customers | Rs 0 |
Why annual beats monthly by so much in India
In most markets an annual plan is roughly “two months free”. In India the discount is far steeper. Spotify’s annual plan is about 52 percent cheaper per month than its monthly plan. SonyLIV Premium annual is about 69 percent cheaper per month than monthly. JioHotstar Premium annual is about 39 percent cheaper than monthly.
That single fact removes most of the reason to buy a resold account. If you were going to keep the service for a year anyway, the official annual plan is often within a few rupees a month of the reseller price, and it is genuinely yours.
Full workings and every source are in our India Subscription Price Index.
Methodology
Official prices come from each platform’s own India pricing page or help centre, checked on 11 August 2026. Where a company’s India page is geo-restricted, we say so rather than guessing. Netflix’s India page publishes a range of Rs 149 to Rs 649 a month; the per-plan split is widely reported but not directly retrievable, so treat the Netflix rows as indicative.
Market prices are PremiumKing.in’s own listed prices on the same date. We have not surveyed other resellers’ prices, because we cannot verify them and we would have an obvious incentive to present them unfavourably.
Per-month figures are simple division: total price divided by the number of months. No discounting or NPV.
Conflict of interest. PremiumKing.in sells resold subscriptions. That is exactly why the trade-off column and the three “buy official” rows exist. If you find an error, tell us via our contact page and we will correct it and update the review date.
Frequently asked questions
Which OTT subscription is cheapest in India?
On official pricing, JioHotstar Mobile at Rs 79 a month is the cheapest paid entry point. On a per-month basis over a year, Amazon Prime Lite at Rs 599 a year works out to about Rs 50 a month and includes shopping benefits.
Is it cheaper to buy an OTT bundle?
Usually yes, if you would have paid for two or more of the apps anyway. Airtel’s Rs 279 pack bundles Netflix Basic, ZEE5, JioHotstar and Xstream Play Premium for less than a single Netflix Standard month.
Do resold accounts always work out cheaper?
No. On our own table, Spotify, JioHotstar and ZEE5 4K are all close enough to official pricing that the official plan is the better buy. The gap is largest on Netflix and SonyLIV.
How often is this page updated?
At least quarterly, and immediately whenever a tracked platform changes its India pricing. The review date at the top always reflects the last check.
Where do the official prices come from?
Each platform’s own India pricing page or help centre. Every figure is traceable through our Subscription Price Index, which lists the source and a confidence rating for each entry.
Related guides
- Best OTT subscriptions in India (2026)
- Is it safe to buy cheap OTT subscriptions in India?
- India Subscription Price Index
- Best OTT bundles in India
- Netflix plans and prices in India
Published and last verified 11 August 2026 by the PremiumKing.in editorial team.