Online DVD Rental Services

Below I've given some information about the two major DVD rental services. Please note that prices are usually subject to any applicable tax. Also, prices are subject to change, so check the information on the official sites before making a decision.

Netflix

You make a list of DVDs. Available titles from the list are delivered to you by mail. You return DVDs by mailing them back in prepaid envelopes. You also get several hours of video streamed to your PC.

Netflix offers several different rental plans, including the following:

• $16.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 3 DVDs-at-a-time (no limit on number of rentals per month) plus unlimited streaming
• $13.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 2 DVDs-at-a-time (no limit on number of rentals per month) plus unlimited streaming
• $8.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 1 DVD-at-a-time (no limit on number of rentals per month) plus unlimited streaming
• $4.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 1 DVD-at-a-time (limit of 2 rentals per month) plus 2 hours streaming per month

Note: The above prices are for conventional DVDs only, but subscribers can also rent titles on Blu-ray discs. However, to do this, the subscription fee is one dollar per month more.

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Blockbuster Total Access

Here are the Blockbuster Total Access rental plans:

• $19.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 3 DVDs-at-a-time (no limit on number of mail rentals per month) plus 5 in-store exchanges per month
• $16.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 2 DVDs-at-a-time (no limit on number of mail rentals per month) plus 3 in-store exchanges per month
• $11.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 1 DVD-at-a-time (no limit on number of mail rentals per month) plus 2 in-store exchanges per month
• $9.99 plus applicable taxes per month for 1 DVD-at-a-time (limit of 2 mail rentals per month) plus 2 in-store exchanges per month

If you exhaust your limit of free in-store exchanges, you can still return an online rental at a brick-and-mortar store and swap it for an in-store movie or TV show rental at a discount. Also, you can swap an online rental at a store for a video game rental at a discount.

Explore More In-Depth - Renting From Renting From Blockbuster

Pros and Cons

Netflix

Pro

Easy to receive and return DVDs by mail
Option of watching streaming video on PC

Con

People who rent an extremely high volume of DVDs may experience delays

Blockbuster Total Access

Pro

Can return by mail or exchange at brick-and-mortar stores
Subscriber can get some movie rental exchanges in stores

Con

Fewer titles than Netflix