Interface

Netflix and Hulu both offer similar interfaces, letting you browse through genres, scroll through covers, and flip through grids of various content in specific categories.

The differences? Netflix tends to prioritize its recommendations based on the items you watch instead of based on the usual categories and genres, whereas Hulu puts the most popular content at the front and provides a more fluid interface.

Amazon, on the other hand, is its standard ugly self - you'll have to know exactly what you're looking for to find anything.

Last but not least is iTunes, which offers the best interface of all. The layout is similar to Hulu and Netflix, but it's sleeker and more fluid, and just nicer to use. Content art is always clear to view.

Video Selection

Netflix is best known for offering a good mix of movies and TV shows, including top-notch original content productions. Of course, if you're a TV addict, Hulu's close ties to the major networks mean you can usually find the latest shows on Hulu the day after they air. The disadvantage to Netflix is some films there are only available on DVD, which takes away the "instant gratification" of streaming.

Amazon on the other hand offers a huge variety of television shows and movies, and it's in the process of moving into the original content business. However, some of the titles it offers are not available for Prime subscription download - if you want to watch Breaking Bad or Mad Men, you'll pay $2-$3 per episode.

iTunes offers a huge library of great content too, but it doesn't have a subscription service which would allow you to buy content in bulk.

Price

iTunes doesn't offer subscriptions, so how much you'll pay depends on how much you watch.

For the rest, Amazon is the cheapest at $79 per year for Prime, which also includes checking out Kindle books and free shipping on certain products. However, it probably isn't worth it to buy a Prime membership just for videos - since many shows and movies aren't available for Prime users, you'll end up buying on the side.

Netflix and Hulu Plus both come in at $96 per year, and you can tack on an additional $96 per year for Netflix if you want DVDs.

Video Quality

Amazon comes in last here, offering "DVD quality" - which is to say, standard definition - for laptop and desktop users. HD is available for Kindle Fire HD and other device users, though.

Hulu Plus and Netflix are tied, with roughly the same level of quality for both. (You can watch in both SD and HD.)

Best of all, as with the interface, is Apple iTunes streaming. Here the video quality has been compared to Blu-ray, so evidently they're doing something right.

Device Support

Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon all support a broad variety of devices, so you can watch video on the go and on all kinds of gadgets. iTunes on the other hand is more limited - it's only available for your computer, Apple TV, or iOS device.