Shudder vs. Screambox
Shudder remains the best horror streaming service, but Screambox is comin’ for ‘em fast. Why choose when you can have both?
Price: $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Library size: 625+
Live channels: 3
Streams: 1
Price: $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Library size: 625+
Live channels: 3
Streams: 1
Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 410+
Live channels: 8
Streams: 3
Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 410+
Live channels: 8
Streams: 3
Is Shudder or Screambox better?
Shudder vs. Screambox pros and cons
Shudder
✓ Affordable price
✓ Excellent curation
✓ Ad-free live channels
✗ 720p resolution
✗ No offline viewing
Screambox
✓ Shocking affordability
✓ Excellent curation
✓ Steady improvements
✓ Offline viewing
✗ Reports of billing issues
Shudder vs. Screambox deals
We hardly see deals from Shudder or Screambox, but both services have free 7-day trials and discounted annual subscriptions. Screambox also has a six-month sub.
Shudder deals
- Shudder 7-day trial: Sign up to claim it.
- Shudder annual subscription ($71.88/yr): Save 15% ($12) on a full year of Shudder.
Screambox deals
- Screambox 7-day trial: Sign up to claim it.
- Screambox annual subscription ($59.99/yr.): Save 30% ($23.89) on 12 months of Screambox.
Shudder vs. Screambox head to head
Data as of post date.
* Some channels unavailable on some versions of Shudder.
Based only on this table, Screambox seems superior—but maybe not. We’ll determine that after a deeper look at plans, pricing, content, and features.
Shudder vs. Screambox plans and prices
At $7 a month, Shudder and Screambox start out affordable. The annual subscription options make both services a fantastic value. Let’s break it down more.
Shudder plans and prices
Data as of post date.
* Some channels unavailable on some versions of Shudder.
Shudder costs the same as Screambox, but you get 35% more movies. Even with its recent monthly price increase (monthly subs went up one buck, while the annual sub increased by $14.89), Shudder’s a solid deal—but Screambox gets even more affordable.
Screambox plans and prices
Data as of post date.
Screambox was inexpensive before, but we couldn’t recommend it because of the buggy, frustrating app and disappointing library. Now Screambox has a decent app and excellent curation by leading horror website BloodyDisgusting.com.
Also, like Shudder, Screambox increased its prices: monthly subs went up two bucks, while the annual sub went up a wild thirty-three dollars.
Now let’s compare Shudder and Screambox on library quality, specs, and features.
No extra fees with Shudder or Screambox?! Yaaaayyyyyy!
(Video screenshot from Screambox in the Chrome browser on Windows 10)
Shudder vs. Screambox fees and extra charges
Unlike cable and satellite TV providers, streaming TV services don’t have hidden fees or extra charges.
Shudder vs. Screambox: Movies and shows
| Shudder | Screambox | |
|---|---|---|
| Movies | 625+ (197 original or exclusive) | 410+ (47 original or exclusive) |
| Shows | 43 | 7 |
| Live channels | 1–3 (no ads) | 8 (ads) |
Data as of post date.
Since its debut in 2015, Shudder aimed to be the best horror streaming service, curated by and for horror fans. Screambox launched the same year, touting “horror you won’t find anywhere else,” meaning obscure, independent, often lower-budget indie horror films.
Shudder succeeded almost immediately, while Screambox struggled with maybe a dozen decent movies among hundreds of bad ones. When we say “bad,” we don’t mean cheesily charming so-bad-it’s-good movies, but the idiotic, infuriating, gimme-back-my-time kind.
Now, thanks to excellent curation by BloodyDisgusting.com, Screambox stocks higher-quality lower-budget horror obscurities—and dozens of decent-to-killer movies. Shudder still has way more content, a higher bar for quality, and many more original and exclusive movies and shows than Screambox. But both services will satisfy horror fans of all stripes.
Shudder vs. Screambox: Shows
Shudder has 43 series, specials, and podcasts, including 19 originals. Among these originals are heavy hitters, including several from Shudder’s parent company, AMC.
Screambox has only 8 series for now, with two originals.
Shudder vs. Screambox: Original movies and shows
With 197 original or exclusive movies, Shudder is way ahead of Screambox, which has only 47 original films.* It’s pretty much the same story with original series: Shudder has 19 originals, while Screambox has only 2.
That said, Screambox is just getting started. And that said, catching up to Shudder won’t be easy—but Screambox’s original content library can only grow.
Check out our Shudder and Screambox reviews to see sample lists of each service’s movies, shows, and original content.
Shudder vs. Screambox: Live TV channels
FAST channels are all the rage right now, with mainstream streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix adding them to their libraries.
Shudder TV as viewed in Chrome on Windows 10 (and photographed with a smartphone).
Live TV on Shudder
Shudder has 1–3 live TV channels, depending on how you access the service: It Came from Shudder (exclusives, originals), Psychological Thrillers, and Slashics (slasher movies). These channels are great when choice paralysis keeps you from picking something to watch. —but you don’t always have a choice between the channels.
The Android and browser-based versions of Shudder show only It Came from Shudder, and there’s no way to change channels. If you want all three Shudder TV channels, use Shudder on Roku or the NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro.
One last cool thing about Shudder TV: Unlike actual FAST channels, Shudder’s live TV channels have no ads.
Pro tip: With some versions of Shudder, you might see a Mad Ghoul Log thumbnail instead of Psychological Thrillers. It’s a mistake. Click it, and you’ll see the Psychological Thrillers channel.
Live TV on Screambox
Screambox has eight FAST channels with ads: Screambox TV, El Rey, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), Crime Hunters, Midnight Pulp, Retro Crush, and Shout! Factory TV. Of these, only Screambox TV programs offer pure horror. The other channels have some horror or at least horror-adjacent content, but they also show action, adventure, anime, comedy, fantasy, sci-fi, true crime, and more.
Ultimately, Screambox may have more channels, but we prefer Shudder’s ad-free live TV experience. Besides, you can watch all of Screambox’s live TV channels without a subscription.
Shudder vs. Screambox: specs and features
Now that we’ve evaluated horror movies and shows on Shudder and Screambox, let’s compare their features.
Simultaneous streams
Most streaming services allow three simultaneous streams. Screambox has three, but Shudder has only one. We have, however, used Shudder simultaneously on three different devices—maybe you can do it too.
Shudder vs. Screambox streams
| Package | Streams | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Shudder | 1 | Included |
| Screambox | 3 | Included |
Data as of post date.
Shudder’s single-stream allowance is one of three features where the service is lacking. The other two? Offline viewing and resolution.
Offline viewing
Downloading movies and shows to watch offline later is what on-demand streaming services offer instead of cloud DVR. Screambox allows offline viewing; Shudder does not. So big points to Screambox here.
Video quality
We don’t see why Shudder streams in standard HD (720p). Screambox and every other horror streaming service streams in full HD (1080p)—Arrow Player goes up to 4K UHD (2160p).
| Package | Resolution |
|---|---|
| Shudder | 720p |
| Screambox | 1080p |
Data as of post date.
If you have a newer smart TV with AI upscaling, it will boost a 720p stream to 1080p (and 1080p to 4K). In that case, Shudder’s lower resolution probably won’t bother you. And you can’t tell the difference when streaming on smartphones and tablets.
I’m sorry, Mr. Romero is indisposed. May I help you?
(Video screenshot from Screambox in the Chrome browser on Windows 10)
Channel guide
Only Screambox has multiple channels and needs a channel guide. It gives you 24 hours of programming information for all eight live TV channels and a thumbnail showing the current program and related information.
The Screambox channel guide viewed in the Chrome browser on Windows 10. (Screenshot)
Commercials
| Shudder | Screambox |
|---|---|
| No ads | Only on the FAST channels |
Shudder TV isn’t a FAST—free, ad-supported streaming TV—channel because it has no ads. All of the live TV channels on Screambox are FAST channels with ads.
Shudder vs. Screambox: Compatible devices
| Device | Shudder | Screambox |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Fire Cube, Stick, Tablet, TV | ✔ | ✔ |
| Android phones and tablets | ✔ | ✔ |
| Apple TV | ✔ | ✔ |
| Chromecast, Chromecast with Google TV | ✔ | ✔ |
| iPhones, iPads | ✔ | ✔ |
| Nintendo Switch | — | — |
| NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro | ✔ | — |
| Oculus Go | — | — |
| PlayStation 3, 4, 5 | — | — |
| Roku devices | ✔ | ✔ |
| Samsung Smart TVs (select models) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Web browsers | ✔ | ✔ |
| Wii | — | — |
| Wii U | — | — |
| Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S | ✔ | — |
Data as of post date. Subject to change.
Shudder and Screambox support most of the same devices, except Screambox doesn’t support NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro or Xbox gaming consoles. And neither service supports Nintendo or PlayStation devices.
Shudder vs. Screambox: App
The Shudder app has a 3.4 rating (15.7K reviews) for Android and 4.4 (14.8K reviews) for iOS. Screambox rates a 2.9 (164 reviews) for Android and 2.3 for iOS (94 reviews).
We attribute the Screambox app’s lower scores either to past versions of the app or the Apple TV version. We’ve had no issues with the new, improved Screambox app after testing it on an Android smartphone, Roku Ultra, NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro, and a Windows laptop via the Chrome browser.
Is Shudder or Screambox better?
Hold a blade to our throats and tell us to pick only Shudder or Screambox—we’ll choose Shudder for its vast, high-quality library and affordable price.
We also love Screambox for its good-sized library, increasing quality, and affordability. If you’re on a budget (like many horror filmmakers), choose Screambox.
That said, we’re horror fans—don’t make us choose. It’s only $14 a month for both Shudder and Screambox. If you can afford $132 upfront for annual subscriptions, it’s only $11 bucks a month for buckets of bloody good horror.
Shudder vs. Screambox FAQ
Are Screambox and Shudder the same?
Screambox and Shudder are two different horror streaming services. Shudder has a more extensive, higher-quality library, while Screambox stocks more obscure independent horror movies—but enough horror classics to satisfy most horror fans. We recommend them both since they cost only $11–$14 a month combined.
Is Screambox worth it?
You bet your collection of head jars Screambox is worth it. You get 410+ movies and shows, plus 8 live FAST channels, for only $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Is Shudder worth it?
You bet your kickass kill room Shudder is worth it. You get 625+ movies and shows, including tons of original and exclusive content, plus 3 ad-free live TV channels for only $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Should I get both Shudder and Screambox?
Absolutely. Shudder and Screambox cost only $14 a month for a combined 1,035+ movies and shows, plus 11 live TV channels (3 ad-free). Annual subscriptions make it an even better deal at $11 monthly.
Methodology
Our streaming TV experts are also horror movie nerds, and we’ve logged hundreds of hours researching and hands-on testing Shudder and Screambox. For this side-by-side review, we evaluated both horror streaming services’ plans, pricing, libraries, features, and reliability so we could make accurate, reliable recommendations to our readers. For more on our process, see our How We Rank page.
