Comparison

PlayOn Cloud vs 123Play

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PlayOn Cloud

Record and download streaming videos from over 20 popular services, including Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. Watch your favorite shows and movies anytime, anywhere, even offline, and skip ads on supported tiers. Downloads never expire.

Highlights
  • Record from 20+ streaming services
  • Download videos for offline viewing
  • Ad skipping on supported tiers
  • Downloads never expire
  • Watch on TV via casting
  • Automatic downloads
Features
Read full description

Record and download any streaming video from Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, The CW, Discovery+, Showtime, STARZ, Vudu, Pluto, Tubi, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, The Roku Channel, and BBC iPlayer, Acorn, Xfinity, and Spectrum. PlayOn Cloud downloads never expire. Download Big Bang Theory, The Bear, House of Dragon, Superman & Lois, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Yellowstone, Gotham Knights, Chicago Fire, Grey's Anatomy, or any of your favorite movies and shows; watch anytime, anywhere, even offline. Save hundreds of dollars a year by subscribing to the Ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ and then skip over the ads when you watch with PlayOn (just like you do with your cable DVR). Record and download videos from Netflix before they go offline then watch them anywhere, anytime, even after they have been removed from Netflix. No need to select only the videos that Netflix lets you download, with PlayOn Cloud you can download ANY Netflix or Hulu video. Record and download Disney+ videos to watch offline. The simple PlayOn Cloud app gives you easy access to download all streaming videos from Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, The CW, Discovery+, Showtime, STARZ, Vudu, Pluto, Tubi, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, PBS, The Roku Channel, and BBC iPlayer, Acorn, Xfinity, and Spectrum.– over 20 of the most popular streaming services. Love House of Dragon, Game of Thrones, Jack Ryan or want to watch Moon Knight when you’re offline? Simply select the show you want and hit record. Once recorded, a streaming show or movie will be available for you to download to your mobile device or PC. You can even set it to automatically download to your phone, tablet, or TV as soon as the recording is finished. You can skip right over the recordings automatically when you watch. You can even watch your recordings on your Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, or Apple TV (and skip the recordings). The recording happens in the PlayOn Cloud so no data is used to make the recording. Once your PlayOn Cloud recording is downloaded, you can watch it anytime and anywhere. You can watch it on your big screen TV with your Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, or Apple TV. No more worrying about a Netflix video leaving. You can even download it to your Mac, PC or other device. No more WiFi requirement to watch on your mobile device – you can download Netflix and watch when you're not on WiFi without using data. Want to watch your downloaded PlayOn Cloud recordings on your TV? You can cast to your TV with Roku, Chromecast or Fire TV or AirPlay it to your Apple TV. Have a long flight tomorrow? Queue up Game of Thrones, Jack Ryan or The Mandalorian tonight and they’ll be downloaded and waiting when you take off. Long subway ride to work? With PlayOn Cloud, you’ll be watching downloaded Netflix, The CW, or Disney+ videos the entire time. Need a selection of safe shows for your kids to watch? PlayOn Cloud makes it easy to fill up your kid's device with safe streaming shows - and watch them without using any cellular data, or watching any commercials. When you watch recordings that have commercials, you have an option to automatically skip the ads. How great is that? Want to make PlayOn Cloud even more powerful? Get an optional PlayOn Cloud Storage and Credit plan. You'll get a week to make 7 free recordings. After that you'll be billed $4.99 per month for 30 recordings and 100GB cloud storage. You’ll be charged as a recurring transaction through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.playon.tv/eula Privacy Policy: http://www.playon.tv/privacy

About

123Play

Discover popular movies and TV shows available on the iTunes Store. This app provides instant access to the latest titles, including those currently in theaters. Easily explore by genre, search for specific content, and find top-rated or upcoming releases.

Highlights
  • Discover movies and TV shows
  • Search by genre, title, or actor
  • Find popular and upcoming titles
  • Real-time updates from TMDb
  • See currently playing/airing content
  • Check iTunes availability
Features
Read full description

123Play - Movies & TV Shows: Find Your Favorite Entertainment Instantly! 123Play is your ultimate guide to discovering the best movies and TV shows on the iTunes Store. With just a click, you can access the latest, most popular titles, including movies currently in theaters. Green Play Button means availability on iTunes. Key Features: Explore movies & TV shows by genre Search for movies, series, or actors Discover top-rated, upcoming, and popular titles Real-time updates from TMDb service Now playing & airing TV shows Start streaming now!  Download 123Play today.

Screenshots

PlayOn Cloud4 screens
123Play3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PlayOn Cloud at 62% against 123Play's 15%. PlayOn Cloud also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.7) and ads (none vs shown). 123Play's advantage is ratings volume (7K vs 2K). On price, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PlayOn Cloud sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and 123Play sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PlayOn Cloud holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2K and 7K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of PlayOn Cloud's written reviews are positive against 15% of 123Play's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlayOn Cloud ships an update every 3 weeks, 123Play every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
PlayOn Cloud versus 123Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlayOn Cloud123Play
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (2K ratings) — better3.7 (7K ratings)
Positive reviews62.2% of reviews — better15.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2K7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.4 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB25 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperMediaMall Technologies, Inc.David Buhauer

Customer experience

PlayOn Cloud

All ratings1,945 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral2.4%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews283 reviews
Positive62.2%
Neutral7.8%
Negative30.0%

123Play

All ratings7,037 ratings
Positive65.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative28.8%
Written reviews252 reviews
Positive15.1%
Neutral2.8%
Negative82.1%

User reviews

PlayOn Cloud

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient for offline viewing
  • 👍 Great for travel
  • 👍 Allows building personal content library
  • 👍 Helpful customer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes
  • 🐛 Buggy login and download issues
  • 🔍 Limited content selection
  • 💰 Expensive per-recording fees
  • 🕰️ Slow download speeds

123Play

From 7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good app
  • 👍 Great service
  • 👍 Excellent selections

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Doesn't work as expected
  • 💰 Not free, have to pay for movies
  • 🚫 Doesn't allow watching movies
  • 🚫 Useless, just redirects to iTunes

Bugs and requests

PlayOn Cloud

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Recordings not resuming from where left off
  • App not working on certain devices/OS versions
  • Inconsistent performance across platforms

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to delete recordings from queue
  • Option to sort recordings alphabetically or chronologically
  • Support for more streaming platforms
  • Larger cloud storage capacity
  • Offline playback without needing to download

123Play

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Doesn't load movies
  • Redirects to iTunes instead of playing movies

Requested features

3 requests
  • Allow watching movies for free
  • Fix crashing issues
  • Improve functionality to actually watch movies

In-app purchases

11 purchases

PlayOn Cloud

Subscriptions9
  • 10 Credits/50 GB Storage7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • 10 Credits/50 GB (No Trial)$2.991 Month
  • 7 Credit Trial/ 30 Cred/mo7 Days trial$2.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • 30 Credits Monthly$2.991 Month
  • 30 Credits/100 GB Storage7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • 30 Credits/100GB (No Trial)$4.991 Month
  • 100GB Storage/ 30 Credits$4.991 Month
  • 100GB Storage/30 Credits7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • 500GB Storage/ 30 Credits$9.991 Month
One-time2
  • 25 Recording Credits$4.99
  • 55 Recording Credits$9.99
1 purchases

123Play

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is PlayOn Cloud free?
PlayOn Cloud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 123Play free?
123Play is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PlayOn Cloud or 123Play?
PlayOn Cloud is rated higher. PlayOn Cloud averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while 123Play averages 3.7 from 7K ratings.
Do PlayOn Cloud or 123Play have ads?
123Play shows ads; PlayOn Cloud does not.
Which is updated more often, PlayOn Cloud or 123Play?
PlayOn Cloud ships an update every 3 weeks, and 123Play every 3 months. Most recently, PlayOn Cloud was updated on October 22, 2026 and 123Play on October 20, 2026.

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