StarTimes ON vs SABC+
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StarTimes ON
Stream live TV channels, popular dramas, blockbuster movies, and live football matches from Africa and around the world. Access thousands of hours of entertainment, including kids and educational content, all in one app.
- Live TV streaming
- Live football matches
- Thousands of TV series
- Blockbuster movies
- Kids and education content
- Local and international dramas
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StarTimes ON is Africa's leading video streaming service for watching live TV and entertainment on your phone. Over 20 million users worldwide have installed the app, which offers the best video watching experience anywhere, anytime. Get this free App and you can instantly watch thousands of TV series, blockbusters, local contents, latest news and the most anticipated football matches. Plus, with tons of kids and education content, your children are gonna love StarTimes ON as well. StarTimes ON Key Offerings: LIVE TV We offers you more than 150 channels covering sports, movies, tv series, news, kids programs, music and documentary. Watch news, events and shows you crave on live channels, including ST NOVELA E PLUS, STAR LIFE, Zee Magic, DREAMWORKS, Bukkede TV, ST SWAHILI, ORISUN, ST KUNGFU, ST WORLD FOOTBALL, TOONAMI, SABC, NGW, ZNBC, NTV and so many more. Simply install the app and join the streaming party! LIVE FOOTBALL Live football match has been one of the best offerings of StarTimes ON, including UEFA Euro 2020, African Nations Championship, The England Emirates FA Cup, La Liga, Bundesliga, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey, Ghana Premier League, Uganda Premier League, Kenya Premier League, Zambia National Division One, UEFA Nations League and FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers. We bring you the latest football news, live scores, results, replays, fixtures, standings and video highlights. DRAMAS From Telenovela to Bollywood, from Chinese to Local Dramas, we've been collecting the best dramas from the whole world. Must-see TV shows likes Brothers, The Blood Moon, The General’s Daughter,The Heiress, The Good Son, Fists of Fate, Betrayal, To Die for Love, Gathbandhan, Asintado, Waaris, Wildflower, Lost Hearts, The Blood Sisters, Madhubala, The Secrets of EI Paraiso, Double Kara in Twi, Princess agent, The Land of Warriors, Ashes of Love and more. Exclusively available on StarTimes ON. MOVIES Get StarTimes ON and watch 1000+ high quality movies. Enjoy classic Kungfu movies, live blockbusters, Nollywood, Kumawood
SABC+
Stream popular South African shows, films, news, radio, and live sports. Catch up on weekday dramas and never miss an episode, all accessible from anywhere.
- Live TV streaming
- On-demand content
- News broadcasts
- Radio stations
- Sports coverage
- Catch-up TV
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SABC Plus brings your most loved shows, films, news, radio, sport, catch up & weekday drama to your fingertips! Making content more accessible, siON with SABC 1, belong on SABC 2, Sisonke on SABC 3 and we’re part of the game with SABC Sport - we’ve got something for everyone! Forget the days of waiting to catch the drama – Now you get to follow it from anywhere! SABC Plus. Still Home.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: StarTimes ON at 3.5 against SABC+'s 1.9. StarTimes ON also leads on review sentiment (30% vs 8%) and ratings volume (216 vs 14). SABC+'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 21) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. StarTimes ON sells 21 one-off in-app purchases. SABC+ asks for nothing beyond the download.
StarTimes ON holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StarTimes ON has 216 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of StarTimes ON's written reviews are positive against 8% of SABC+'s.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StarTimes ON | SABC+ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (216 ratings) — better | 1.9 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 29.5% of reviews — better | 7.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 216 — better | 14 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Union Shine Holdings Co., Ltd | South African Broadcasting Corporation Ltd |
Customer experience
StarTimes ON
SABC+
Bugs and requests
StarTimes ON
Reported bugs
26 issues- No code sent for mobile plan renewal
- App crashes a lot
- Repeating scenes in episodes
- App crashes when launched multiple times
- Subscription disappears after activation
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Paid for subscription but app says not subscribed
- Asked to subscribe again and again
- Cannot watch channels even with linked decoder
- Cannot watch movies for free after update
- Sound problems on a particular channel
- No way to contact live customer agent
- Login issues with smartcard limit
- Subscription payment issues (Apple ID)
- App not working as shown for live stream matches
- App not optimized for iPad screens
- Logs out of one device when trying on two
- Menu list not visible after update
- App keeps crashing
- Poor network
- No Filipino series, only Chinese
- No live stream matches functionality
- Misleading streams
- Ads and bugs
- Nothing is organized
- Shows stupid football matches
- Some commentary in Chinese
Requested features
24 requests- Allow Airplay
- Add Cast feature to allow watching on TV
- Bring ID channel to the app
- Improve app for iPad screens
- Allow watching on both Android and iOS simultaneously
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Add Jing Ju Cats show with all episodes
- Fix sound problems on a particular channel
- Fix login issues with smartcard limit
- Fix subscription payment issues (Apple ID)
- Add more Pro features
- Upgrade casting feature like Youtube, Netflix
- Fix repeating scenes in episodes
- Fix menu list not visible after update
- Fix app crashing issues
- Fix network issues
- Fix ads and bugs
- Fix subscription disappearing after activation
- Fix payment issues where app says not subscribed
- Fix issues where user is asked to subscribe again and again
- Fix issues where user cannot watch channels even with linked decoder
- Fix issues where user cannot watch movies for free after update
- Add Filipino series
- Fix live stream matches functionality
- Fix misleading streams
SABC+
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
StarTimes ON
- StarTimes ON VIP-1$0.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-2$1.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-3$2.99
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- StarTimes ON VIP-4$3.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-5$4.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-6$5.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-7$6.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-8$7.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-11$10.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-12$11.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-13$12.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-14$13.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-15$14.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-16$15.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-20$19.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-25$24.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-27$26.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-30$29.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-33$32.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-35$34.99
- StarTimes ON VIP-44$43.99
SABC+
No in-app purchases
