Kanopy vs Nebula
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kanopy
Access a vast library of films and documentaries for free with your library card. Enjoy ad-free streaming of award-winning movies, The Criterion Collection, and curated content for children, with new titles added regularly.
- Free film streaming
- Ad-free viewing
- Library card required
- Festival award-winning films
- Documentaries
- The Criterion Collection
- Kanopy Kids with parental controls
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Stream thousands of films for free without ads through your library. Sign up with your library card and start watching festival award-winning films, thought-provoking documentaries, The Criterion Collection, and more with new titles added weekly. Browse Kanopy Kids for unlimited age-appropriate shows and movies with access to parental controls. Available on mobile, web, and living room devices.
Nebula
Access a curated collection of videos, podcasts, and classes from independent creators. Enjoy exclusive original content, extended cuts, and offline downloads. Support creators directly through this ad-free streaming platform.
- Full catalog access
- Exclusive Nebula Originals
- Nebula Plus extended content
- Creator release notifications
- Offline video downloads
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Premium streaming from independent creators. Enjoy exclusive originals, bonus material, and early releases from the best independent creators. Unlimited and ad-free. • Nebula Originals — Documentaries, collaborative series, animated specials, and more. • Nebula Plus — Bonus material including extended cuts, companion videos, and interviews. • Nebula First — Early releases available on Nebula before anywhere else. • Notifications when your favorite creators release a new video • Video downloads for offline viewing Usage of the app and its features requires an active subscription to Nebula. https://nebula.tv/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Kanopy at none against Nebula's 10. Kanopy also leads on review sentiment (72% vs 54%) and ratings volume (153K vs 14K). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Nebula sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Kanopy asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Kanopy against 4.8 for Nebula. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kanopy has 153K ratings behind it against 14K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Kanopy's written reviews are positive against 54% of Nebula's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.
| Parameter | Kanopy | Nebula |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (153K ratings) — better | 4.8 (14K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.9% of reviews — better | 54.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 153K — better | 14K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #178 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Kanopy | Standard |
Customer experience
Kanopy
Nebula
User reviews
Kanopy
From 153K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎥 Eclectic and engaging selection of films and series
- 🎬 Great movies and documentaries
- 🏆 Excellent content and thoughtful entertainment
- 🌍 Wide selection of various international material
- 🧠 Fantastic educational content like The Great Courses
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes, freezes, and has stability issues
- 🔍 Difficult to search and navigate, poor user experience
- 🕰️ Losing credits just for resuming a movie
- 🔇 No way to turn off closed captions
- 📺 Chromecast and TV integration problems
Nebula
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Ad-free experience
- 💡 Creator-owned platform
- 🚀 Smooth app performance
- 🤩 Excellent content quality
- 💰 Affordable subscription
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy app with crashes and glitches
- 🔍 Poor content discoverability
- 🔀 Confusing navigation and lack of user-friendly features
- 🔇 No background playback or audio-only mode
- 🔒 Lack of platform-wide login persistence
Bugs and requests
Kanopy
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes and freezes frequently
- Login issues, unable to sign in or access account
- Chromecast and TV streaming problems
- Video playback issues, including blurry or out of sync
- Inconsistent behavior when resuming or rewatching movies
Requested features
6 requests- Add ability to pause, rewind, and resume movies without using credits
- Improve search and browsing functionality
- Provide more content filtering and parental control options
- Add support for offline viewing and downloads
- Enhance Chromecast and TV integration
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- Improve video quality and playback stability
Nebula
Reported bugs
4 issues- Downloaded videos disappearing from the app
- Inability to exit full-screen mode without restarting the app
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
- Frequent app crashes and freezes, especially on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add Chromecast and AirPlay support
- Implement a 'Watch Later' or 'Continue Watching' feature
- Allow users to adjust video quality and playback speed
- Introduce a comments section for user feedback
- Improve content organization and recommendation algorithms
In-app purchases
Kanopy
No in-app purchases
Nebula
- MONTHLY$2.991 Month
- MONTHLY3 variants$4.991 Month
- MONTHLY$5.001 Month
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- MONTHLY2 variants$7.001 Month
- YEARLY2 variants$30.001 Year
- YEARLY$49.991 Year
