The user interfaces of Hulu (left) and Netflix (right)

If you're hoping to save on your bills, you might be looking to cut back on the number of subscriptions you pay for every month. All of these little payments -- whether it's Netflix, Amazon or Spotify -- add up to a substantial sum, especially if you're paying for cable or live TV streaming already. 

Two of the most popular video streaming services have had price changes recently. Hulu fell to $6 and Netflix rose to $13. If you had to lose one to save money, which would it be? Or is there a way to reduce costs but continue to use both? 

Let's take a look.

While many services are jacking prices, Hulu has made moves in recent months in the other direction. The service went from $8 to $6 earlier this year for its basic service with ads. The $12 ad-free version stayed the same price, while the live TV option went up $5. 

Then there's the new Spotify Hulu bundle. If you get a Spotify Premium music subscription for $10-a-month fee, you can get basic Hulu (a $6 value) for free. You can sign up for both at the Hulu site here or you can enter your existing Hulu details.

In comparison the $13 subscription is Netflix's most popular plan since it offers high-definition video and the ability to stream two things at once. Netflix's Premium option may be worthwhile if you have a fancy 4K HDR TV you want to show off, or a big household that needs more than two streams.

The Netflix interface on iOS

Netflix offers 1,569 TV shows and 4,010 movies, according to one 2018 report while an older 2016 report claims Hulu had 2,900 TV series and over 2,500 films. We reached out to Netflix and Hulu to confirm these numbers but neither replied by press time. 

More important than the sheer amount of content is the two services' different approaches. Hulu offers more traditional TV than Netflix and draws mainly from NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS, PBS, Discovery and many others. 

Netflix also owns distribution rights to most movie studios as well as TV programming from the likes of NBC, CBS, Warner Brothers and a lot of Disney content, but its strongest draw is its original content.

It's worth noting that shows and movies come and go from streaming services all the time. The only thing you can really count on is for original programming to stick around (though shows may still get cancelled).

The Handmaids Tale is a Hulu exclusive

The jewel in Hulu's crown is undoubtedly The Handmaid's Tale, arguably one of the best shows of the past few years, but the show ran out of source material after one season and is now going it alone. Hulu does have a number of less-profiled programs that have garnered some critical praise including Shrill, Pen15 and the Fyre Fraud documentary. If you don't have cable (and don't live in the UK) it's also one of the only places you can watch critic favorite Killing Eve.

In contrast, Netflix has a much larger selection of original content and garnered an Oscar win for the film Roma, and so it's hard to compete against. Cherry picking from the best programs you'll find shows such as Orange Is the New Black, Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Jessica Jones, Russian Doll, Queer Eye, and (controversially) House of Cards. Netflix also has its own Fyre documentary and plenty of true crime content to boot.

Netflix's Roma won Best Foreign Film at the 2019 Academy Awards

Disney's recent purchases of Fox and AT&T's share of Hulu means Disney now owns two thirds of the streaming service. Disney has hinted at plans to turn Hulu into an adult-centric counterpart of its newly announced Disney Plus service. What does this mean about non-Disney content on Hulu? 

After the announcement of the AT&T buyout Hulu CEO Randy Freer said: "WarnerMedia will remain a valued partner to Hulu for years to come as we offer customers the best of TV, live and on demand, all in one place." In addition Comcast still owns a part share (unless Disney buys them out) and Disney Plus itself isn't due until the end of 2019. So you'll want to binge those episodes of ER (Warner and AT&T) and Brooklyn Nine Nine (Fox, now NBC) while you still can.

With the recent changes at Hulu it seems we need to adopt a wait-and-see attitude to the breadth of its catalog offerings during 2019. But with the price decrease and the Spotify bundle it's certainly an easier financial pill to swallow than ever before.

Unlike music streaming services, which pretty much all have the same catalogs, video streaming can offer different and sometimes complementary content. If you can afford both then you should -- and at $20 a month total it's still relatively affordable, especially if you've already cut the cable cord. 

However if we had to choose only one then Netflix wins, and that's mostly based on the strength of its original content. If the price creeps any further north it seems that people may start looking for cheaper alternatives, and Hulu is perfectly positioned to take advantage of that.

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