# Amazon Prime Video Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-prime-video/ 10 people recommended Amazon Prime Video in Hacker News comments, 15 had mixed feelings and 112 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 9 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended, mainly for ads, even on paid tiers; those who recommend it cite bundled subscriptions, easy cancellation, and browser access. Summary written from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Ads even on paid accounts (4 comments in the sample): "I also paid for Amazon Prime, expecting to get ad-free content, and then they started to add advertisements." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46309212)) "I purchased a paid account, just to make the ads go away, then discovered that even paid accounts get ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48999470)) "it really wasn't very nice when they decided that subscribers also now had to receive ads on top of that" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46149172)) - Intrusive ads and promotions (4 comments in the sample): "I was shocked to see Prime Video display a button to open the Amazon store to the product that was playing in the ad." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46125405)) "Yet I keep getting ads in Spanish on Amazon Prime video and nobody in our household understands that language." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900835)) "Prime Video ads are so invasive that I honestly can't watch any video without turning it off immediately" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709607)) - Laggy interface and slow focus (3 comments in the sample): "They do not optimize for performance or have a culture of squashing UI bugs unless it’s measurably stopping conversion for them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47123808)) "just moving the focus around in Amazon's streaming app takes 0.5 second while it's instant in other apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47121602)) "with Amazon's app it sometimes take almost a whole second for the focus on actually move around" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47122744)) - Cluttered interface with third-party channels (2 comments in the sample): "They're clever with that, by offering subscriptions to various producers and other streaming platforms within Amazon Prime video UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46165162)) "Prime and others muddy their interfaces with others’ “channels” and content that you can subscribe to through their service." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47208092)) ## Why people recommend it - Easy channel subscriptions and cancellation (2 comments in the sample): "you can subscribe to the other services through them, watch on any browser, and reliably cancel easily when you're done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48638586)) "Prime is a nominal cost (for now) and you can add/remove channels as you wish." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46171662)) - Included with Prime membership (1 comment in the sample): "the fact that Prime Video is part of the deal is something nice, but not what I care about" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46195040)) - Good 4K and bitrate (1 comment in the sample): "When I've watched regular games on ESPN+ or Amazon, they usually have sufficient bitrate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49835240)) ## Other streaming services people recommend - [YouTube Premium](https://hackerapproved.com/p/youtube-premium/): 143 recommend, 38 mixed, 183 criticize - [Netflix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netflix/): 82 recommend, 85 mixed, 517 criticize - [Nebula](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nebula/): 28 recommend, 9 mixed, 14 criticize - [PBS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pbs/): 23 recommend, 0 mixed, 8 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Amazon Prime Video", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-prime-video/ (10 recommend, 15 mixed, 112 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.