With a multitude of recent awards season wins, Apple TV+ is quickly becoming one of the premier streaming services. But is it worth the price?

Apple TV+ launched on Nov. 1, 2019, with eight original shows to start things off including “The Morning Show,” “Oprah’s Book Club” and “For All Mankind.” 

In 2020, “Fewer than 10% of the Apple device owners eligible to get the company’s Apple TV+ streaming service have taken advantage of the one-year-free offer,” according to Deadline.

Now, with a handful of successful and critically lauded shows like “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” “Shrinking,” “The Morning Show” and “Servant” under their belt, Apple TV+ seems to quickly be gaining traction.

Still, is it worth paying $6.99 a month for a young streaming service with a handful of great shows with almost no back catalog of licensed content from other studios? The answer is no.

The issues with Apple TV become even clearer when you put the service up against Netflix, one of its main competitors. According to What’s On Netflix, Netflix’s library consists of 50% original programming, with the other 50% being licensed content. For $9.99 a month with ther basic plan, Netflix offers a great variety of new, original shows and films while still providing a wide selection of other films and shows. On the other hand, Apple TV+ relies almost exclusively on the strength of their few popular original series to entice potential subscribers.

Beyond its limited content library, the user interface of Apple TV+ is clunky, awkward and difficult to use. Many people like to go to a streaming service’s site to scroll around until they find something that catches their eye. 

On Netflix and HBO Max, users can easily select which genre they want and then sort the selection by criteria like name, release date and runtime. But on Apple TV+, rather than being able to simply select a desired genre, one needs to scroll through pages upon pages of niche and ultra-specific groupings of programs in order to find anything to watch.

In a world with an endless barrage of content and streaming services, it’s important to know what’s worth both your money and your time. In its current state, Apple TV+ just hasn’t earned its price tag. This is subject to change, however, as they continue to produce more and more new content every year.

Nearly every other streaming service provides a better value than Apple TV+ and until they bulk up their content library, users will continue to look elsewhere for entertainment.