Stan Review: Price, features and content

Stan is a local streaming service owned by Nine Entertainment. As an on-demand TV show and movie provider with a strong library and local production budget, it's one of Netflix's strongest competitors in Australia.

Stan has content broadcasting rights deals with a variety of producers like MGM and Lionsgate, but also suffered significant content losses with services like Paramount Plus and Disney Plus taking back shows they own. However, the streaming service now offers live sport and doubled down on original content to compensate.

How much does Stan cost?

Stan's streaming plans start at $12 a month for the Basic tier (1 screen, standard definition). Stan's Standard and Premium Plans cost $16 and $21 a month, respectively.

Remember to keep an eye out on promotions or deals for Stan to score a discount.

Does Stan have a free trial?

No, Stan stopped offering free trial as of 14 May, 2024.

What can I watch on Stan?

Stan has built out its library to now house 889 TV shows and 9,450 movies. There are obviously too many titles to list here, but we've got regularly updated lists for Stan's TV shows and Stan's movie selection.

One section where Stan excels is original content. The service kicked off local content production back in 2015 with its fly-on-the-wall buddy cop comedy No Activity, before bringing Wolf Creek's Mick Taylor to the small screen in 2016. More titles followed, including favourites like Bump, The Tourist and Black Snow.

What content is coming to Stan?

• RuPaul's Drag Race Downunder - November 2024
• Ghosts Season 5 - October 2024
• RuPaul's Drag Race UK - November 2024
• Nugget Is Dead: A Christmas Story- 21 November
• Yellowstone (season 5b) - November 2024

Are Stan and Stan Sport the same?

No. Stan is an entertainment streaming service. Meanwhile Stan Sport as its name suggests streams sports. For $15 a month, Stan Sport is available as an add-on to a regular Stan subscription. You need to already have a Stan package to access Stan Sport.

Stan Sport offers live and on-demand coverage of a variety of rugby competitions. On top of that, Stan Sport also shows all of the tennis Grand Slams. You can also watch the UEFA Champions League and more UEFA comps, as well as motorsport such as Formula E, INDYCAR and the World Rally Championship.

Which devices are compatible with Stan?

Stan has worked hard on delivering a comprehensive suite of devices that you can access its streaming service from, including smart TVs, gaming consoles, desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablets. Here's the list of devices compatible with Stan:

• Computers: PC, Mac
• Phones and tablets: iOS, Android
• Gaming consoles: PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox One
• Smart TVs: Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony, Panasonic, TCL, Philips, Kogan, FFALCON, Toshiba, EKO
• Streaming media devices: Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Fetch TV, Telstra TV, Amazon Fire TV

How does Stan compare?

Top deals on TV and streaming devices

Stan frequently asked questions

• How much data does Stan use?

  The quality of your stream will significantly impact the amount of data you will use while streaming Stan. On a number of devices, Stan will actually let you manually set the quality of your connection via the app's settings, though Stan also automatically adjusts quality based on your internet connection's speed. If you want to know how much data you will use streaming Stan at the different quality settings, see below:

  • Low quality: Approximately 570MB per hour
  • Medium quality (SD): Approximately 1.13GB per hour
  • High definition (HD): Approximately 2.89GB per hour
  • Ultra high definition (4K): Approximately 7GB per hour

  To change video quality settings, select the settings cog in the Stan app on your device of choice and select the video quality option. For the best possible quality for the connection speed, leave it on auto, but if you want to save your precious data, manually select low or medium.

  It's important to note that even if you select the high setting, if your connection can't deliver HD, it will automatically drop the quality to try and keep the stream running rather than pause and buffer.

  In March 2017, Stan launched an offline mode for its Android and iOS apps, which allows users to download TV shows and movies to watch later without a constant internet connection.

• How can I switch from HD to SD?

  Once you begin to watch the video, click on the blue HD icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. This is a toggle switch for HD. When blue it means that HD has been activated and when white it means the content is being broadcast to you in SD.

• How can I watch Stan on my television?

  Stan can stream to your television using a compatible mobile device and either Chromecast or Apple TV. It is also compatible with some brands of smart TVs and gaming consoles where you just need to download the app.

• Does Stan come with parental controls?

  Yes, you can control what your children watch through Stan either by using your kids' profiles or by setting your own restrictions by classification.

• How do I create profiles using Stan?

  You will need to log in to your Stan account and use the manage account tab on the right-hand side of the screen. Here you can create, edit and delete profiles.

• Where did the show I was watching on Stan go?

  Unfortunately, Stan doesn't own a lot of the content in its library. If it's listed as an original then it should stick around on Stan, but a lot of its library is made up of third party deals. Those deals can end at any time and means loads of titles can leave Stan.

• How do I know if new TV shows or movies have been added to Stan's selections?

  Stan has a new releases category and a recently added category to browse when you are looking for something to watch. You can also sign up for the newsletter, which will email you the instant new content has been released.

• How do I cancel Stan?

  Simply put, head to Stan's website, log-in head to account details and look to cancel. We have a step by step guide for cancelling Stan if you need help.

• How do I pay for Stan?

  Stan accepts payments from Visa, Mastercard and American Express. You will input your card details when you create your account and a payment will automatically be taken from the card each month on the same day that you signed up.