Streaming prices are absurd. This app could be the answer

If you want to avoid cable-like prices for streaming TV, the best way is to aggressively cycle through different subscriptions. A new app called StreamWolf makes that process simpler.

StreamWolf provides an overview of all your streaming subscriptions, shows you the total cost, and lets you cancel (or reactivate) individual services with just a button tap. It also offers some watchlist features so you can plan what to pay for at any given time.

The app is still a work in progress, but it shows promise and offers some utility even in its early stages. It’s the kind of service that streaming platforms like Roku and Fire TV ought to provide themselves, but won’t.

How it works

StreamWolf is available for both iPhone and Android. While its creators may eventually charge a fee for its subscription management features (more on that below), the app is currently free to use.

After launching the app and creating an account, you’ll be prompted to sign into all your streaming services. StreamWolf doesn’t collect any streaming passwords; it’s merely opening an in-app browser where you log into each service’s website.

Once you’re logged in, StreamWolf scans the contents of each streaming account page, so it can understand what plan you have and how much it costs. The app then displays the total cost of all your subscriptions, both annually and monthly.

The real magic happens when you ask StreamWolf to cancel one of your subscriptions. Instead of just dropping you onto an account page, the app uses some automated browsing tools to handle the cancellation process by itself. This allowed me to cancel (and restart) my Netflix subscription just by tapping a button.

StreamWolf currently works with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, and YouTube. Impressively, it will also recognize add-on subscriptions with those services, such as Amazon’s Prime Channels, YouTube’s Primetime Channels, and Disney’s various bundles. It properly noted, for instance, that my Disney+ subscription is in a bundle with Hulu.

While StreamWolf isn’t the only app for managing your streaming subscriptions, I haven’t been impressed with any others. Some require manually inputting subscription details, so they’re barely more functional than a spreadsheet. Others gather that data automatically by connecting to your credit card and bank accounts, which feels overly invasive. (Rocket Money, notably, can share your financial data with advertisers.)

By contrast, StreamWolf is focused entirely on streaming, keeps track of your spending without gathering sensitive financial data, and automates the tedium of managing your subscriptions. It’s filling a clear need as the cost of having too many streaming services gets closer to a typical cable bill.

What’s not working yet

As I mentioned earlier, StreamWolf is far from perfect. While playing around with it this week, I ran into several technical issues and noticed a bunch of ways that the app could be better.

The biggest problem is that it didn’t accurately sum up my subscription spending. It lists my Disney+ and Hulu bundle at $11 per month, not the $5 per month Black Friday price I’m paying (or the regular price of $13 per month, for that matter). It’s also overestimating my monthly streaming bill by $34, apparently because it’s counting a couple of expired Amazon Prime add-ons.

StreamWolf’s “Discover” section is a bit undercooked as well. You can add movies and shows to a watchlist, but navigation feels slow, and when I added “The Boys” via the search menu, it failed to appear in my watchlist.

StreamWolf might eventually use your watchlist to suggest the best times to pay for each service; but for now, the payoff of maintaining yet another watchlist isn’t worth the effort. (If the app synced your streaming activity via Younify, like Trakt is doing, that’d be pretty compelling.)

StreamWolf could also use support for managing more streaming services. Notable omissions as of now include Apple TV+, Fubo, DirecTV, AMC+, and Starz.

What’s next for StreamWolf

StreamWolf is the first startup from James Harris and Steve Lewis, a pair of childhood friends from England who got fed up with manually cycling through all their TV subscriptions. They teamed up with Ron Downey, a U.K.-based streaming executive, who now serves as the company’s CEO. (The company is building a team in Columbus, Ohio, where Harris now lives.)

In an interview, Harris and Lewis said they plan to eventually charge $3 per month for most StreamWolf features, but for now they’re focused on gathering feedback and improving the app. They also didn’t rule out keeping the app free and making money in other ways, such as through sales commissions when users re-subscribe to a service.

Beyond just making the app more reliable, they’re also planning to bring live sports into the watchlist section. This could help users figure out what they need for the teams or leagues they follow—an increasingly complex calculation as sports rights become scattered across different services.

If streaming platforms like Roku and Fire TV were actually on your side, they’d offer this kind of service themselves. Instead, they’re more interested in upselling you on extra subscriptions than helping manage what you already have. If StreamWolf can keep streamlining the process of cycling through subscriptions, it’ll be valuable countermeasure against runaway streaming costs.

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