After a formidable 25-year run, Netflix has introduced that it’s going to shutter its DVD-to-mail rental service, DVD Netflix, aka DVD.com. Citing the shrinking DVD enterprise, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos informed shareholders on April 18 that the rental service could be transport its final DVD on September 29, 2023.
And whereas many of the 230 million Netflix subscribers received’t miss the service — or even perhaps knew it nonetheless existed within the first place — DVDs and Blu-rays are nonetheless a most well-liked methodology for watching films and TV collection in the event you actually care about high quality or simply don’t have broadband web.
However now that DVD Netflix is out of the sport, the place can folks flip to lease DVDs and Blu-rays?
Properly, because the information hit Twitter, two of one of the best alternate options chimed in, reminding their followers that they, too, nonetheless existed. GameFly — which primarily rents video video games, but additionally has a number of films for lease — tweeted at fashionable kiosk-rental firm Redbox with a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gif and the textual content “Out right here with @redbox like … .” The 2 companies exchanged intelligent gifs and tweets (Redbox and Blockbuster even exchanged jabs) about being the final ones standing, but it surely nonetheless is likely to be unclear to many DVD Netflix renters the place they’ll go to fill the void.
That’s the place we are available in with this rundown of the place you’ll be able to lease DVDs and Blu-rays now that Netflix is shutting down its DVD rental service. Oh, and in the event you want a Blu-ray participant, take a look at our roundup of one of the best ones to purchase.
Redbox
It’s just about a assure that you simply’ve seen Redbox’s huge, purple phone box-style kiosks at your native grocery retailer, pharmacy, or fast-food joint — the corporate was truly began by McDonald’s in 2002 with kiosks outdoors its eating places. And whereas it’s not the identical DVD-by-mail service as DVD Netflix, the corporate boasts greater than 34,000 kiosks nationwide. Moreover, its house owners, Hen Soup for the Soul Leisure, not solely simply revealed plans so as to add 5,000 kiosks at Dollar General Stores by the end of next year, but in the wake of the DVD Netflix announcement, Chicken Soup CEO Bill Rouhana told the Hollywood Reporter that he’d like to buy it, saying, “I wish Netflix would sell me that business instead of shutting it down.”
Basically a vending machine for DVDs and Blu-rays, you can find a kiosk location by using the search tool on the Redbox website. Then you can either head straight there and try your luck by browsing available titles on the box’s touchscreen, or use the website to find a DVD and reserve it for pickup at a nearby kiosk that has it available. Redbox kiosks do offer a selection of 4K UHD movies, unlike DVD Netflix. Sorry, gamers — Redbox stopped renting video games in 2019.
Most DVD and Blu-ray disc rentals are $2.25 per day, and they must be returned by 9 p.m. the next day or you’ll be charged for another day. The service also offers multiple-day rentals and even cheaper prices on certain titles. If you keep the video for more than 21 days, you’ll get charged the maximum rental fee, and the disc is yours to keep.
And, if all else fails, you can always check out the Redbox On Demand service, where you can buy, rent, or stream movies on a smart TV, streaming device, or computer for a similar price.
GameFly
Widely known as a subscription-based video-game-by-mail rental service, it’s a lesser-known fact that GameFly also offers DVD and Blu-ray movies as part of its service (a fact it took to Twitter to remind people of upon the Netflix DVD announcement). It additionally consists of 4K UHD titles, which DVD Netflix doesn’t. If the subscription and mail-it-to-me fashion of Netflix DVDs is extra interesting to you than the kiosks of Redbox, then GameFly is likely to be extra suited to you.
With pricing just like Netflix’s DVD service, GameFly presents a bunch of month-to-month plan tiers. In the event you’re a gamer, a number of of their plans embrace film leases as nicely, so win-win for you. But when it’s simply films you’re after, there are six choices that vary in value from $9 to $19 per 30 days. All of them embrace limitless film leases and new releases, however then break off into plans that permit one or two leases at a time, and plans that supply DVD and Blu-rays solely, in addition to one with 4K UHD discs for these in search of a greater video and sound high quality. You’ll be able to check out the Blu-ray and DVD or 4K Elite plans for 30 days totally free, and all different plans provide discounted costs for 3 months if you wish to verify them out a bit first. In the event you do join, you’ll be able to cancel anytime.
How does it work? Simple. Head to the location and discover your film, which will likely be despatched to you by way of U.S. Postal Service first-class mail in roughly 2 to five enterprise days, with no transport charges. Your bank card is billed and, in the event you don’t just like the film, you’ll be able to ship it again and so they’ll even rush you a unique one. You’ll be able to preserve the film for so long as you need, there are not any late charges, and, as with its recreation leases, you’ll be able to select to maintain the title at a preowned value.
3D Blu-ray Rental
Whereas the location isn’t a lot to take a look at, 3D Blu-ray Rental is a good DVD-by-mail option similar to GameFly and DVD Netflix in that it offers monthly subscription plans, as well as pay-as-you-go rentals for both movies and video games. Specializing in hard-to-find Blu-rays, as its site states, 3D Blu-ray Rental has a solid collection of movies (including new releases) offered in 2D, 3D, 4K UHD, and Blu-ray formats.
The subscription plans are similar to GameFly in that prices are based on the number of rentals you can have out at a time, ranging from the $9-per-month “1 Disc at a time” plan to the $53-per-month “8 Discs at a time” plan. There’s an exception for specialty movie and game rentals priced above $8 per rental, though — for these, you have to pay the full price of the rental. You can cancel the service at any time.
Your public library
While many public libraries across the country have shifted to online streaming services such as Kanopy and Hoopla for cardholders to access movies and TV shows, there’s still something to be said for heading to your library to browse its physical DVD or Blu-ray selection.
While the selection might not be as good as DVD Netflix or some of the services on our list, for the most part, they’re either free or dirt cheap to borrow with a valid library card. You can even send your kids to get movies with their cards, and some libraries will let you reserve movies, like books, to be the next in line for their use. To find a public library near you, there’s a search tool on the U.S. government website.
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