Seven must-have subscriptions for Indians
Unlike our global counterparts, the subscription services in India differ a lot both in terms of price and the service offered against the price.
I am not a fan of monthly & annual subscriptions because they suck your earnings on monthly basis. But there are some which are worth spending your money, the money charged against the benefits offered is justified and they add quality to your life.
The choice of spending money on a service or product is a personal decision and it is shaped by the need of the person. Thus, some of the listed entries might not resonate with you but that’s perfectly “okay”. Please feel free to add your list of subscriptions in the comments and that’s how we can generate a better list for our future readers.
List of services
Amazon Prime Membership
The cost of Amazon prime membership in India is INR 1499 per year. The benefits offered against it are:
- No Delivery charges for goods ordered at Amazon
- Access to Amazon Music & Prime videos
- Access to selected books on Kindle
- More discounts as compared to the non-prime members when shopping with Amazon Icici credit card (1% -2% more)
You can order pretty much anything from Amazon. For me, I prefer Amazon for ordering all electronic items, gadgets, a lot of groceries, etc. On top of that, I also use prime videos to watch movies on some days. The subscription pays off and then starts adding value.
Youtube Premium
The Youtube premium membership is charged at INR 139/ Month. But there is another plan which costs INR 189 per month for a family subscription.
I detest advertisements. Sadly, if you don’t have YouTube premium, you end up watching a lot of advertisements every time you try to watch some content on youtube.
My reason for subscribing to youtube premium is my need to get an advertisement-free interface. I don’t get any other benefit from it but this alone is sufficient for me to keep paying. The only good thing about this subscription is the access to youtube music and family bundled cost.
For INR 189, you can give an advertisement-free experience to the entire family members and also get access to YouTube music, background music play, etc.
The Economic Times
I work as a consultant. I consult on research & development fronts and for me, it is essential to stay up to date with the news. I am also an avid reader of day-to-day news.
Subscribing the ETprime membership was one of the best decisions I made two years ago. I got advertisement-free access to The Economic Times webpage, their android app, and also access to their prime content.
Some articles in the ETprime portfolio are very good. You can keep a track of what’s happening in the business ecosystem. The articles generally include insights into what’s happening, why is it happening, and how it will influence the future.
Other benefits offered by the ETprime team were:
- Free subscription to Docubay
- Free subscription to Emeritus
- Free subscription to Times prime (and other services by Times group)
Personally, I didn’t use any of these despite activating them. But for some people, these can be deal breakers.
The cost of ETprime subscription varies between 2800–3500 INR/ 2 years depending on the discount and time of buying. I got a subscription for 3500 INR for two years.
You can also try alternatives such as “The Hindu”, “The Ken”, or “The Economist” based on your interests and needs.
Medium
I subscribed to Medium at the start of this year. I wanted to read the content of some writers and support them and tus I subscribed to the platform.
There aren’t a lot of benefits in subscribing to this platform. But if you wish to support some writers and read their amazing content, then it is a good subscription.
Cost USD 5/ Month.
If you subscribe to Medium on Android, you can save almost 30–40%.
Zomato
Every Indian knows Zomato. Yes, our favorite Zomato. It delivers to you the best food of your choice in a super fast manner.
If you are someone who dines out a lot and orders food a lot then this app is made for you. You can save 20–30% per order and get the deliveries free of cost. The number of restaurants and hotels that are in collaboration with Zomato is huge and most of them have decent quality.
I don’t go out for lunch and dinners. I also don’t order food frequently but still, the app saved me a lot on the occasional lunch/ dinners I had with my friends. As a result, I subscribed to them again.
Cost: 750 INR/ Year
Netflix
Netflix, our video streaming platform of choice is my sixth subscription. I am on a basic subscription and don’t pay much. I only view the content on my phone and iPad and the basic subscription gives me access to do that.
The content on Netflix is truly amazing and I haven’t gone to watch any movie in past 4 years. I also don’t plan to go out and watch a movie now.
Now my outings are reserved for exploration, traveling, sightseeing, etc.
StockEdge
StockEdge is the final subscription of my choice. Since I actively invest in equities, I want to check a lot of data and that’s where I love StockEdge. It gives me access to all the fancy ratios, numbers, reports, and news of the companies that I search for.
I don’t like the interface of this platform and it is also slow to load sometimes. But, the quality of data is amazing. They have reliable, and updated numbers and in-depth analysis for all the players.
I didn’t check any other platform and that’s why I cannot comment if there is some better platform out there for the same function. But StockEdge does the work for me.
Cost: INR 3000/ year
Did I miss a good subscription that you are enjoying? Put that in comments and give me the opportunity to experience it.
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