MoviePass vs. Sinemia vs. AMC Stubs A-List vs. Cinemark Movie Club — Which Theater Subscription Is Best?

This story was originally published on July 17, 2018. It was updated with new rules and changes to the theater subscriptions featured in the article.

MoviePass is facing stiff competition as several theater chains and startups have launched their own rival theater subscription services.

All three competitors seem in their own way to directly target the biggest consumer gripes about using MoviePass — the inability to book tickets in advance, see multiple films in one day and see the same flick more than once.

To its credit, MoviePass isn’t going down without a fight. It already made a dramatic pricing change, slashing its monthly fee from $39.99 at its highest to $9.95 per month, attracting millions of new subscribers in the process. The number of MoviePass subscribers reportedly surged from about 20,000 in early 2017 to 3 million as of June 2018. Earlier this year, it reportedly sued Sinemia for patent infringement. And it recently diversified its offerings with a lower-priced subscription plan.

Cash-strapped MoviePass announced in late July it would raise the monthly subscription to $14.95 but canceled the price hike plan just a week later. Instead, it’s now keeping the $9.95 plan but limiting each member to a three-movie allowance every month starting Aug.15, 2018. For each additional ticket, MoviePass subscribers can get a discount for up to $5. MoviePass members used to be able to see up to one movie per day with the same monthly subscription fee.

For consumers, competition is almost always a good thing. Companies are forced to make their services more appealing in hopes of attracting new customers.

In this post, we will go over the benefits and limits of the four monthly movie subscription packages to help you choose the one that best fits your needs.

MoviePass vs. AMC vs. Cinemark vs. Sinemia

Which subscription service is best for me?

Is MoviePass here to stay?

Fees and fine print

AMC Stubs A-List

MoviePass

Sinemia

Cinemark Movie Club

COST

$19.95/month + tax

$7.95/month or $9.95/month depending on the plan

$3.99 to $14.99 per month for individual plans; $8.99 to $89.99 for family plans.

$8.99/mo

MOVIE LIMITS

See up to 3 movies per week

3 movies per month starting Aug.15, 2018.

See up to 1, 2 or 3 movies per month, depending on the plan.

1 movie per month

THEATER ACCESS

600+ AMC theatres

5,200+ theaters

4,000+ theaters

339 Cinemark theaters

CANCELLATION POLICY

You can’t cancel your subscription during the initial three months of membership. After the three-month commitment, you can cancel anytime and your benefits last until the end of the current billing period.

If you cancel your subscription, you won’t be able to re-enroll or start a new subscription for 9 months. Your account will be active until the last day of your current billing cycle.

You can cancel anytime but Sinemia won’t refund you the upfront annual fee. However, you’ll be able to use your membership until the last day of your plan.

You can cancel any time you want and won’t have to wait for a period of time to reactivate your membership after cancellation. Your benefits are effective until the last day of the current billing cycle.

FINE PRINT

May charge surcharge when movies are in high demand. (peak pricing is suspended for users who’ve migrated to the new plan)

The monthly fee is actually charged upfront for the entire year. If you prefer not to make a year-long commitment, you have to make a one-time monthly initiation payment of $19.99.

AMC’s fee may seem steep, but with MoviePass adjusting pricing beginning mid-August, AMC Stubs A-List will become the most cost-effective plan for the number of movies it offers every month (12). In addition, it offers more flexibility, such as advance ticket-booking, repeated visits to the same movie and seeing more than one movie on any given day.

Cinemark might look more appealing at $8.99/month, but you can only see one film per month and you’re limited to Cinemark theaters. By comparison, though there are many limitations with MoviePass, like the one-visit-per-movie rule, it’s still one of the better deals — $9.95 — for three movies a month. MoviePass currently has a lower price plan that charges $7.95 for three movies per month. It’s unclear what will happen to this plan after Aug. 15, however. MoviePass has said 85% of its members see three or fewer movies a month, but avid users may be disappointed by the change.

Hidden costs

Variety of plans

AMC and Cinemark are simple with just single plan options. MoviePass has two plan options. Sinemia has the most complex offerings, with four different plans to choose from:

Classic (2D movies only)

Elite (all movie formats)

Available formats

AMC Stubs A-List

MoviePass

Sinemia

Cinemark Movie Club

All formats, including 2D, Dolby Cinema at AMC, IMAX and RealD 3D

2-D movies only

Varies by plan.

2-D movies only

If you want premium movie formats, go for AMC Stubs A-List or Sinemia’s Elite packages. MoviePass and Cinemark Movie Club members can only see 2-D movies. However, with Cinemark Movie Club, you have a choice to see premium movies, such as IMAX, with some additional fees.

Book tickets in advance?

AMC Stubs A-List

MoviePass

Sinemia

Cinemark Movie Club

Yes. You can make a reservation through the AMC website or mobile app.

No. You can only reserve a same-day ticket if the app indicates e-ticketing is available in a particular theater. Otherwise, you have to book in person. A physical card is needed for ticket purchasing in most cases unless the theater supports e-ticketing.

Yes. You can book your tickets online up to 30 days in advance through the app.You can also order a physical card separately, which allows you to purchase tickets on the spot at the theater in a MoviePass fashion.

Yes. Tickets can be purchased via the Cinemark app, online, or at the box office.

With other services, a membership card isn’t necessarily needed for purchase tickets. Members can make a reservation in advance through the services’ websites or mobile apps or at the theater box office.

Can multiple users share a subscription?

AMC Stubs A-List

MoviePass

Sinemia

Cinemark Movie Club

No

No

Yes

Yes*

*Cinemark allows Movie Club members to pay $8.99 for an additional ticket at checkout. Theoretically, it could be a $17.98 monthly subscription for two.

Other perks

AMC Stubs A-List

MoviePass

Sinemia

Cinemark Movie Club

-Members receive the AMC Stubs Premiere benefits for free (worth $15/year+tax).-Members can earn AMC Stubs points on the monthly membership charge:100 points on per $1 spent.

You can refer up to three friends who, upon sign-up, will get their first month of MoviePass for free.

You can get $5 for referring each friend to Sinemia. Your friend also gets the same credit reward.

-Members can receive 20% off on concession purchases.-New subscribers can get a free Android smartphone (as of July 10) if they pay $100 for 2 months of wireless services. -Members can earn Cinemark Concessions points.

While it’s unclear which Android phone comes with a Cinemark Movie Club membership and an additional $100 for two months of wireless services, for those who need a smartphone, the deal just comes in time.

If you are a flexible moviegoer who does not mind avoiding peak time to see movies and feel comfortable going through the multiple steps to purchasing tickets, MoviePass is a more cost-effective deal for you. In many parts of the country, such as New York, where a movie ticket easily costs more than $15, you could get your subscription value back by seeing just one movie each month. If you have a taste for indie, low-budget movies, or you simply don’t frequent AMC or Cinemark theaters, you should also stick with MoviePass.

Steer clear of MoviePass if you live in a densely populated area where movies may sell out quickly. You may find it difficult to get to the theater and reserve a seat the same day.

And keep in mind MoviePass will block you from reactivating your plan or signing up for a new subscription after cancellation.

Mainstream movie viewers who prefer to lock in tickets in advance — especially tickets to premieres of big releases — or have a particular liking for premium movie formats, such as 3D, may want to pay extra for the better service terms with AMC. You could also get discounts on beverages or popcorn at the concession stand. Just make sure you live in reasonable distance of an AMC theater.

Keep in mind AMC Stubs A-List requires a minimum three-month subscription from its members, during which they cannot cancel their membership.

Keep in mind Sinemia, which charges members a lump-sum subscription fee once a year, won’t refund you if you cancel your membership. If you would rather pay by month, you have to pay a $19.99 one-off monthly initiation fee, in addition to your monthly plan payment.

If you are someone who lives in a place where a movie ticket costs more than $9 and you do not like to commit to seeing a certain number of movies each month. Cinemark Movie Club allows unused credits to be rolled over. If monthly credits are used up, subscribers can also buy two additional tickets per transaction for $8.99 each. Basically, it’s an indirect way to sell a movie ticket for $8.99 that comes with some conditions. And if you happen to need a smartphone, its current sign-up deal is a steal.

Because it didn’t have enough money to pay for movie tickets, MoviePass experienced a service outage on July 26, when many customers couldn’t use their MoviePass cards to purchase tickets at theaters. The company had to borrow $5 million in cash the next day to pay its merchant and fulfillment processors. This was the incident that spurred the now-abandoned plan to increase the monthly charge, through which the company hoped to reduce the monthly burn by 60%.

Helios and Matheson Analytics’ stock traded at $0.09 per share on Aug. 6, a nearly 52-week low, down almost 100% from last October’s peak of $38.86.

While MoviePass projects its subscribers to surpass 5 million by August, some analysts have predicted in media interviews that the company has a high likelihood of bankruptcy.

If MoviePass eventually proves to be too good to be true, current users should enjoy the deal while it lasts. At least alternatives are now available.