Netflix provides 2 services, or more specifically, is really 2 companies under the same name. An attempt to distinguish between the 2 companies by renaming its DVD delivery server to Qwikster, but that was so disastrous they had to reverse the name change almost immediately.
DVD rentals by mail is an expensive proposition for any company, but several had tried it. Blockbuster and Walmart both unsuccessfully tried to get into the market, but Netflix had already been well established with a very satisfied customer base.
Redbox, a service that rents movies from an automated kiosk, remains popular. You can rent a movie directly from the box, or you can reserve one from the website, which will tell you which kiosks have the DVD available. Blockbuster has similar kiosks, but it doesn't appear to be quite as popular.
When Netflix decided to add streaming to its services, that particular aspect became so popular, the company eventually split its services, charging individually for both. Currently, Netflix's streaming business far outweighs its DVD rental service.
For streaming, there are actually quite a number of other companies that provide movies and TV shows. Amazon and Hulu are probably the largest competitors.
Hulu has both paid subscriptions and a free service. Hulu Plus allows the customer to view content on various devices, but with some caveats. Some studios refuse to allow their properties to be viewed on anything other than computers. Hulu Plus is currently 7.99, comparable to Netflix's monthly fee.
Hulu, created and owned by several television networks, also has the benefit of providing current content. TV shows that have recently aired are then available on Hulu, sometimes within hours of broadcast. The 4 latest episodes are generally posted.
Amazon has both a subscription and a non-subscription service, both being paid. Users can pay an annual fee of 99 dollars U.S. for their Prime service (about comparable to Netflix), which began as a means of providing free shipping for its products, but expanded into the streaming of select movie and television content, as well as E-book lending and, just recently, music streaming. Some movie and TV streaming content is not eligible under prime, and a rental fee or outright sale is required. Rentals can include some movies still in theaters, and range from 1.99 to 6.99.
One other paid service, VUDU, is largely current and popular movies. This also provides rental and sales options.
One service, Crackle, is strictly ad driven. Movies are usually older, but all content is free. The movies are rotated monthly, but there is a decent selection provided. There are several others that provide content this way, but they don't provide as much choice, and generally end up running slower with a large number of flashy ads.
All of these services have begun creating their own content. Netflix has a few shows in different genres, like Orange Is The New Black, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, and is even continuing the cancelled series Arrested Development. Hulu has several series running, and Amazon is airing various pilots to see which may be more successful, including one based on the movie Zombieland. Even Crackle has some original content.
One big difference between Netflix and the rest may be in how internet providers deal with the increased bandwidth required by streaming services. Netflix just made a deal with Comcast to prevent a slowdown of Netflix provided content. This may be the future of streaming services in the near future, unless net neutrality is upheld and strengthened, which doesn't seem likely at this time. If anything, customers will be paying a surcharge to their internet providers to allow streaming content at high enough speeds.
