Streaming platforms try to provide family-friendly content to subscribers by offering children’s accounts or having film ratings on full display. However, streaming filter apps take it to another level. Streaming filter apps give viewers the power to tailor their viewing experience to be more family-friendly. They allow viewers to mute out profanities and skip unwanted scenes, like violence and drugs, with preset filters. With the rise of streaming filter apps today, one question stands out: which moderator tool is the best investment for you and your family?
This article explores the features of three streaming filter apps: Enjoy Movies Your Way, VidAngel, and ClearPlay. Once you’ve reached the end, we hope you have found the one compatible with your streaming subscriptions that fulfills your needs for an enhanced viewing experience.
Enjoy vs. ClearPlay vs. VidAngel: Breaking Down Every Feature
Below is a comparison overview of Enjoy Movies Your Way, VidAngel, and ClearPlay. While we have provided an at-a-glance table to help streaming subscribers quickly understand the differences between each service, we also elaborate on the differences for each criterion through the following sections, including history, ownership, and pricing.
The History and Ownership of Enjoy, ClearPlay, and VidAngel: How They Paved the Way
Each streaming filter app has an origin story that explains how it was developed to provide safe viewing for the family audience. By creating their technologies and adapting to controversies, each company grew into the services it is known for today.
Enjoy Movies Your Way
Enjoy was founded in 2018 by Chad Michael, who was inspired over 20 years ago while hosting their in-laws for a Thanksgiving meal. He recommended a movie, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” which he had enjoyed on broadcast TV. Unfortunately, the unedited DVD version of the film contains scenes that Chad had forgotten about, which made watching it with the in-laws awkward. The idea was then born for a service allowing families to control their home movie-watching experience.
Following the Family Movie Act, Enjoy’s unique AI language filter automation “reads” the films and shows directly from authorized streaming platforms for profanity and other objectionable scenes and filters them out.
ClearPlay History
The Jarman brothers founded ClearPlay in 1998, with Matt Jarman as the CEO and Lee Jarman as the CFO. Beginning as a family movie distributor, they give parents more options to watch with their children.[1] Due to demand, they began developing a DVD system to filter out mature movie themes and make movies family-friendly. While they have reservations that their technology may cross copyright laws, a consultation with internationally renowned copyright expert Paul Goldstein told them otherwise:
“Personal use of the ClearPlay product does not infringe on the rights of copyright owners or other interested parties.”
In 2005, the Salt Lake City-based company became the primary sponsor of the Family Movie Act, which amended the copyright law and clarified the legality of movie filtering.
Movie studios and other entities have challenged ClearPlay due to copyright violations. However, as a judge in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in 2017, ClearPlay does not make copies of films but provides tools for viewers to customize their viewing experience.[2] As of 2021, ClearPlay provides filtered streaming on platforms like Amazon and Netflix, including new releases.[3]
VidAngel
VidAngel was founded by four brothers: Neal Harmon, Jeffrey Harmon, Daniel Harmon, and Jordan Harmon.[4] Their business was launched in 2014 with equity funding of $10 million from customer investors. The Utah-based company is a video streaming service that filters mature themes and provides “clean” videos from DVDs and Blu-rays.
In 2016, VidAngel faced a major controversy when Disney, Warner Bros., and other movie studios sued them for streaming hundreds of their movies without their permission.[5] US District Judge Andre Birotte ruled VindAngel’s service was illegal for ripping movies from DVD copies and steaming them without the offensive content. VidAngel argued that their service was legal under the federal Family Movie Act, but the court ruled against them.[6]
After relaunching in 2017, VidAngel reached a settlement with the suing studios in 2020. Under the court-approved agreement, VidAngel will pay the studios $9.9 million in installments for the next 14 years. In addition, VidAngel will not decrypt, copy, stream, or distribute the studios’ movies without their permission.[7]
VidAngel launched its “Dirty Dog” advertisement campaign in 2022 to draw customers back to the site.[8]
ClearPlay, VidAngel, or Enjoy: Which One Offers the Best Value?
| Service | Subscription Options | Free Trial | Monthly Price | Annual Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enjoy | Monthly Plan | 7-Day Free Trial | $7.99/month | Not listed |
| ClearPlay | Monthly Plan | 30-Day Free Trial | $7.99/month | Not listed |
| VidAngel | Monthly & Annual Plans | 2 Months Free with Annual Plan | $9.99/month | $99.99/year |
Enjoy Movies Your Way and ClearPlay each offer monthly subscriptions of $7.99. While Enjoy offers a free trial of seven days, ClearPlay offers a longer free trial of 30 days. If you prefer annual subscriptions, VidAngel offers a $99.99 annual subscription that includes two months free of charge.
Which Works with Netflix and More? Streaming Service Compatibility Compared
| Streaming Service | Enjoy | ClearPlay | VidAngel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prime Video | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Disney Plus | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Max | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Apple TV+ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Hulu | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Youtube | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Peacock | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Paramount Plus | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Amazon add-on channels | ✅ | Select channels | Select channels |
Enjoy Movies Your Way allows you to filter content from most streaming platforms. With broad platform support, you have the freedom to tailor your viewing experience, no matter your streaming subscription.
ClearPlay comes in second, allowing viewers to filter shows and movies from five major streaming platforms only. VidAngel supports the fewest streaming platforms but includes major sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+.
Streaming Boxes and Devices: Where Do Enjoy, ClearPlay, and VidAngel Play Best?
| Device | Enjoy | ClearPlay | VidAngel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome Browser Extension | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Android TV | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Google TV | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Fire TV | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ (Sideload only) |
| iOS Tablet & Phone | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Android Tablet & Phone | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Apple TV | Coming Soon (v2.0) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Chromecast | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Roku | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Samsung Tizen | Coming Soon (v2.0) | ❌ | ❌ |
The freedom to watch on any device adds to your streaming experience. That’s why Enjoy Movies Your Way supports a diverse range of devices. You can play family-friendly content on any device at your convenience. ClearPlay can only be viewed through a Chrome Browser Extension. This means that as long as you can open a Chrome browser app on your device, you can use ClearPlay. VidAngel also works on several devices but has limited access to FireTV.
Profanity Filtering, Video Filters, and More: Comparing Filter Levels
| Filter Type | Enjoy | ClearPlay | VidAngel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | ✅ (Automatic for all content) | ✅ (Automatic for all content) | ✅ (Automatic for all content) |
| Violence | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sexual Content | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Drug Content | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Themes | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Additional Settings | ✅ (More customizable settings) | ❌ | ❌ |
Enjoy Movies Your Way, ClearPlay, and VidAngel are profanity filter apps with pre-set filters on language, violence, and other mature themes. Viewers can customize their streaming experience by turning each automatic filter on and off.
However, Enjoy takes it further with the option to filter by age or film rating. Each theme is further divided by the intensity of sensitive content and detailed into specific timecodes when the unwanted scene will happen.
Tag Mode, Control Options, and More: What Sets These Apps Apart
Enjoy Movies Your Way aims to enhance your viewing experience. Our goal includes more than automatic filters. You can also customize your own filters using our Tag Mode feature.
People come from all walks of life with different experiences, and they also have different scenes they want to avoid watching. If a veteran wants to skip explosive scenes because they trigger their PTSD, our Tag Mode helps loved ones filter them out of a movie they want to watch. The same care can be given to someone suffering from an eating disorder and wants to avoid scenes that include food.
We also have other features that your streaming platforms may not yet have. Our playback speed control allows you to adjust the pace of the video. Custom Stream Time Remaining lets you set the time you have left for the video to be over. Ad Skip Queue allows you to skip ads in your with-ad streaming subscriptions. (Note: ad skip queue does not work with Netflix and Disney Plus subscriptions.)
| Features | Enjoy | ClearPlay | VidAngel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Skip Queue | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Tag Mode | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Discover and Stream with Ease | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Subtitle Translations | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Playback Speed Control | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Custom Stream Time Remaining | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Stylized Subtitles | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Trivia | Experimental | ❌ | ❌ |
| Media Upgrades | Experimental | ❌ | ❌ |
| Volume Leveling | Experimental | ❌ | ❌ |
Which Way to Filter Content? Enjoy vs. ClearPlay vs. VidAngel – Start Today
Enjoy Movies Your Way, ClearPlay, and VidAngel are streaming filter apps that make movies family-friendly and safe for viewing. Enjoy supports most major streaming platforms and devices with additional filters and settings to enhance the streaming experience. You can experience our filters for free, including Tag Mode, for the ultimate customized viewing experience.
Ready to have control? Sign up for a 7-day free trial today to start.
