Gift Premium Apps and Web Services
The Amazon Prime subscription may not be the most exciting to roll out, but like many other premium web services, it is a great gift for anyone to appreciate. Here are some of our favorite gifts to sign up for this holiday season.
Amazon Prime
2015 why are you still going to the store? For everything? With an Amazon Prime subscription ($ 99 per year), you can buy 48 rolls of toilet paper and have them delivered to your home within two days (or, in some cities, the same evening). What’s more, you can listen to over a million songs on Prime Music, watch TV shows and movies on Prime Instant Video, access tons of books from the Kindle Lending Library … and many more benefits . $ 99 a year may sound high, but once you start using it, you become addicted.
Netflix
For the person you want to watch Netflix and Chill with, there’s a subscription to everyone’s favorite streaming service. You can get them a streaming subscription ( $ 7.99 / month to $ 11.99 / month ), you can get them a DVD subscription ( $ 7.99 and up ), or if you’re really generous, you you can get both. Or better yet, grab one of these handy Netflix gift cards and let them apply to your existing account. Physical cards come in $ 30 and $ 60 denominations, or you can email them a gift card for any amount.
Hulu plus
Netflix is great, but if your gift is more of a fan of popular current TV shows, Hulu Plus is a better streaming service. Hulu is one of the few services that streams current episodes live (or shortly thereafter), and even collects a couple of exclusives like The Mindy Project (I don’t care what anyone says, this show is fun). You can buy gift cards directly from Hulu so your giver can get whatever subscription they want – the standard plan for $ 7.99 per month or the near-free plan for $ 11.99 per month.
Spotify Premium
Spotify is one of those services that a lot of people are likely to use, but not necessarily interested in paying for a better service without ads. This makes Spotify Premium ($ 9.99 per month) the perfect gift. If you give it to a family member, you can actually get a discount , so you’ll want to sign it yourself. For everyone else, there is a Spotify Gift Card that you can get for $ 30 on Amazon .
Pandora one
Not everyone has to choose from a huge library of music – some prefer an easy, personalized radio experience like something like Pandora. Those people don’t need more ads with a Pandora One subscription ($ 4.99 per month). You can create a digital or physical gift card right from the Pandora website .
Emergency plan +
Let’s be honest: The gift of online backup might seem worth putting off. But we all know one person who really needs it , and who refuses to pay (or customize) for it. Give them access to Crashplan +, our favorite backup system ($ 59.99 per year). They will thank you if their hard drive fails and they lose everything. You can purchase gift subscriptions directly from the Crashplan online store .
Lastpass
When you thought gifts couldn’t be less sexy, we have a password manager for you. But listen to us: do you know that person who can never remember any of their passwords? They try to log into their bank 10 times before crashing in and resetting their password for the eleventh time? This person needs LastPass , and a premium account ($ 12 per year) ensures they get priority support and access on their mobile devices. You can purchase gift subscriptions directly from the LastPass website .
PlayStation Plus / Xbox Live
If you know a player who is addicted to their PlayStation or Xbox, subscribing to their online features is a win-win. PlayStation Plus ($ 49.99 per year) gives them access to online multiplayer, monthly free games, online game save, discounts, and video streaming options. Xbox Live Gold ($ 59.99 per year) does the same. You can get 3 or 12 month gift cards for both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold on Amazon .
Tripit Pro
We all have one friend who travels the world who spends more time abroad than at home, and there is TripIt Pro for them ($ 49 per year). If TripIt wasn’t cool enough to track all of your flights, TripIt Pro will also track your frequent flyer miles, automatically share routes with friends and family, and even alert you when the best seat is available on your flight. You can purchase a gift subscription on TripIt .
VPN subscription
A VPN may be the most interesting gift you can give (aside from perhaps the Dungeons & Dragons starter kit ), but it’s one of those tools that anyone can and should use, whether they are streaming blocked content abroad or simply trying to stay safe on public Wi-Fi . There are many different providers out there , most of which range from $ 5 to $ 10 per month, but our personal favorite is private internet access .