Funimation vs. Crunchyroll: Which Streaming Service Is Better?

Which anime-focused streaming platform is better to subscribe to? Funimation vs. Crunchyroll, see the positive and negative points of each.

Not long ago, the most reliable way to watch anime in Brazil was through piracy. Over time, that has changed, with more investment in open TV and, in 2012, the arrival of Crunchyroll in Brazil, which quickly became the only official option worth using.

The picture has improved since then, especially with new streaming services entering the country that also carry anime in their catalog. Those platforms are not anime-first, but they have given Brazilian viewers a real choice. Today, you can pick between two different services that are 100% focused on anime.

Funimation vs. Crunchyroll

This article aims to highlight the differences, and the negative and positive points, about Funimation and Crunchyroll, to help you decide which one to subscribe to.

Catalog

Several factors push someone toward one streaming service over another, and the catalog is usually the biggest one. Crunchyroll has been in Brazil for much longer, since 2012, and carries over 1,000 anime in its library. Funimation, by contrast, sits around 700, a respectable number considering it only arrived in the country in 2020.

Both services cover all genres and eras, so you will find new releases and classic titles on either one. Crunchyroll has the edge thanks to a deeper share of the "essential" anime, the kind everyone has heard of at some point or that always comes up in recommendations. The giant shounen like Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball and the rest of the household names. That said, it is not exclusive to them; Funimation is also investing and currently holds two of the biggest hits of the moment in Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) and Shingeki no Kyoujin (Attack on Titan).

On the catalog question, the two are fairly close, with rare exceptions that are exclusive to one platform or the other. So, the choice really comes down to individual preferences.

Simulcast

Both services add new anime all the time, and a good chunk of that is seasonal, the so-called simulcast. This is exactly the kind of thing that can tip the balance when choosing between Funimation and Crunchyroll. After an anime airs in Japan, it shows up on Crunchyroll in just about one hour. On Funimation, the wait is noticeably longer, although new episodes still land on the same day.

In other words, for viewers in a hurry, or for content creators who depend on watching first, the faster the platform the better for their workflow. That time gap in simulcast speed really matters.

Image Quality

Both services offer anime at the best quality available, with most titles in 1080p (Full HD). The catch is that only Funimation delivers the maximum quality to every user, including non-subscribers. Crunchyroll caps its anime at 720p for anyone using the free tier.

Availability on Different Platforms

Since Crunchyroll has been around longer, it is literally available on every platform you can imagine. It runs on consoles (Xbox 360, One, Series S and X, PlayStation 3, 4 and 5, PS Vita and Wii U), has mobile apps for Android and iOS, and supports smart TVs (Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV).

Funimation, the newer arrival, is still rolling out its mobile, TV and console versions. So far, Funimation is available on Android, consoles (Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series S and X, PlayStation 4 and 5), and TVs (Android TV, Roku, Fire TV and Chromecast).

Since both work in the browser too, the choice comes down to which platforms you actually like to use to watch your anime.

Subscription Price

Finally, one of the main factors in the decision is price, since it sets the cost-benefit of the subscription. The two services price their plans differently, which gives you room to choose based on budget. Funimation keeps a single subscription model (at least for now), while Crunchyroll offers two different plans.

Funimation Subscription Plan

Called Premium Plus, Funimation's subscription plan lets you watch the entire catalog without ads and without restrictions. It also allows up to 5 simultaneous screens, which is useful if you have multiple devices at home or want to split the cost with someone.

Price: around $5.99 per month, or roughly $55 per year (pricing may vary by region).
Trial period (new users): 14 days.

Crunchyroll Subscription Plans

As mentioned, Crunchyroll offers 2 different subscription plans. There is actually a third tier, but it is just the 12-month version of an existing plan, so the practical lineup is two plans. Check below what each one includes:

Fan: The most basic plan on the platform. It lets you watch the entire anime library, ad-free, but is limited to 1 simultaneous screen. Price: roughly $5.99 per month.

Mega Fan: Includes everything in the Fan plan, plus up to 4 simultaneous screens and the option to download episodes for offline viewing. Price: around $7.99 per month. This is the only plan available as a 12-month subscription, which comes with a discount and works out to roughly $80 per year.

Funimation vs. Crunchyroll: Conclusion

In short, the main points about each of the biggest anime-focused streaming services have been covered, including catalog, image quality, supported platforms and price. So, which one should you subscribe to? The honest answer is... it depends.

Whatever you are looking to watch, both platforms have different catalogs, but right now Crunchyroll holds the larger collection, mostly because it has been in the Brazilian market much longer than Funimation.

If a lower-cost option is what you want, Funimation is the answer. For viewers who will only watch anime casually and do not want to pay much to consume a little, Funimation is a good pick, especially because of its catalog and exclusive dubbed releases. The monthly price is close to Crunchyroll's basic plan, and the 5-screen allowance makes it easy to share the cost with someone.

Cost vs. benefit: the winner on pure cost-benefit is Crunchyroll, thanks to its much larger library and a basic plan priced similarly to Funimation. Even though the basic plan is limited to one screen, the platform carries more anime and gets new episodes earlier, just about one hour after they air in Japan.

There is also the option of using coupon and deals sites to save on streaming subscriptions, which is worth looking into if you are on a tight budget.

The answer to the question of which to choose is to pick the one that best matches your current needs. Both services are growing, and the anime market is gaining more space in Brazil every year.